Cromwell, Oliver (1599-1658), led the armed forces of Parliament to victory in the English Civil War in the 1640’s and ruled England from 1653 to 1658. He had an iron will and was a military genius. Few leaders have inspired more love and respect or more fear and hatred.
Cromwell was born on April 25, 1599, in Huntingdon, England, near Peterborough. He came from an influential family. Cromwell studied at Sidney Sussex College in Cambridge, but his father’s death forced him to leave before getting a degree. In 1628, he was elected to Parliament. During the 1630’s, Cromwell became a dedicated Puritan. Puritans were Protestants who strongly believed in the right of people to follow more simple forms of worship and church organization than those of the Church of England (see Puritans).
Rise to power.
In 1629, King Charles I dismissed Parliament. He believed that kings received their right to rule from God, not from the people. Charles showed little respect for Parliament and did not call it to meet until 1640, when he needed it to provide money. The struggle for power between the king and Parliament resumed, and civil war broke out in 1642. Cromwell had won election to Parliament in 1640 and eventually became a leading general. He had no military experience, but he turned out to be a brilliant cavalry leader. His forces, called the “Ironsides,” never lost a major battle. In 1645, Cromwell won the decisive Battle of Naseby. The king surrendered in 1646.
Parliament’s supporters split into two rival groups, the Presbyterians and the Independents. The more conservative Presbyterians, who had the majority of the seats in Parliament, wanted Parliament and the king to share political power. The more radical Independents, whose supporters included the chief officers of the army of Parliament, favored formation of a republic governed entirely by Parliament.
Fighting between the king’s sympathizers and the Independents broke out in 1648. Cromwell supported the Independents and put down the revolt. Soon afterward, Parliament’s army seized Charles and forcefully removed the Presbyterian members of Parliament. Cromwell and the Independents charged the king with treason and publicly tried and beheaded him in 1649. England then became a republic called the Commonwealth of England. In the next two years, Cromwell crushed an uprising in Ireland and defeated an invading Scottish army led by Charles Stuart, son of the executed king.
The Protectorate.
Parliament’s failure to adopt major reforms upset Cromwell. In 1653, he dismissed Parliament and ended the Commonwealth. Cromwell’s military officers then prepared a document known as the Instrument of Government, England’s first written constitution, which made England a Protectorate. Cromwell became its chief executive with the title of lord protector.
Cromwell limited freedom of the press, demanded rigid moral standards, and adopted other strict measures. He also strengthened England’s navy and brought Scotland and Ireland under English control. In addition, Cromwell aided the development of English colonies in Asia and North America. In 1657, Parliament offered Cromwell the title of king, but he refused it.
After Cromwell died on Sept. 3, 1658, his son Richard became lord protector. Richard was an ineffective ruler and resigned in 1659. In 1660, Parliament invited Charles Stuart to rule as King Charles II.
