ABSTRACT
December 1648, the effect of which was to overwhelm those inclined to a republic. The restored Long Parliament dissolved itself on 16 March, having first arranged elections for its successor. This latter-called the Convention Parliament since it convened itself-opened on 25 April 1660. On 1 May it received the Declaration of Breda from Charles II, a document in which Charles offered a general pardon, liberty to tender consciences, the provision of military arrears and stipulated that Parliament should have the right to resolve any disputes over land ownership. (Indeed, throughout the Declaration Charles is careful to anticipate a role for, and intimate his respect of, Parliament. There was also a significant omission: no space was given to the monarchical prerogative.)
Thus, pushed by the anarchy at their backs and pulled by the irresistible appeal of Charles, on 5 May 1660 Parliament resolved ‘that the government was and ought to be by Kings, Lords and Commons’.The Interregnum was at an end.
