Barebones Parliament

views updated Jun 27 2018

Barebone's Parliament (Parliament of the Saints, July–December 1653) Last Parliament of the English Commonwealth. Successor to the Rump Parliament, it was named after a prominent member, ‘Praise-God Barebone’. Members were hand-picked by Oliver Cromwell and the Puritan army chiefs. Religious disputes ruined its effectiveness. It voted its own dissolution and handed over power to Cromwell as Lord Protector.

Barebones Parliament

views updated Jun 11 2018

Barebones Parliament the nickname of Cromwell's Parliament of 1653, from one of its members, Praise-God Barbon, an Anabaptist leather seller of Fleet Street. It replaced the Rump of Chancery, but was itself dissolved within a few months.