ABSTRACT
A Royalist rebellion led by Penruddock in the spring of 1655 was one of the reasons why Cromwell divided England into ten (later eleven) military districts, each of which was presided over by a major-general. Yet their influence was patchy and certainly diminishing even before the Second Protectorate Parliament, which first met on 17 September 1656, voted in January 1657 to end the collection of the decimation tax, the levy on Royalists that financed the majorgenerals experiment. A desire for supply had prompted Cromwell to call the Second Parliament, the first session of which proved considerably more successful than its predecessor-at least in part because it had been heavily purged by the Council before it met. However, MPs’ vicious treatment of the
Quaker James Naylor persuaded Cromwell that the single-chamber Parliament would benefit from the check of an upper house. Moreover, since Cromwell was now more concerned than ever for his government to acquire some constitutional legitimacy he accepted the civiliandevised Humble Petition and Advice, though without the position of king, on 25 May 1657. A month later (26 June) he was reinstalled as Lord Protector with many of the trappings of monarchy.
