75 Facts About Oliver Cromwell

Oliver Cromwell was an English statesman, politician, and soldier, widely regarded as one of the most important figures in British history.

Oliver 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.

Oliver Cromwell briefly contemplated emigration to New England, but became a religious Independent in the 1630s and thereafter believed his successes were the result of divine providence.

In 1640, Oliver Cromwell was returned as MP for Cambridge in the Short and Long Parliaments.

Oliver Cromwell's head was cut off and displayed on the roof of Westminster Hall.

Oliver Cromwell remains a controversial figure due to his use of military force to acquire and retain political power, his role in the execution of Charles I and the brutality of his 1649 campaign in Ireland.

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

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

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

In 1629, Oliver 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, Oliver Cromwell sold most of his properties in Huntingdon and moved to a farmstead in nearby St Ives.

In 1636 Oliver 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.

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

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

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

Oliver Cromwell moved his family from Ely to London in 1640.

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

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

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

Oliver 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.

Oliver 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.

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

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

Oliver 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.

Oliver 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 Oliver Cromwell employed his son-in-law, Henry Ireton, to draw up proposals for a constitutional settlement.

Oliver 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.

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

Oliver Cromwell seized a pen and scribbled out the order, and handed the pen to the second officer, Colonel Hacker who stooped to sign it.

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

Oliver 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.

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

Oliver 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.

Oliver 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.

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

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

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

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

The victory was of such a magnitude that Oliver 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".

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

Oliver 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".

Oliver 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, Oliver Cromwell is supposed to have said "you are no Parliament, I say you are no Parliament; I will put an end to your sitting".

Oliver 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.

Oliver Cromwell soon secured the submission of these and largely left them to their own affairs, intervening only to curb other Puritans who had seized control of Maryland Colony at Severn battle, by his confirming the former Roman Catholic proprietorship and edict of tolerance there.

Oliver Cromwell famously stressed the quest to restore order in his speech to the first Protectorate parliament.

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

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

In 1657, Oliver 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.

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

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

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

Oliver Cromwell was succeeded as Lord Protector by his son Richard.

Oliver Cromwell's body was hanged in chains at Tyburn, London, and then thrown into a pit.

Oliver Cromwell's head was cut off and displayed on the roof of Westminster Hall at the Palace of Westminster until at least 1684.

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

An example is The Perfect Politician, which describes how Oliver 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 Oliver Cromwell "will be looked upon by posterity as a brave bad man".

Oliver 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 Oliver 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.

Oliver 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.

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

Where Oliver 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 Oliver Cromwell's troops began indiscriminate killing and looting.

Oliver Cromwell has been credited for the formation of the New Model Army.

All of them except Oliver Cromwell chose to renounce their military positions.

In contrast, Oliver Cromwell's commission was given continued extensions and he was allowed to remain in Parliament.

In contrast to Fairfax, Oliver Cromwell had no formal training in military tactics.

Oliver Cromwell required good treatment and reliable pay for his soldiers, but enforced strict discipline.

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

Oliver 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.

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

Marshall argues that Oliver Cromwell was not truly revolutionary in his war strategies.

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

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