74 Facts About Cromwell

Oliver Cromwell was a politician and soldier, widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history.

Cromwell came to prominence during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms initially as a senior commander in the Parliamentarian army and latterly as a politician.

Cromwell is a controversial figure in Britain and Ireland, due to his use of military force to acquire, then retain political power, and the brutality of his Irish campaign.

Cromwell became a religious Independent in the 1630s and thereafter believed his successes were the result of Divine providence.

Cromwell quickly demonstrated his military abilities and in 1645 was appointed commander of the New Model Army cavalry under Sir Thomas Fairfax, playing a key role in defeating the Royalists in the First and Second English Civil Wars.

Cromwell's head was placed on a spike outside the Tower of London, where it remained for 30 years until reburied at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge.

Cromwell has been variously described as a military dictator by Winston Churchill, and as a hero of liberty by John Milton, Thomas Carlyle, and Samuel Rawson Gardiner.

Cromwell's father was of modest means but still a member of the landed gentry.

Cromwell went on to study at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, then a recently founded college with a strong Puritan ethos.

Cromwell probably returned home to Huntingdon after his father's death.

In 1629, Cromwell became involved in a dispute among the gentry of Huntingdon involving a new charter for the town.

In 1631, likely as a result of the dispute, Cromwell sold most of his properties in Huntingdon and moved to a farmstead in nearby St Ives.

In 1636 Cromwell inherited control of various properties in Ely from his uncle on his mother's side, and his uncle's job as tithe-collector for Ely Cathedral.

Cromwell had become a committed Puritan and had established important family links to leading families in London and Essex.

Cromwell made little impression: parliamentary records show only one speech, which was poorly received.

Cromwell was returned to this Parliament as member for Cambridge, but it lasted for only three weeks and became known as the Short Parliament.

Cromwell moved his family from Ely to London in 1640.

Cromwell appears to have taken a role in some of this group's political manoeuvres.

Cromwell recruited a cavalry troop in Cambridgeshire after blocking a valuable shipment of silver plate from Cambridge colleges that was meant for the King.

Cromwell was appointed governor of the Isle of Ely and a colonel in the Eastern Association.

Cromwell's cavalry's success in breaking the ranks of the Royalist cavalry and then attacking their infantry from the rear at Marston Moor was a major factor in the Parliamentarian victory.

Cromwell fought at the head of his troops in the battle and was slightly wounded in the neck, stepping away briefly to receive treatment but returning to help secure the victory.

Cromwell was charged with familism by Scottish Presbyterian Samuel Rutherford in response to his letter to the House of Commons in 1645.

The Ordinance decreed that the army be "remodelled" on a national basis, replacing the old county associations; Cromwell contributed significantly to these military reforms.

Cromwell led his wing with great success at Naseby, again routing the Royalist cavalry.

Cromwell took part in successful sieges at Bridgwater, Sherborne, Bristol, Devizes, and Winchester, then spent the first half of 1646 mopping up resistance in Devon and Cornwall.

Cromwell's strengths were an instinctive ability to lead and train his men, and his moral authority.

Cromwell introduced close-order cavalry formations, with troopers riding knee to knee; this was an innovation in England at the time and a major factor in his success.

Cromwell kept his troops close together after skirmishes where they had gained superiority, rather than allowing them to chase opponents off the battlefield.

Cromwell rejected the Scottish model of Presbyterianism, which threatened to replace one authoritarian hierarchy with another.

The King appeared to be willing to compromise, so Cromwell employed his son-in-law, Henry Ireton, to draw up proposals for a constitutional settlement.

Cromwell dealt leniently with ex-Royalist soldiers, but less so with those who had formerly been members of the parliamentary army, John Poyer eventually being executed in London after the drawing of lots.

Cromwell was still in the north of England, dealing with Royalist resistance, when these events took place, but then returned to London.

Cromwell remained a member of the Rump and was appointed a member of the council.

Cromwell had been connected to this group since before the outbreak of civil war in 1642 and had been closely associated with them during the 1640s.

Cromwell led a Parliamentary invasion of Ireland from 1649 to 1650.

Cromwell was passionately opposed to the Catholic Church, which he saw as denying the primacy of the Bible in favour of papal and clerical authority, and which he blamed for suspected tyranny and persecution of Protestants in continental Europe.

Some historians argue that Cromwell never accepted responsibility for the killing of civilians in Ireland, claiming that he had acted harshly but only against those "in arms".

Where Cromwell negotiated the surrender of fortified towns, as at Carlow, New Ross, and Clonmel, some historians argue that he respected the terms of surrender and protected the townspeople's lives and property.

The captain of Wexford Castle surrendered during the negotiations and, in the confusion, some of Cromwell's troops began indiscriminate killing and looting.

Cromwell was much less hostile to Scottish Presbyterians, some of whom had been his allies in the First English Civil War, than he was to Irish Catholics.

Cromwell described the Scots as a people "fearing His [God's] name, though deceived".

Cromwell's appeal rejected, Cromwell's veteran troops went on to invade Scotland.

At first, the campaign went badly, as Cromwell's men were short of supplies and held up at fortifications manned by Scottish troops under David Leslie.

Cromwell was on the brink of evacuating his army by sea from Dunbar.

The victory was of such a magnitude that Cromwell called it "A high act of the Lord's Providence to us [and] one of the most signal mercies God hath done for England and His people".

Cromwell switched his reserves from one side of the river Severn to the other and then back again.

Cromwell's conquest left no significant legacy of bitterness in Scotland.

Cromwell was away on campaign from the middle of 1649 until 1651, and the various factions in Parliament began to fight amongst themselves with the King gone as their "common cause".

Cromwell tried to galvanise the Rump into setting dates for new elections, uniting the three kingdoms under one polity, and to put in place a broad-brush, tolerant national church.

Several accounts exist of this incident; in one, Cromwell is supposed to have said "you are no Parliament, I say you are no Parliament; I will put an end to your sitting".

Cromwell's troops were commanded by Charles Worsley, later one of his Major Generals and one of his most trusted advisors, to whom he entrusted the mace.

Nevertheless, Cromwell's power was buttressed by his continuing popularity among the army.

Cromwell soon secured the submission of these and largely left them to their own affairs, intervening only to curb his fellow Puritans who were usurping control over the Maryland Colony at the Battle of the Severn, by his confirming the former Roman Catholic proprietorship and edict of tolerance there.

Cromwell declared that "healing and settling" were the "great end of your meeting".

Cromwell aimed to restore liberty of conscience and promote both outward and inward godliness throughout England.

The Presbyterian William Prynne, in contrast to the Congregationalist Cromwell, was strongly opposed to the latter's pro-Jewish policy.

Cromwell pledged to supply France with 6,000 troops and war ships.

In 1657, Cromwell was offered the crown by Parliament as part of a revised constitutional settlement, presenting him with a dilemma since he had been "instrumental" in abolishing the monarchy.

But, most notably, the office of Lord Protector was still not to become hereditary, though Cromwell was now able to nominate his own successor.

Furthermore, Oliver Cromwell increasingly took on more of the trappings of monarchy.

Cromwell is thought to have suffered from malaria and kidney stone disease.

Cromwell was buried with great ceremony, with an elaborate funeral at Westminster Abbey based on that of James I, his daughter Elizabeth being buried there.

Cromwell was succeeded as Lord Protector by his son Richard.

Cromwell's head was cut off and displayed on a pole outside Westminster Hall until 1685.

The Cromwell vault was later used as a burial place for Charles II's illegitimate descendants.

An example is The Perfect Politician, which describes how Cromwell "loved men more than books" and provides a nuanced assessment of him as an energetic campaigner for liberty of conscience who is brought down by pride and ambition.

Clarendon famously declares that Cromwell "will be looked upon by posterity as a brave bad man".

Cromwell argues that Cromwell's rise to power had been helped by his great spirit and energy, but by his ruthlessness.

Austin Woolrych explored the issue of "dictatorship" in depth, arguing that Cromwell was subject to two conflicting forces: his obligation to the army and his desire to achieve a lasting settlement by winning back the confidence of the nation as a whole.

Cromwell argued that the dictatorial elements of Cromwell's rule stemmed less from its military origin or the participation of army officers in civil government than from his constant commitment to the interest of the people of God and his conviction that suppressing vice and encouraging virtue constituted the chief end of government.

Historians such as John Morrill, Blair Worden, and J C Davis have developed this theme, revealing the extent to which Cromwell's writing and speeches are suffused with biblical references, and arguing that his radical actions were driven by his zeal for godly reformation.

Cromwell's collection included many rare manuscripts and printed books, medals, paintings, objects d'art, and a bizarre assemblage of "relics".

The Cromwell Tank was a British medium-weight tank first used in 1944, and a steam locomotive built by British Railways in 1951 was named Oliver Cromwell.