Lord Protector is a particular English title for Heads of State, with two meanings (and full styles) at different periods of history.

Feudal royal regent

The title of Lord Protector was originally used by royal princes or other nobles exercising an individual regency (i.e. not merely member of a collegial regency council) while the English monarch was still a minor or otherwise unable to rule. Notable examples of this are: Regent, from the Latin, a person selected to administer a state because the ruler is a minor or is not present or debilitated. ... Look up monarch in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... In law, a person who is not yet a legal adult is known as a minor (known in some places as an infant or juvenile). ...

• Richard, Duke of Gloucester, who was 'Lord Protector of the Realm' during the nominal reign of Edward V (one of the 'Princes in the Tower') before usurping the throne himself;
• Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset, who was Lord Protector during the early years of the reign of the young Edward VI.

Richard III (2 October 1452–22 August 1485) was King of England from 1483 until his death. ... Edward V (4 November 1470 – 1483?) was the King of England from 9 April 1483 until his deposition two months later. ... The Princes in the Tower, Edward V of England (1470–1483?) and Richard of Shrewsbury, 1st Duke of York (1473–1483?), were the two young sons of Edward IV of England and Elizabeth Woodville who were declared illegitimate by the Act of Parliament known as Titulus Regius. ... Edward Seymour Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset (c. ... The Duke of Somerset is a title in the peerage of England that has been created several times. ... Edward VI (12 October 1537 – 6 July 1553) became King of England, King of France (in practice only the town and surrounding district of Calais) and Ireland on 28 January 1547, and coronated on 20 February, at just nine years of age. ...

Cromwellian republic

The Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland was the title of the head of state during the Interregnum, following the first period of the Commonwealth under Council of State government. It was held by Oliver Cromwell (December 1653–September 1658) and his son Richard Cromwell (September 1658–May 1659) during what is now known as the Protectorate. Motto: (French for God and my right) Anthem: God Save the King/Queen Capital London (de facto) Largest city London Official language(s) English (de facto) Unification    - by Athelstan AD 927  Area    - Total 130,395 km² (1st in UK)   50,346 sq mi  Population    - 2006 est. ... Motto: (Latin for No one provokes me with impunity)1 Anthem: Multiple unofficial anthems Capital Edinburgh Largest city Glasgow Official language(s) English, Gaelic, Scots 2 Government Constitutional monarchy  - Queen Queen Elizabeth II  - Prime Minister of the UK Tony Blair MP  - First Minister Jack McConnell MSP Unification    - by Kenneth I... Queen Elizabeth II, is the Head of State of 16 countries including: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Jamaica, New Zealand and the Bahamas, as well as crown colonies and overseas territories of the United Kingdom. ... The English Interregnum was the period of parliamentary and military rule in the land occupied by modern-day England and Wales after the English Civil War. ... Motto: PAX QUÆRITUR BELLO ( English: Peace is sought through war) Anthem: Multiple unofficial anthems Capital London Largest city London Official language(s) English Government Republic  - Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell [of Commonwealth]    - by Rump_Parliament AD May 19, 1649  Area    - Total 130,395 km²   50,346 sq mi  Currency Pound sterling... The English Council of State was first appointed by the Rump Parliament on 14 February 1649 after the execution of King Charles I. It was abolished on 25 April 1660 by the Convention Parliament just before the Restoration Charless execution on 30 January was delayed for several hours so... Oliver Cromwell (April 25, 1599–September 3, 1658) was an English military and political leader best known for making England a republic and leading the Commonwealth of England. ... Richard Cromwell (October 4, 1626- July 12, 1712) was the third son of Oliver Cromwell, and was Lord Protector of England, Scotland and Ireland, for little over eight months, from September 3, 1658 until May 25, 1659. ... The Protectorate in English history refers specifically to the English government of 1653 to 1659 under the direct control of Oliver Cromwell, who assumed the title of Lord Protector of the newly declared Commonwealth of England (later the Commonwealth of England, Scotland, and Ireland) after the English Civil War. ...

The 1653 Instrument of Government (republican constitution) stated that The Instrument of Government was Englands first codified constitution. ...

Oliver Cromwell, Captain-General of the forces of England, Scotland and Ireland, shall be, and is hereby declared to be, Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland, and the dominions thereto belonging, for his life.

The replacement constitution of 1657, the pseudo-monarchical Humble Petition and Advice, gave ‘his Highness the Lord Protector’ the power to nominate his successor. Cromwell chose his eldest surviving son, the politically inexperienced Richard. This non-representative and de facto dynastic mode of succession, the royal connotations of both styles awarded, even a double invocation 16 December 1653 - 3 September 1658 "By the Grace of God and Republic Lord Protector of England, Scotland and Ireland" and many other monarchic prerogatives, such as awarding knighthood, and the authoritarian traits of the whole militarized regime meant that the regicidal civil war, allegedly to uphold parliament against 'royal tyranny' and Protestantism against 'Stuart papacy', had in fact produced a repressive crowned republic, fatally unable to bring peace and prosperity back. This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... December 16 is the 350th day of the year (351st in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... Events February 2 - New Amsterdam (later renamed New York City) is incorporated. ... September 3 is the 246th day of the year (247th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Events January 13 - Edward Sexby, who had plotted against Oliver Cromwell, dies in Tower of London February 6 - Swedish troops of Charles X Gustav of Sweden cross The Great Belt (Storebælt) in Denmark over frozen sea May 1 - Publication of Hydriotaphia, Urn Burial and The Garden of Cyrus by... By the Grace of God, as well as the various equivalent phrases in other languages thus rendered in English, is not a title in its own right, but a common introductory part of the full styles of many Monarchs, preceding the actual princely styles in chief of the specific realm... A crowned republic is an informal term for a nation that was/is nominally a republic, but whose head of state was/is de facto hereditary, or otherwise assumed/assumes the trappings of a monarchy. ...

The younger Cromwell, who succeeded on his father's death in September 1658, held the position for only eight months before resigning in May 1659, being followed by the second period of Commonwealth rule until the Restoration of the exiled heir to the Stuart throne Charles II in May 1660. King Charles II, the first monarch to rule after the English Restoration. ... Charles II (29 May 1630 – 6 February 1685) was the King of England, King of Scots, and King of Ireland from 30 January 1649 (de jure) or 29 May 1660 (de facto) until his death. ...

• The title has not been used since the Restoration in either of the above senses and is unlikely to be revived in the foreseeable future.

References in Culture

Literature

In 1659, the royalist Anglican theologian (later bishop of Rochester) Thomas Sprat made his witty and literary reputation with his satirical poem To the Happie Memory of the most Renowned Prince Oliver, Lord Protector, clearly mocking Cromwell's regal status. Thomas Sprat (1635 – May 20, 1713), English divine, was born at Beaminster, Dorset, and educated at Wadham College, Oxford, where he held a fellowship from 1657 to 1670. ...

Fiction

Alan B'Stard on the final episode of UK sitcom The New Statesman, suggested, seeking alternatives in case he was not made Prime Minister, that he might proclaim himself Lord Protector of England. Rik Mayall as Alan Bstard in The New Statesman The New Statesman was an award-winning British sitcom of the late 1980s and early 1990s satirising the Conservative government of the time. ... Rik Mayall as Alan Bstard in The New Statesman The New Statesman was an award-winning British sitcom of the late 1980s and early 1990s satirising the Conservative government of the time. ... A prime minister is the most senior minister of a cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. ...

In the Star Trek Voyager episode 'Blink of an Eye' during which Voyager is trapped in orbit above a planet experiencing a rapid passage of time, the first attempt shown by the people to contact Voyager was made during the planet's Medieval period by a Lord Protector. By the end of the episode, the planet's technologically-advanced society was governed by the Central Protectorate; hinting that the planet's head of state was still called Lord Protector. The starship Voyager (NCC-74656), an Intrepid-class starship. ... A pocket watch, a device used to keep time There are two distinct views on the meaning of time. ... The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times. ...

In Prince Caspian, the second book in C.S. Lewis's fantasy series The Chronicles of Narnia, the usurper Miraz begins his reign calling himself "Lord Protector". Prince Caspian is a novel for children by C. S. Lewis, first published in 1951. ... Clive Staples Lewis (November 29, 1898 – November 22, 1963), commonly referred to as C. S. Lewis, was an author and scholar. ... The cover to an audio book edition of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis, with artwork by Leo and Diane Dillon The Chronicles of Narnia is a series of seven fantasy novels for children written by C. S. Lewis. ... Miraz is a fictional character from C. S. Lewiss fantasy series The Chronicles of Narnia. ...

Video Games

In the Microprose videogame Sid Meier's Civilization II, the term Lord Protector (or its corresponding female form Lady Protector) is applied to the leader of the English civilization under the Fundamentalist type of government. MicroProse Software, Inc. ... Sid Meier (born Sidney K. Meier in 1954, in Detroit, USA) is a renowned American programmer and designer of some of the most commercially and critically successful computer strategy games of all time. ... Sid Meiers Civilization II, a. ... In comparative religion, fundamentalism has come to refer to several different understandings of religious thought and practice, through literal interpretation of religious texts such as the Bible or the Quran and sometimes also anti-modernist movements in various religions. ...

Other use

Lord Protector has also been used as a rendering of the Latin Advocatus in the sense of a temporal Lord (such as a Monarch) who acted as the protector of the (mainly secular) interests of (a part of) the church, compare vidame. Vidame, a French corruption of the official Latin term vicedominus (vice-lord), was a feudal title in France. ...

Sources and references

(incomplete)

• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
• WorldStatesmen- UK