Hi Simon,

No - I wouldn't have liked the Commonwealth. However, compared to a system where the king believed that he spoke with God's authority (as opposed to the Puritans who believed that everyone had an equal relationship with God) I would prefer Cromwell.

The religious sense of individual authority was what translated into a political belief in the authority of the Commons - worth the effort IMO.

Pete

God is our guide! from field, from wave, From plough, from anvil, and from loom; We come, our country's rights to save, And speak a tyrant faction's doom: We raise the watch-word liberty; We will, we will,we will be free!