The Barebones Parliament came into being on July 4, 1653. It was an assembly entirely nominated by Oliver Cromwell and his council of army officers. It acquired its name from the nominee for the City of London, Praise-God Barebones. The total number of nominees was 140, 129 from England, five from Scotland and six from Ireland.
The intention of the army leaders was to have an assembly more congenial to themselves than the Rump Parliament had been, but in the six months in which the Barebones Parliament sat, the growing strength of the Fifth monarchy men became ever more apparent. Fearing their ultra-radical ideas, which crystallised in an attack on tithes, the moderates, supported by the military, engineered a vote for its own dissolution, which was passed on December 12, 1653.
Parliament had, to a large degree, encouraged the radical political groups which emerged when the usual social controls broke down during the English Civil War.
In the Agreement of the People, 1649, they asked for: a more representative and accountable parliament, to meet every two years; a reform of law so it would be available to, and fair to all; and religious toleration.
The BarebonesParliament was opposed by former Rumpers and ridiculed by many gentry as being as assembly of 'inferior' people.
The Long Parliament was recreated from the Rump on 21 February 1660 when General George Monck reinstated the members 'secluded' by Pride.
The Speaker throughout the Rump Parliament's existence was the Speaker of the Long Parliament, William Lenthall.
As lawyers were overrepresented in the Rump Parliament, the Rump did not respond to the popular requests made by the Levellers to change the archaic and expensive legal system.
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