<P> No monarch reigned between the execution of Charles I in 1649 and the Restoration of Charles II in 1660 . Between 1649 and 1653, there was no single English head of state, as England was ruled directly by the Rump Parliament with the English Council of State acting as executive power during a period known as the Commonwealth of England . After a coup d'etat in 1653, Oliver Cromwell forcibly took control of England from Parliament . He dissolved the Rump Parliament at the head of a military force and England entered a period known as The Protectorate, under the direct control of a single individual known as the Lord Protector . While not officially monarchs, the holder of the office of Lord passed from Oliver Cromwell to his son Richard . Richard lacked both the ability to rule and confidence of the Army, and he was forcibly removed by the English Committee of Safety under the leadership of Charles Fleetwood in May 1659 . England again lacked any single head of state during several months of conflict between Fleetwood's party and that of George Monck . Monck took control of the country in December 1659, and after almost a year of anarchy, the monarchy was formally restored when Charles II returned from France to accept the throne of England following the Declaration of Breda and an invitation to reclaim the throne from the Convention Parliament of 1660 . </P> <Table> <Tr> <Th> Name </Th> <Th> Portrait </Th> <Th> Arms </Th> <Th> Birth </Th> <Th> Marriages </Th> <Th> Death </Th> </Tr> Lords Protector <Tr> <Td> Oliver Cromwell 16 December 1653--3 September 1658 (7003172300000000000 ♠ 4 years, 262 days) </Td> <Td> </Td> <Td> </Td> <Td> 25 April 1599 Huntingdon Son of Robert Cromwell and Elizabeth Steward </Td> <Td> Elizabeth Bourchier St Giles 22 August 1620 9 children </Td> <Td> 3 September 1658 Whitehall Aged 59 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Richard Cromwell 3 September 1658--7 May 1659 (7002247000000000000 ♠ 247 days) </Td> <Td> </Td> <Td> </Td> <Td> 4 October 1626 Huntingdon Son of Oliver Cromwell and Elizabeth Bourchier </Td> <Td> Dorothy Maijor May 1649 9 children </Td> <Td> 12 July 1712 Cheshunt Aged 85 </Td> </Tr> </Table> <Tr> <Th> Name </Th> <Th> Portrait </Th> <Th> Arms </Th> <Th> Birth </Th> <Th> Marriages </Th> <Th> Death </Th> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Oliver Cromwell 16 December 1653--3 September 1658 (7003172300000000000 ♠ 4 years, 262 days) </Td> <Td> </Td> <Td> </Td> <Td> 25 April 1599 Huntingdon Son of Robert Cromwell and Elizabeth Steward </Td> <Td> Elizabeth Bourchier St Giles 22 August 1620 9 children </Td> <Td> 3 September 1658 Whitehall Aged 59 </Td> </Tr>

Chronology of the kings and queens of england