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The Engagement Controversy was a debate in England from 1649–1652 regarding loyalty to the new regime after
Pride's Purge
Pride's Purge is the name commonly given to an event that took place on 6 December 1648, when soldiers prevented members of Parliament considered hostile to the New Model Army from entering the House of Commons of England.
Despite defeat in the ...
and the
execution of Charles I
Charles_I_of_England, Charles I, King of Kingdom of England, England, Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland, and Kingdom of Ireland, Ireland, was executed on Tuesday, 30 January 1649 outside the Banqueting House on Whitehall, London. The execution was ...
. During this period hundreds of pamphlets were published in England supporting 'engagement' to the new regime or denying the right of English citizens to shift their allegiance from the deposed king to
Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English statesman, politician and soldier, widely regarded as one of the most important figures in British history. He came to prominence during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, initially ...
and his associates.
In 1650 the statement of engagement took the form:
"I do declare and promise, that I will be true and faithful to the
Commonwealth of England
The Commonwealth of England was the political structure during the period from 1649 to 1660 when Kingdom of England, England and Wales, later along with Kingdom of Ireland, Ireland and Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland, were governed as a republi ...
, as it is now established, without a King or
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...
."Glenn Burgess. 'Usurpation, Obligation, and Obedience in the Thought of the Engagement Controversy.' ''The Historical Journal.'' Vol. 29, No. 3 (Sept., 1986), pp. 515-536.
Participants in the debate are generally regarded either as ''de facto'' theorists or royalists. ''De facto'' theorists advocated loyalty to any government capable of taking power and maintaining internal peace and order. They argued that unless people are willing to accept any government that can protect them, mankind would be doomed to perpetual civil war. Most royalists argued that the people of England were already 'engaged' to the King, and could not change their loyalties.
References
*Edward Vallance. 'Oaths, Casuistry, and Equivocation: Anglican Responses to the Engagement Controversy.' ''The Historical Journal.'' Vol. 44, No. 1 (2001), pp. 59–77.
*Quentin Skinner. 'Conquest and consent:
Thomas Hobbes
Thomas Hobbes ( ; 5 April 1588 – 4 December 1679) was an English philosopher, best known for his 1651 book ''Leviathan (Hobbes book), Leviathan'', in which he expounds an influential formulation of social contract theory. He is considered t ...