Protector

Protector, a title which has sometimes been conferred in England on the regent or governor of the kingdom during the sovereign's minority. It was given to Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, in 1422, in the minority of Henry VI. Richard, Duke of Gloucester, was Protector in 1483, prior to his ascending the throne as Richard III. The Duke of Somerset, one of King Henry VIII.'s eighteen executors, was in 1547 constituted Protector during the minority of Edward VI., with the assistance of a council, consisting of the remaining seventeen executors; a dignity, however, which he enjoyed for but twenty months. Oliver Cromwell, in December 1653, took the title of Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland, and Ireland. In 1658 his son Richard succeeded to his title and authority, but was never formally installed in the Protectorate, which he resigned in the following year.