Preview

Why Have Interpretations of Oliver Cromwell Changed over the Centuries?

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1167 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Why Have Interpretations of Oliver Cromwell Changed over the Centuries?
Oliver Cromwell was born in 25 April 1599. Cromwell Died on 3 September 1658. He rose from fairly humble beginnings to become the most victorious military and political leader of the Civil Wars, who was part of the joint republican, military and parliamentarian effort that caused the downfall of the Stuart monarchy as a result of the English Civil War, and was consequently invited by his associate leaders to assume a head of state role in 1653. As such, Cromwell ruled as "Lord Protector" for a five-year segment (1653–58) of the 11-year period of Republican Commonwealth and settlement rule of England, and technically of Ireland, Wales and Scotland. As one of the commanders of the New Model Army, he played an essential role in the defeat of the King 's army, the royalists in the English Civil War. After the execution of King Charles I in 1649, Cromwell conquered the short-lived Commonwealth of England, conquered Ireland and Scotland, ruling as Lord Protector from 1653 until his death in 1658. He was also 1st Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland. Oliver Cromwell is remembered because he was just another right-wing militarist religious zealot. In its way, the structure of the Lord Protectorate was a precursor of Stalinist Russia, with its Politburo, assembly and leadership cult - though substituting Puritanism for state-supported atheism. It could be said that everything Cromwell attempted, in the way of government reform, failed. It often failed within a year of the attempt - as with the Parliament of Saints. The Instruments of Government failed within eighteen months. He alternately enfranchised and disenfranchised various groups. He never found a calm solution to government and finally ruled despotically through his clutch of political commissars, the Major Generals. Finally, like Caesar, he was presented the Crown. Like Caesar, he first rejected, and then accepted it, but Oliver became the Lord Protector. His Protectorate hardly

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    The end of the interregnum government heralded Charles II's return to the throne. The period known as the restoration can be argued to have been 'successful' for Charles. However, a successful reign can be distinguished in many ways. At the time one of the most important issues for Charles was trying to create a stable financial and stable settlement after the long period without a Monarch, and to an extent, 'success', can be defined to whether a stable settlement was established. Charles' triumphant, Anglican, State Church was arguably successful as it formed a stable religious settlement, yet on the other hand, it was not what Charles initially wanted. In this way it could be argued that 'success' can be measured to what extent Charles got what he wanted, and how much control he had over his Parliament. A successful reign can also be measured by assessing how well liked Charles was by his people at the time of financial difficulty following the grievances of the Civil War.…

    • 1214 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Oliver Cromwell: military leader of the Parliamentary side in the English Civil war, served as Lord Protector after the parliamentarians won.…

    • 1067 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Even though by this decade the Monarchy did not have the feudal power it had held in the 16th century, King George III was crucial in creating Pitt’s dominance. For any government to be successful it needed the backing of the King. This had been shown by the failure of the Fox-North coalition due to the King refusing to use royal patronage during the period. Royal influence created and maintained much of Pitt’s support. In 1784 alone, the King created 119 new peerages. He tactically gave titles to men who had influence over men in the Commons. For example, he gave a peerage to the second son of the Duke of Northumberland, leading to six of the Duke’s seven loyalists becoming supporters of the new government. All this led to Pitt having an ever increasing majority in Parliament, making it easier and easier for him to carry out his plans.…

    • 2172 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    John P. Cromwell's War

    • 60 Words
    • 1 Page

    The Japanese were notorious for torturing soldiers they captured to get secret information out of them. If John P. Cromwell would have been captured by the Japanese they would have eventually known about the secret war programs that Cromwell had known about. Therefore, if Cromwell hadn't stayed on the submarine there could have been a different outcome of the war.…

    • 60 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    James I was an absolutist ruler who emphasized the divine right of kings and sought to restrain Parliament under his will. Consequently, conflicts were inevitable as James I, and ensuing rulers, often found himself deficient of funds, and Parliament served as the gateway to the money. James I and his successor Charles I called Parliamentary meetings solely to ascertain the issue of funds. During this period, Parliament was rarely called upon and after these debates for money, Charles I and James I completely dissolved the Parliament. I did so because he agreed to admit the illegality of his taxes in turn for funding from Parliament. Afterwards, he abolished the Parliament to pursue his own endeavors. Furthermore, during Charles tenure, the English Civil War took place as a result from the lack of amity between Charles and Parliament. The Scottish invaded England, but Parliament refused to allow Charles to raise an army, because they feared he would abuse his powers and assail English citizens who opposed him. Charles I was eventually defeated and executed by Oliver Cromwell. Following the inadequacy of Cromwell, Charles II rose to power and was keyed the "merry monarch" for his easy-going nature. He imposed the Cabal system, a group of five individuals who handled the political issues of England; the term Cabal stems from the initials of each official member. This system acted as a type of Parliament in its methods of governing. During this period as a whole, it is evident that Parliament often conflicted with the ideals of the ruling monarch.…

    • 540 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    When King Charles I dismissed Parliament in 1629, he was set on the idea of a personal rule without any help from Parliament. This he could manage, as long as he avoided war. His aim was to sort out the country's finances, and with the help of Strafford and Laud, impose a 'Policy of Thorough'. This policy was the idea of a fair and paternalistic government with no corruption. However, within 11 years, Charles' personal rule had failed and England was drifting into war. There are mixed opinions on whether this failure was solely due to the actions of the King, or those of third parties, for example, Strafford or Laud.…

    • 1052 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In January 1649, King Charles I was executed after being charged with high treason due to political and religious reasons, some of which contributed to his refusal in accepting the peace settlements given to him by Parliament. Charles’ refusal to compromise was supported by the division that had emerged within Parliament on how to fight the civil war between the Political Presbyterians and Political Independents. The main factors of the failure to reach a settlement were religion, politics, Charles’ intransigence, the New Model Army and the emergence of radical ideas; all of which eventually concluded to Charles’ execution.…

    • 1416 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Charles the First became king in England, (also in Scotland) in 1625. He caused many problems with the Parliament because he believed in absolute monarchy. At one point Parliament limited Charles The First's power and he went along with a petition they had made but soon dismissed the Parliament.…

    • 370 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Oliver Cromwell was a key figure in the failure of finding an acceptable settlement during the interregnum as both Cromwell and his supporters 'Cromwellians' were key causes in the creating division. After Cromwell's appointment of Commander-in-Chief in June 1650 and his appointment as Head of State in December 1653 many problems began to rise above the surface. The first of the…

    • 891 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Oliver Cromwell was a general for the Puritans during England's civil war. Cromwell captured Kin Charles for treason and had him executed. Cornwell now held power of England. He became a military dictator after ripping a constitution. Ireland then rebelled against him, so he sent an army to crush the rebels. 616,000 Irish died. After Cromwell's death the parliament appointed Charles II as ruler. Charles restored monarchy and brought back sports and theater.…

    • 750 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Two hundred years earlier the Puritan movement, led to the installment of Oliver Cromwell. Cromwell had temporarily overthrown the British monarchy. He imposed a strict moral code on the people. Cromwell's objective was of spiritual and moral reform. He wanted to restore liberty of conscience and promote both outward and inward godliness throughout England. Cromwell even installed a set of "triers" assess the suitability of future parish ministers, and also a set of "ejectors" to dismiss ministers and schoolmasters who were deemed unsuitable for office. After Cromwell’s death the monarchy had been restored and the two social forces of Puritanism and libertinism continued to motivate the collective psyche of Great Britain. Religious morality…

    • 207 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    parliament frq

    • 642 Words
    • 3 Pages

    After the execution of Charles I, Oliver Cromwell governed under a military dictatorship. He removed all Presbyterians from Parliament which created a Rump Parliament that voted to execute Charles and…

    • 642 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    yo check it

    • 774 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Source E is source from a revisionist Historian who will have looked into a variety of sources regarding Thomas Cromwell’s demise prior to coming to an overall conclusion. When looking at providence of the source it is an impartial source as the writer does not have a motive, although like hay source it will have been opinion based. Throughout Cromwell’s career, he had made several reforms which were supported by the protestant radicals within parliament and at court, yet the conservatives strongly opposed Cromwell and a majority of the powerful noble house in England were very conservative in their views. Through reforms such as the dissolution of monasteries and continuation of the break from Rome, and his blatant advances towards a more protestant church in England he gained himself some very powerful enemies such as Thomas Howard who was a leading conservative leader and even introduced his niece to court to seduce Henrys mind and gain support against Cromwell within the court. Source E goes onto to say that Cromwell had already lost Henrys favour due to the collapse of the marriage to Anne of Cleves, ‘… might have survived if his enemies had not made good use of the collapse of the Cleves marriage’, the annulment of the Cleves marriage had put Norfolk in a very strong position through as I mentioned earlier the introduction of his niece, and his support at both…

    • 774 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    English nobles had a fear that Catholics wished to make the state once again controlled by a Catholic King. Several monarchs passed with relative ease, until King Charles I ascended to the throne, and civil war erupted and the monarchy was disbanded instead for the rule of the Commonwealth under Cromwell. Eleven years later, King Charles II returned to the throne and declared himself a Catholic who would restore England to a Catholic country. The Glorious Revolution came about as the Catholic King James II, brother of Charles II ascended to the throne. The Protestants in the nation decided to no longer allow for this and thus the Glorious Revolution came to fruition.…

    • 1264 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Then, Oliver Cromwell became Lord Protector and ruled very poorly. After he died, his son ruled, and he did even worse than his father. He…

    • 598 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays