Rump Parliament was a name given the English Parliament during the civil war in the mid-1600’s. That Parliament had less than a fourth of the usual number of members. The other members had been excluded by troops of the Puritan leader Oliver Cromwell.
Civil war broke out in 1642 between the forces of King Charles I and those of the Long Parliament (see Long Parliament). Later, members of Parliament disagreed on the conduct of the war. On Dec. 6, 1648, soldiers led by Colonel Thomas Pride surrounded the House of Commons. They arrested 47 members of Parliament who opposed the trial of the king, and excluded many others. This action was called Pride’s Purge. The remaining members were known as the Rump Parliament, because they were the rump (end) of the larger body. They supported the execution of Charles I in 1649.
The Rump Parliament fought later against many demands made by Cromwell’s army. Cromwell entered Parliament in 1653 at the head of a troop of soldiers and ordered it disbanded. The Rump Parliament met twice after Cromwell’s death. In 1660, after the members expelled by Colonel Pride had been recalled, the Long Parliament disbanded itself and ordered the election of a new Parliament. Later that year, the monarchy was restored under Charles II.
