670 Outlines of European History Execution of In this way the House of Commons was brought completely Charles, 1649 ^^^^gj. ^^ control of those most bitterly hostile to the king, whom they immediately proposed to bring to trial. They declared that the House of Commons, since it was chosen by the people, was supreme in England and the source of all just power, and that consequently neither king nor House of Lords was necessary. The mutilated House of Commons appointed a special High Court of Justice made up of Charles's sternest opponents, who alone would consent to sit in judgment on him. They passed sentence upon him, and on January 30, 1649, Charles was be- headed in front of his palace of Whitehall, London. It must be clear from the above account that it was not the nation at large which demanded Charles's death, but a very small group of ex- tremists who claimed to be the representatives of the nation. Section ii8. Oliver Cromwell: England a Commonwealth common- wealth, or republic. Cromwell at the head of the govern- ment Ireland and Scotland subdued The " Rump Parliament," as the remnant of the House of Commons was contemptuously called, proclaimed England to be thereafter a " commonwealth," that is, a republic, without a king or House of Lords. But Cromwell, the head of the army, was nevertheless the real ruler of England. He derived his main support from the Independents ; and it is very surprising that he was able to maintain himself so long, considering what a small portion of the English people was in sympathy with the religioug ideas of that sect and with the abolition of kingship. Even the Presbyterians were on the side of Charles I's son, Charles II, the legal heir to the throne. Cromwell was a vigorous and skillful administrator and had a well-organized army of fifty thousand men at his command, otherwise the republic could scarcely have lasted more than a few months. Cromwell found himself confronted by every variety of diffi- culty. The three kingdoms had fallen apart. The nobles and Catholics in Ireland proclaimed Charles LI as king-, and Ormond,
