Cromwell, Oliver 95 English Civil Wars: Battle of Naseby, June 14, 1645 A decisive victory over Royalists by Parliamentarians under Lord Thomas Fairfax and Oliver Cromwell The Parliamentarians abolished the monarchy and established a commonwealth in England eral Lord Thomas Fairfax In 1646, Cromwell played a decisive role in securing the surrender of the Royalists at Oxford, which ended the First Civil War During the interval between the two civil wars, Cromwell was the only general to be allowed to hold his parliamentary seat He made a few attempts to persuade his colleagues, especially the radical Puritan members of Parliament, to reach a compromise with King Charles I, but his conciliatory efforts were frustrated by the king’s refusal to give up his dream of divine kingship After the Scottish Army intervened into English affairs, the Second Civil War broke out, and General Cromwell was forced back to battle against the joint forces of the English Royalists and the Scottish Presbyterians In August 1648, he executed brilliantly the Battle of Preston Pans, which resulted in the complete defeat of the Scottish interventionists After cleansing the Royalist remnants in northern England, he marched back to London One day before his arrival, Colonel Pride, persuaded by Henry Ireton, Cromwell’s son-in-law, who was supported by officers of the New Model Army, had purged 110 hostile members from the Long Parliament The Pride’s Purge scared another 160 members away and left a “rump” (merely enough for a quorum) The Rump Parliament voted to rename England as a commonwealth on January 4, 1649 In the Rump Parliament, Cromwell became a relentless advocate for trying to convict King Charles of war crimes and for being a traitor to the English people The king was executed on January 30 commonwealth England was formally declared a commonwealth on May 19, 1649 General Cromwell, his colleagues in the army, and the Rump abolished the kingship, the House of Lords, and the Stuart administrative institutions with the intention of reconstructing the state of people with all original just power under God In reality, the commonwealth was governed by the Council of State, accountable to the Rump and elected by and among its members