Timeline (Cromwell the Great)

He maketh kings to sit in soverainty;

He maketh subjects to their powre obey;

He pulleth downe, he setteth up on hy:

He gives to this, from that he takes away;

For all we have is his: what he list doe he may.

Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene (1589-96), Book V, Canto II, Stanza 41. A timeline of Cromwell the Great and events of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland.

1658

 * Anglo-Spanish War (1654–60).
 * Northern War (1655-1660 Wars between Sweden and its adversaries)
 * 3 September - Death of Oliver Cromwell.
 * 4 September - The Protector's Privy Council issues proclamation of Henry Cromwell as Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland.
 * 12 November - Major-General John Lambert named President of the Protector's Privy Council.
 * 23 November - State Funeral of Cromwell at Westminster Abbey.
 * Tea first arrived in England, exported from China via Holland.

1659

 * Anglo-Spanish War (1654–60)
 * Northern War (1655-1660 Wars between Sweden and its adversaries)
 * 14 January – Battle of the Lines of Elvas: The Portuguese beat the Spanish in the Portuguese Restoration War.
 * 31 May – The Netherlands, England, and France sign the Treaty of The Hague.
 * Summer - Campaign and elections of the Third Protectorate Parliament. MPs to the House of Commons results in a solid majority of Cromwellian, followed by Presbyterians and an important minority faction of republican Commonwealthmen. Also elected representatives of extreme sects (such as Fifth Monarchists) and crypto-cavaliers, Catholics (from Ireland), and Episcopalians.
 * July - Henry Cromwell nominates missing members needed to complete the total of 70 in the Other House.
 * August - Henry Cromwell's first address to Parliament. The House of Commons by a large majority recognizes proclamation and proceeds to call for the formal installation and oath.
 * 7 November - Treaty of the Pyrenees between France and Spain ending the Franco-Spanish War (1635–59).

1660

 * Anglo-Spanish War (1654–60).
 * Northern War (1655-1660 Wars between Sweden and its adversaries)
 * Inauguration of Loftus College of the University of Dublin.
 * 23 April / 3 May – Treaty of Oliva: peace made between Swedish Empire, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Habsburgs and Brandenburg-Prussia.
 * 28 November - At Gresham College in London, twelve men, including Christopher Wren, Robert Boyle, John Wilkins, and Sir Robert Moray meet after a lecture by Wren and decide to found "a College for the Promoting of Physico-Mathematicall Experimentall Learning". Later to be known as the Society for Promoting and Improving Knowledge (SPIK)
 * Hopkins Grammar School is founded in New Haven Colony.
 * Navigation Act of 1660.

1661

 * The Irish Common Prayer Book (Leabhar na hUrnaí Coitinne) is published.
 * April - The Post Office introduces postmarks.
 * April - Easter, and later in the same year Christmas, officially celebrated. They were suppressed between 1647-1661.
 * 6 August – Portugal and the Dutch Republic sign the Treaty of The Hague, whereby New Holland (in Brazil) is formally ceded to Portugal by the Dutch Republic.
 * Commonwealth Charter given out to Society of London for the Improving and Promoting of Natural Knowledge (Society for Promoting and Improving Knowledge, SfIK).

1662

 * Campaign and elections of the Fourth Protectorate Parliament. Results in similar majority of Cromwellian followed by Presbyterians, a strong republican Commonwealthmen minority and others as in the previous election.
 * Establishment of county commissions for keeping public peace in England and Wales
 * Poor Relief Act 1662.
 * The Senate Act of 1662.
 * Meeting at the Savoy Palace of the main factions: Presbyterians, Independents and Episcopalians.
 * Common Prayer Book and the Book of Reformed Liturgy are published.
 * 10 March Death of Samuel Hartlib
 * 17 October - Sale of Dunkirk to France.
 * Theaters allowed to stage all sorts of plays. This was banned between 1642 to 1661.
 * October - Henry Cromwell's opening speech to the Parliament Principles of our Government of the Commonwealth that sketches out the Constitutional Framework of the Commonwealth.

1663

 * First gathering of electors and nominations of the Senate, second chamber of the Parliament that replaces the Other House.
 * 24 March - Approval of the Act of Union of Ireland, which regularizes the island's status within the Commonwealth.
 * March - Amended Westminster Confession of Faith for England, Wales and Ireland. Does not included Chapters 30 and 31 on Church discipline.
 * April - Act on certain measures on doctrine and organization given to the he Church in Ireland to dictate. Gives to the Church of Ireland authority in a synod to establish its canons and modify the Irish Act of Faith.
 * April - First issue of the Philosophical Transactions of the SPIK.

1664

 * Act of Settlement (of 1664 for Ireland), it also creates land registries for Ireland.
 * March - Act on the Organization of the Churches of England, Wales and Ireland. Creates the conjoined polity or Ussher scheme, a via media of church governance.
 * April - Venner's Rising in London, Bristol and Belfast against the questionable government of Henry Cromwell. Rebels subdued and imprisoned. Hanging of Thomas Harrison, Thomas Venner, John Carew, and others. The following months purge of Fifth Monarchist from the British Army and militias. Ejectors advised to expel preachers associated with extreme sects.
 * June - Licensing of the Press Act (of 1664).
 * July - The Sedition Act (of 1664) and Blasphemy Act (of 1664). The last Act punishes severely independent preachers wherever they are public or unlicensed.
 * August - First Joint annual session of the Trustees, Triers and Ejectors for England, Wales and Ireland.
 * December - British Army and British Navy came into being with the unification of the army and navy in England, and the armies and militia in Scotland and Ireland.

1665

 * Campaign and elections of the Fifth Protectorate Parliament.
 * Act for matters of government of the Church of Scotland of 1665.
 * The University of Durham (founded in 1656) receives its Commonwealth Charter, giving it powers to grant its own degrees.
 * The revision of The Irish Common Prayer Book (Leabhar na hUrnaí Coitinne) is published
 * February - Outbreak of the Great London Plague.
 * August - First Joint annual session of the Trustees, Triers and Ejectors for Scotland.
 * September - Peak of the Great London Plague, over 7000 deaths per week.
 * November - State funerals of Elizabeth Cromwell (née Bourchier), window of Oliver and mother of Henry.

1666

 * Establishment of shire guardians in Scotland
 * Act of the Government and Discipline of the National Churches of England, Wales and Ireland.
 * Act of Public Monies and Endowment for Religious Observance in Scotland.
 * Meeting the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. There were no General Assemblies between 1653 and 1665.
 * February - End of the Great London Plague, city considered safe.

1667

 * Judicature Acts of 1667.
 * Parish Register Act that mandates the record of births, marriages and burials in the Civil Registers and issue marriage certificates.
 * By Quinquennial Act, the House of Commons of the Parliament is to elected every five years.
 * May - first meeting of the reformed General Synod of the Church of Ireland. Its Bishop-President is appointed Archbishop of Armagh.
 * October - First meeting of the reformed General Synod of the Church of England at London. Its Bishop-President is appointed Archbishop of Canterbury, assisted by the Archbishop of York. Also approves alternately meetings of the General Synod at London and York.

1668

 * Campaign and elections of the Sixth Protectorate Parliament.
 * 12 August - Act organizing the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands
 * October - Start of the legal year of the recently created High Judicial Committee.

1669

 * Election and nominations of Senators.
 * The Isle of Man and Channel Islands Constituencies Act. It allows for the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands to elect MPs and Senators. First elections are held in spring of 1670.
 * Act of parliament that establishes land registries for England and Wales. Scotland and Ireland already had theirs respectively in 1617 and 1664.

1670

 * Establishment of county commissions for keeping public peace in Ireland.
 * Public Worship Regulation Act of 1670.
 * Acts strengthening the East India Company. Rights to autonomous territorial acquisitions, to mint money, to command fortresses and troops and form alliances, to make war and peace, and to exercise both civil and criminal jurisdiction over the acquired areas.

1671

 * 12 November - Death of Sir Thomas Fairfax, Lord General of the British Army. His State funeral at Westminster Hall, the national day of mourning and the highly emotional public sorrow that was expressed by all, marked for many the end of an era of the English Revolution.