Philadelphia

[Luv2play]

To provide a different perspective on Cromwell and the Interregnum -

 

Under the rules and customs in effect at the time, when the head of Charles I fell off his shoulders, his son and heir immediately became king. Such a transition occurs in an instant of time. Hence the shout., "The king is dead; long live the king!"

 

Charles II status in exile obviously denied him the ability to rule in England during the period of the Commonwealth, but he could still claim the king's title, and do so legitimately. Any act made and approved by the Commonwealth parliament that would alter the government of England could not be considered as valid without the Crown's assent, which was neither sought nor received.

 

Had the Commonwealth continued, all the foregoing would be entirely irrelevant, but the Restoration of 1660 gives it credence. After 11 years of Roundhead rule in the Interregnum, Parliament invited Charles II to return to England and take the throne. His absence during those 11 years, then, could be considered a reign in absentia.

 

Contrast that absentia, forced on Charles, with the later one of his brother and heir, James II, who hastily and willingly fled England in the Glorious Revolution of 1688, to be replaced on the throne by his eldest daughter Mary and her husband, William of Orange, after Parliament declared James II's abandonment of the throne as equivalent to abdication.

 

The significance of these events culminated in the Act of Settlement of 1701, wherein Parliament firmly established that it, not the Crown, shall say who sits on the throne of the kingdom. The trappings of power would be retained by the monarchy, but real power would now be with the people and their parliament.

 

BTW, the motive underlying all this drama of the Glorious Revolution and the later Act of Settlement was to prevent a Catholic from ever again wearing the crown. James II was the last Catholic king of England, and even in this 21st century, he likely always will be.

Thanks for your clarification and expansion on the subject of the continuity of the crown when a current occupant is dethroned. My understanding is that direct heirs of these unfortunate souls (from their perspective), are referred to in the vernacular as pretenders to the throne. This has happened all over Europe over the centuries in countries like Russia, France, Spain, Italy, etc as revolutions or wars have toppled their thrones.

 

The monarchy did get restored in France In the 19th century for awhile, as in Spain during the 20th century, as two more prominent examples. As you pointed out, the restored rulers in Britain became a different sort of monarch, a constitutional one, not an absolute one claiming divine rule. Certainly paid off in the long run.

[Luv2play]

In California we have the City and County of San Francisco.

I've always preferred the city.

[Luv2play]

Most cities provide for their own police departments, fire departments, city roads, and city courts for minor crimes. In California, by law, city attorneys can't prosecute felonies. Counties provide for roads between cities (other than state or Interstate highways), law protection in non-incorporated areas (the Sheriff and his deputies), public health, and felony prosecutions and trials. Some small cities contract with the sheriff's department to provide their law enforcement. West Hollywood did that when they incorporated into a city. I don't know if they still do.

San Francisco is the only "City and County" in California. Those who run the City and County are titled Supervisors (as in County Supervisors for other counties), rather than city council members.

As a kid, I used to love those moments in American films on TV when the criminals crossed the county line with a sheriff and posse in hot pursuit. (These were mostly Westerns or comedies like Laurel and Hardy.) Once in the next county, the bad guys would turn and thumb their noses at their pursuers. I always knew this had a legal significance in the American context, whereas it did not in Canada, where criminal violations fall within federal or provincial jurisdictions.

 

The way we distinguished counties in Canada back in the 50's was whether the roads were paved or not. When you crossed a county line and went from pavement to dirt road, you knew you had entered the territory of a member of the government opposition party (roads were a provincial responsibility and political boundaries were generally drawn along county lines in the countryside). Unpaved roads were a way to remind electors that they should switch party allegiance in the next provincial election. I think this mostly applied in Quebec, where politics were pretty hard-knuckle.

[MikeBiDude]

I've always preferred the city.

Me too!

[PetetKsfo]

This is so interesting how everyone is so interested in this.

 

Each state in the US is broken down into local and regional municipalities in a variety of different ways. The nomenclature (city, town, village, parish county, etc) has different meanings in different states. In some cases, the divisions may be purely geographic wihout any type of governing.

 

County tends to be a good collective for a way of dividing a state into units that often are used for a variety of measurments - such now as voting, census, and even covid data reporting. As city and town size can be hugely varied, you see that sometimes a county can be equal to a collection of cities/towns/other smaller divisions; Sometimes a county and contain only one city; sometimes a city can contain multiple counties within it.

[Islesguy]

This is so interesting how everyone is so interested in this.

 

Each state in the US is broken down into local and regional municipalities in a variety of different ways. The nomenclature (city, town, village, parish county, etc) has different meanings in different states. In some cases, the divisions may be purely geographic wihout any type of governing.

 

County tends to be a good collective for a way of dividing a state into units that often are used for a variety of measurments - such now as voting, census, and even covid data reporting. As city and town size can be hugely varied, you see that sometimes a county can be equal to a collection of cities/towns/other smaller divisions; Sometimes a county and contain only one city; sometimes a city can contain multiple counties within it.

This is true except in New England where county is meaningless for anything. Everything in New England is run at the municipal level below county and there is no county government.