Brief biography of Oliver Cromwell. Oliver Cromwell - how a great commander became a lousy ruler
English statesman and military leader, leader of the Puritan Revolution Oliver Cromwell(Oliver Cromwell) contributed greatest contribution in the formation of modern England. He was born on April 25, 1599 in Huntingdon, into a family of typical English nobles (gentry) - Robert Cromwell and Elizabeth Steward. Oliver's father was the youngest in a family whose founder, Thomas Cromwell, was Henry VIII's closest associate and advisor in reform. Thomas Cromwell received a generous reward for his assistance in secularization (turning monastic lands into secular ones). When Oliver was born, his grandfather, Sir Henry Cromwell, was one of the two richest landowners in Huntingdon, but Oliver's father led a fairly poor household.
Cromwell studied at Cambridge College "Sidney Sussex" for only a year, but in June 1617 he was forced to return home after the death of his father. Oliver inherited the estate from the head of the family, and the 18-year-old boy now had to take care of his widowed mother and seven sisters. In August 1620, Oliver Cromwell married Elizabeth Bircher, daughter of Sir James Bircher. The marriage turned out to be long and happy; throughout the union, the couple had nine children. For the next twenty years Cromwell led ordinary life rural nobleman and landowner, filled with intense spiritual quest. Farming on the local impoverished soils did not provide much income, and at some point Cromwell decided to try his luck by breeding livestock near the town of St. Ives. And in 1628, Cromwell was elected from Huntingdon to the last Parliament he convened before the so-called “Eleven Years' Tyranny,” a period of unparliamentary rule in Great Britain (1629-1640). The family's financial difficulties ended only in 1638, when Oliver inherited after the death of his uncle maternal line, and he moved to the city of Ili.
Parliament met again in the spring of 1640, and Cromwell was elected to the House of Commons for Cambridge. He immediately established himself as a militant Puritan, consistently supporting critics of the established church and government. This so-called "Short Parliament", which operated in the United Kingdom from April 13 to May 5, 1640, was dissolved, but in the summer of 1640 the Scots again defeated Charles and occupied the northern regions of England. Charles turned for help to the new Parliament, which met in the autumn of 1640, and Cromwell was again elected to it from Cambridge. The Long Parliament, formed on November 3, 1640, and dissolved on April 20, 1653, rejected the king's policies and obliged him to renounce many advantages. Parliament insisted on taking Archbishop Laud into custody and sentenced him to death and sent to the scaffold the Earl of Strafford, who was the closest person to Charles I. The House of Commons adopted the 204-point “Great Remonstrance,” which expressed rejection of the government course and distrust of the king.
Cromwell at that time was already 40 years old, moreover, he did not have military experience, but it was he who was nominated as a military organizer and leader of the Puritan movement. Oliver became famous for his radical Puritan views in the Long Parliament, advocating the complete abolition of the episcopate, and throughout eastern England he was also known as a fighter for the right of church communities to elect both their priests and those forms of religious life that suit a given community.
However, peace did not reign in England for long. In August 1642, civil war began. Oliver Cromwell, being an excellent cavalry officer, recruited his own detachment of Parliament supporters in Huntingdon. With him he took part in the final phase of the Battle of Edgehill on October 23, 1642, which ended in a draw. Subsequently, he replenished the detachment, bringing it to a full-fledged regiment, and in February 1643 he received the rank of colonel. Throughout 1643 he was very active in eastern England, turning it into a stronghold for Parliament. However, by the autumn of 1643, almost the entire territory of Wales and England was under the control of the king's supporters. Despite the minor victories that Parliament's troops won at Grantham, Gainsborough and Winsby, where Cromwell took his first steps in the art of war, it was obvious that Parliament would be defeated. Therefore, on September 25, 1643, parliamentary leaders reached an agreement with the Scottish leadership, and in 1644 the Scottish army entered England.
Having become a lieutenant general by that time, Oliver Cromwell took part in the Battle of Marston Moor in Yorkshire on July 2, 1644. Here he commanded cavalry, fighting the Scots and the northern army led by Lord Ferdinand Fairfax and his son Thomas. A year later, on June 14, 1645, Cromwell participated in the defeat of Prince Rupert's army at the Battle of Naseby, and the new commander-in-chief, Thomas Fairfax, was at the head of the parliamentary army. In both battles, Cromwell showed personal courage, resourcefulness and leadership talent. During the First Civil War, Oliver Cromwell gained a reputation for all his achievements outstanding commander.
Cromwell always retained his seat in Parliament and appeared there whenever the opportunity presented itself. In 1644 he played a key role in the passage of the Bill of Denial, which required members of Parliament holding commanding posts in the army to resign so that new blood could be brought into the army. This opened the way for the appointment of Thomas Fairfax as commander-in-chief. Cromwell was ready to resign his command, however, yielding to the insistence of Fairfax, he remained to take part in the Battle of Naseby.
It soon became clear that the House of Commons and the meager remnants of the House of Lords were bent on imposing a rigid Presbyterian structure on the entire Church of England and sending the soldiers home without paying them any satisfactory remuneration for their service. At first, Cromwell tried to act as a mediator between Parliament and the soldiers, but ultimately made a choice and linked his future fate with the army. He made considerable efforts to reach an agreement with the king. Cromwell did not object to the elevation of the Presbyterian Church to the rank of state, but insisted that Puritan sects could also exist. Oliver Cromwell acted as an intermediary within the army itself, trying to convince the radicals who wanted to introduce that the time had not yet come for such revolutionary changes.
By that time, the positions of Parliament and the army had become closer. While Fairfax dealt with the royalists in the south-east of England, Cromwell suppressed the uprising in Wales. He won several victories over the Scots and Royalists in August 1648, which was his first major independent success as a commander. The breaking of their oaths by the king and the royalists once again revived radical sentiments in the army. While the Presbyterians in Parliament still hoped to reach an agreement with Charles I, Cromwell's son-in-law Henry Ayrton led a movement whose goals were to punish the king and overthrow the monarchy. On December 6, 1648, the southern army purged the House of Commons of Presbyterians and demanded a trial of the king. Cromwell acted mercilessly, and it was largely through his efforts that the trial was brought to an end: the king was sentenced to death penalty. On January 30, 1649, Charles I was beheaded in front of a silent crowd gathered in front of Whitehall Palace.
On May 19, 1649, England was proclaimed a Republic. Cromwell became a member of the Council of State, and then its chairman. He was persuaded to take command of an expeditionary army which landed in Dublin on 15 August 1649 and then marched north and besieged Drogheda. In September of the same year, the British took the city by storm and killed almost the entire capitulated garrison. Cromwell later wrote that the massacre was "just God's judgment over the wretched barbarians." The massacre at Drogheda prompted some of the other garrisons to surrender. By the end of the year Cromwell controlled a large part of the east coast of Ireland, and at the beginning of 1650 he led an army inland, ravaging the country and exterminating the population without distinction of age or sex.
Scotland also promised trouble for the Republic, where the Presbyterians came to an agreement with Charles II, the eldest son of Charles I, and proclaimed him king. Not wanting to invade Scotland, General Fairfax resigned, and on June 25, 1650, Cromwell was asked to take the post of commander-in-chief. He did not hold this position for long. For the remaining five years of his life, Cromwell governed the country as Lord Protector, sometimes with the help of Parliament. Like the kings of earlier times, he invariably depended on the advice and support of the Council of State, later called the "Privy Council". On 22 January 1655, Cromwell dissolved Parliament, and in March of that year a royalist rebellion broke out. And although it was immediately suppressed, the Lord Protector found it necessary to divide the country into ten districts.
Meanwhile, England found itself embroiled in another war, this time with Spain, and Cromwell was forced to convene a new Parliament to approve military spending. On September 17, 1656, the first meeting of the second Parliament of the Protectorate was held, where Cromwell again faced serious opposition. As a result, Parliament was purged and 160 members were removed, many of whom refused to swear allegiance to the regime. Those who remained largely cooperated with Cromwell and the Council of State, although they opposed the system of local government through the major generals.
For the last few months of his life, Cromwell ruled without Parliament. The war against Spain, which was fought in alliance with France, was actually won due to victories at sea. In December 1654, a military expedition was sent to the West Indies, and in May 1655 it captured Jamaica. Cromwell did everything to turn the island into a prosperous colony. This was the only significant result of his project of an overseas “Protestant empire.” Cromwell fought against the fanatical Puritans for true freedom of Christian worship, which would allow members of the Episcopalian and Roman Catholic churches to worship in private homes. Cromwell also promoted the development of education, for some time he even served as chancellor and helped found a college in.
Peace in the country at that time rested only on the authority and power of Cromwell’s personality, as well as on the support of the army: he had to fight both the Republican conspirators and the irreconcilable royalists and external enemies. Cromwell died of malaria on September 3, 1658. Before his death, he appointed his son Richard as successor. However, after several unsuccessful attempts at control, he was sent to a monastery.
Even after death, the personality of Oliver Cromwell did not leave the people alone. In 1661, after the Restoration, the royalists removed the embalmed body of the great commander from Westminster Abbey and hung it on the gallows for criminals at Tyburn, and then burned and mixed with the ashes, and the head was impaled on a stake in Westminster, where it remained until the end of the reign. But they were unable to erase what this man had achieved.
| Lord Protector of England, Scotland and Ireland | ||
|---|---|---|
| December 16 (26) - September 3 (13) | ||
Charles II (Scotland)
Huntingdon, Huntingdonshire, Kingdom of England
Whitehall, London, Protectorate
- Westminster Abbey
Battle of Nesby
Battle of Preston
Battle of Dunbar
Battle of Worcester
Battle of Marston Moor
Origin
Received elementary education at the parish school of Huntingdon, and in -1617 he studied at Sidney Sussex College (English) Russian Cambridge University, which had a strong Puritan spirit. His school teacher Thomas Beard greatly influenced his views. (English) Russian, a strict Puritan, author of The Theater of Gods Judgments, 1597.
In 1619-1620 he studied law in London, but was forced to give up his studies after marrying Elizabeth Burshire, the eldest daughter of a London fur trader and returning with her to Huntingdon. After the wedding, he began to lead the typical life of a simple squire-landowner on his estate and engage in economic affairs: selling wool and bread, brewing, and producing cheese. Subsequently, arrogant royalists would remember Cromwell’s “ignoble” occupation and reward him with the contemptuous nickname “Brewer.”
Military career. Political activity
According to most historians, Oliver Cromwell had no military training, and information about his travels across the continent in the 20-30s of the 17th century, participation in the Thirty Years' War, etc. are mythical.
While energetically carrying out his military reforms, Cromwell looked critically at the initial state of the parliamentary army: “Your troops consist mostly of old, decrepit lackeys, innkeepers and the like. The enemy troops are the sons of nobles and noble young people. Do you really imagine that the courage of such lowly fellows as your soldiers can ever compete with the courage of people who have honor, courage and determination in their hearts?
Cromwell's leadership talent was revealed to the greatest extent in the major battle of Marston Moor (), as a result of which the entire north of England found itself in the power of parliament. His troops continued to invariably defeat the king's supporters. In addition, Cromwell managed to achieve democratization of the army: according to the “Bill of Self-Denial”, all members of Parliament resigned from their command. Peers lost their traditional right to command the armed forces.
A new parliament of 400 deputies was elected (September 1654), which existed for little more than a year and was dissolved in January 1655. The new parliament (1657) in the "Humble Petition" offered Cromwell the title of king. Cromwell himself refused to accept the crown, but, having been given the honor of appointing a successor himself, a new Lord Protector, agreed to make his power hereditary. Formally, England remained a republic. According to the adopted law, Cromwell had the title “His Highness”, led military operations and foreign affairs, appointed and removed government officials, signed laws, and established the titles of lords (which the republic did not abolish).
Until his death, Cromwell was popular among the people, including due to the image of a “people’s” politician as opposed to the respectable gentry and king. Of particular importance in in this case Here he had such a trait as absolute incorruptibility. It is also important to note that Cromwell was constantly under guard (there were several units constantly changing each other according to the duty schedule) and often changed places of overnight stay.
Death and exhumation
Cromwell died suddenly in September 1658, from a deadly combination of malaria and typhoid fever. After his death, his eldest son Richard became Lord Protector, and Oliver himself was buried with extraordinary pomp. However, it was then that real chaos, arbitrariness and unrest began in the country.
The deputies, frightened by the prospects of such a situation in the country, on May 25, 1659, forced Richard to resign and called Charles II, the son of the recently executed King Charles I, to the throne. By order of the re-elected Parliament of England, three days later Cromwell's body was exhumed along with the bodies of John Bradshaw and Henry Ayrton on charges of regicide for posthumous execution. On 30 January 1661, the 12th anniversary of the execution of Charles I, the bodies of the accused were carried through the streets of London to the gallows at Tyburn. After hanging for several hours in public view, the bodies were removed and the heads were placed on 6-meter poles near the Palace of Westminster. Interestingly, the pole with Cromwell's head was broken during a storm in the late 1680s and the head was stolen under unclear circumstances. As a result, it was in the hands of private collectors and in museum collections until its burial on 25 March 1960 in the chapel of one of the colleges of Cambridge.
Memory
In the 19th century, Richard Tangey, one of the English admirers of the Lord Protector, collected a rich collection of things associated with Cromwell, including a death mask, his personal Bible and other books, a grave inscription, etc. After Tangey's death, all these rarities were transferred to Museum of London and exhibited among artifacts from the period of the Revolution.
Since the end of the 19th century, monuments to Cromwell began to appear in Great Britain. The first was installed in Manchester near the cathedral in 1875. Queen Victoria demanded that the statue be removed, but the city authorities did not agree to this. In 1899, another statue was erected by the sculptor H. Thorneycroft; the installation of this monument caused furious protests from the Irish. In the 20th century, two more statues of Cromwell appeared - in Saint-Yves ( St Ives, Cambridgeshire) and Warrington. A commemorative plaque has been erected at the resting place of Cromwell's head.
see also
Notes
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- Oliver Cromwell- article from the Great Soviet Encyclopedia.
- Cromwell Oliver // Encyclopedia “The World Around Us” [Electronic resource]. - Electronic. Dan. / Institute "Open Society". - M.: Non-profit foundation “Support for culture, education and new information technologies”, 2000. - 1 CD-ROM Cap. from the container. - BBK 92.0.
- Pavlova T. A. Cromwell. - M., 1980. - P. 15.
The content of the article
CROMWELL, OLIVER(Cromwell, Oliver) (1599–1658), English statesman and military leader, leader of the Puritan Revolution, who, as Lord Protector of the Republic of England, Scotland and Ireland, made his greatest contribution to the formation of modern England. Cromwell was born on April 25, 1599 in Huntingdon (Cambridgeshire) into a family of typical English nobles (gentry) - Robert Cromwell and Elizabeth Steward. Cromwell's father is the youngest son in a family whose founder, Thomas Cromwell (c. 1485–1540), was a close associate of Henry VIII and driving force his reforms. He received a significant fortune from the king as a reward for his secularization of the monastic lands. When Oliver was born, his grandfather, Sir Henry Cromwell, was one of the two richest landowners in Huntingdon, but Cromwell's father was of modest means. In 1616, Oliver graduated from school in Huntingdon, after which he was sent to one of the colleges of the University of Cambridge, Sidney Sussex. But a year later, the death of his father forced 18-year-old Oliver, the only son in the family, to leave the university to help his mother and sisters. He may also have spent some time visiting Lincoln's Inn, one of London's four barristers' corporations. At 21, Cromwell married Elizabeth Burshire, the daughter of a London leather merchant, and returned to Huntingdon, where he took up farming.
The beginning of a political career.
Over the next 20 years, Cromwell led the ordinary life of a rural nobleman and landowner, albeit filled with intense spiritual quest; in addition, he took an active part in local political life. Farming on the poor soils here did not promise much income, and at some point Cromwell tried his luck by breeding livestock near the town of St. Ives. He was able to forget about financial difficulties only in 1638, when he received an inheritance after the death of his maternal uncle, and he moved to the city of Ili. Meanwhile, in 1628, Cromwell was elected from the Huntingdon district to the last parliament of Charles I, convened by him before the so-called. "Eleven Years' Tyranny", an 11-year (1629–1640) period of unparliamentary rule.
Both at school and at university, and during his time in London, Cromwell was influenced by the expanding Puritan movement, which sought a radical reform of the Church of England. This movement was opposed by the direction of the so-called. “high church”, favored by William Laud, who became Archbishop of Canterbury in 1633. The only speech Cromwell made in Parliament, which met in 1628–1629, contained a violent attack on the bishops of the high church. see also PURITANTISM.
The beginning of the civil war.
During the period of non-parliamentary rule, Charles I made many enemies for himself, imposing exorbitant taxes on all layers of society. Using royal prerogatives left over from the Middle Ages, he demanded payment of the “ship tax” (1635), fined the gentry (including Cromwell) if they refused to accept the title of knight, and collected the so-called. “voluntary offerings” and increased taxes. Charles did all this because without the consent of parliament he did not have the right to impose new taxes on the population. His further goal was to ensure financial independence royal power and introduce “church uniformity” throughout the country. The latter alienated both the Puritan reformers and many of the gentry and townspeople from Charles. In 1638, Charles launched a war against his Scottish subjects (by right of succession he was king of both England and Scotland), failing in an attempt to impose on them a prayer book similar to that used in the Church of England. The Scots Presbyterians, seeing this as a threat to their religion, rebelled, and the king was forced to convene parliament to ask him for money for the war.
Parliament met in the spring of 1640, Cromwell was again elected to the House of Commons (from Cambridge). A large number of claims against the king, accumulated over 11 years, set the leaders of the House of Commons in an aggressive and intractable mood. Cromwell immediately established himself as a militant Puritan, consistently supporting critics of the established church and government.
This so-called The “Short Parliament” (April 13 – May 5, 1640) was soon dissolved, but in the summer of 1640 the Scots again defeated Charles and, most humiliating of all, occupied the northern regions of England. Charles turned for help to the new parliament, which met in the autumn of 1640, and Cromwell was again elected to it from Cambridge. The Long Parliament (3 November 1640–20 April 1653) rejected the king's policies and obliged him to renounce many of his prerogatives. Parliament insisted on taking Archbishop Laud into custody, he sentenced to death and sent to the block the Earl of Strafford, one of the people closest to Charles I, Lord Lieutenant in Ireland in 1633–1639. The House of Commons adopted the 204-point “Great Remonstrance,” which expressed rejection of the government course and distrust of the king. Cromwell voted for the Great Remonstrance with the greatest enthusiasm, declaring that if it had not passed he would have left England forever. When an uprising against the British began in Ireland in 1641, Parliament decided to take an unprecedented step, demanding for itself the right to appoint all royal ministers and the high command of the army. The infuriated king attempted to personally arrest five leaders of parliament on charges of treason. When this failed, Charles I left London (10 January 1642) to gather his supporters in the north of England. The House of Commons, in turn, declared martial law in the country and sent members of parliament to their constituencies to establish control over local arsenals and militia. Upon his arrival in Cambridge, Cromwell took possession of the castle, arrested the captain of the county detachment and prevented the colleges from sending some of the silver utensils to the king as donations.
Cromwell the commander.
In August 1642, the civil war began. Cromwell, by nature an excellent cavalry officer, recruited his own detachment of parliamentary supporters in Huntingdon. With him, he took part in the final phase of the battle of Edgehill, which ended in a draw, on October 23, 1642. Subsequently, he replenished the detachment, bringing it in size to a full regiment, and received the rank of colonel in February 1643. During 1643 he became increasingly active in eastern England, turning it into a parliamentary base. At the same time, Cromwell constantly urged the House of Commons, if only it had any serious intentions of defeating the king, to raise the salaries of the soldiers, improve their training and raise the morale of the recruits. After all, the king had a well-trained army, staffed mainly by lords, rural gentry and their servants. However, by the autumn of 1643, two-thirds of the territory of England and Wales was already controlled by the king’s supporters, and, despite the minor victories won by the parliament’s troops at Grantham, Gainsborough and Winsby, where Cromwell took his first steps in the art of war, it seemed that parliament would be defeated. Seeing no other way out, on September 25, 1643, parliamentary leaders reached an agreement with the leadership of the Scots, and in 1644 the Scottish army entered English territory.
Cromwell, now a lieutenant general, took part in the Battle of Marston Moor in Yorkshire on 2 July 1644. Here he commanded the cavalry, fighting alongside the Scots and the northern army led by Lord Ferdinand Fairfax and his son Thomas (1612–1671). The numerical advantage then turned out to be on the side of the parliamentary forces, and the royal army, commanded by Charles I's nephew Prince Rupert, was defeated. A year later, on June 14, 1645, Cromwell participated in the defeat of Prince Rupert's army at the Battle of Naseby, where the Scots were no longer present, and the new commander-in-chief, Thomas Fairfax, was at the head of the parliamentary army. In both battles, Cromwell showed remarkable personal courage, resourcefulness and general talent. And the general turning point in the war was made possible primarily thanks to the persistence with which Cromwell held eastern England. In June 1646, Oxford, the last major stronghold of the royal forces, surrendered; Charles I himself fled from there at the end of April and surrendered in Newark to the mercy of the Scottish troops. During the course of the First Civil War, Cromwell gained a reputation as an outstanding commander and, while openly criticizing some of the aristocrats who commanded the Parliamentary army for passivity and incompetence, remained loyal to Fairfax.
Conflict between parliament and army: the second civil war.
All this time, Cromwell retained his seat in Parliament and appeared there as soon as the opportunity presented itself. In 1644 he played a key role in the passage of the Bill of Self-Denial, which required members of Parliament holding commanding posts in the army to resign so that new blood could be brought into the army. This paved the way for the appointment of the apolitical Thomas Fairfax as commander-in-chief. Cromwell was ready to resign his command, however, yielding to the insistence of Fairfax, he remained to take part in the Battle of Naseby. Cromwell did not downplay his talents, but throughout his life he attributed victories to the Almighty. It is precisely characteristic of Cromwell in highest degree his independent, deeply personal Puritan faith motivated him to take up arms against the king and inspired him in battle. When an alliance was concluded with the Scots, according to which, in exchange for help in the fight against the royalists, Presbyterianism was extended to all of England, Cromwell stipulated guarantees of freedom of religion for himself and his Independent friends. But at first he granted the right to determine the future form government system the civil leaders of Parliament, most of them Presbyterians.
However, it turned out that the House of Commons (abandoned by the king's supporters at the beginning of the war) and the pitiful remnants of the House of Lords were seeking to impose a rigid Presbyterian structure on the entire Church of England and to dismiss Fairfax's soldiers, most of them independents, to their homes without paying them any satisfactory compensation for their service . At first, Cromwell, as a member of parliament and a man who enjoyed enormous authority in the army, tried to act as a mediator between parliament and the soldiers, but ultimately was forced to make a choice, linking his future fate with the army. He made considerable efforts to reach an agreement with the king, whom the Scots handed over as a prisoner to Parliament in February 1647 before their troops left England. Cromwell did not object to the declaration of the Presbyterian Church as the state church, but insisted that Puritan sects (Independents) be allowed to exist outside it. Conducting negotiations on behalf of the army with parliament and the king regarding post-war structure, Cromwell was invariably intransigent on this issue. At the same time, he acted as an intermediary within the army itself, trying to convince the radicals who wanted to introduce a democratic republic that the time had not yet come for such revolutionary changes. His own program called for the establishment of a constitutional monarchy with a parliament expressing the interests of the middle classes and a church tolerant of other faiths. However, Cromwell made plans without taking into account the king, who took advantage of the differences between the opponents and fled from captivity to the Isle of Wight, from where he called on the royalists in England and Scotland for a new civil war, which flared up at the beginning of 1648.
Second Civil War: execution of Charles I.
By that time, the positions of parliament and the army had become closer. While Fairfax dealt with royalists in the southeast of England, Cromwell suppressed a rebellion in Wales and then moved north to fight the Scots. He won a series of victories against superior Scots and Royalist forces in Lancashire in August 1648 (notably at the Battle of Preston), his first major independent success as a commander. The breaking of their oaths by the king and the royalists once again revived extreme sentiments in the army. While the Presbyterians in Parliament still hoped to reach an agreement with Charles I, Cromwell's son-in-law Henry Ayrton (1611–1651) led a movement whose goals were to punish the king and overthrow the monarchy. On December 6, 1648, the southern army “cleansed” the House of Commons of Presbyterians (the so-called Pride’s Purge) and demanded a trial of the king.
Cromwell devoted the autumn of this year to pursuing the retreating enemy until he entered Edinburgh. For no apparent reason, he lingered in the north, but Fairfax finally recalled him to London. The matter was explained by doubts: Cromwell did not know what position he should take on political issues. On his return he approved the "purge" and ensured that Charles I was brought in custody for trial. Since Fairfax distanced himself from any political decisions, Cromwell was forced to take full responsibility upon himself. He understood that the trial of the king would end with a death sentence. But, having once made a decision, Cromwell acted mercilessly, and it was largely through his efforts that the trial was brought to an end: the king was sentenced to death. On January 30, in front of a silent crowd gathered in front of Whitehall Palace, Charles I was beheaded.
Irish and Scottish campaigns (1649–1651).
On May 19, 1649 England was proclaimed a Republic (Commonwealth). Cromwell became a member of the Council of State and then its chairman. Meanwhile, the Royalists had gained control of most of Ireland, which they hoped to use as a base for their invasion of England. Cromwell was persuaded to take command of the expeditionary army, which landed in Dublin on 15 August 1649, and then marched north and besieged Drogheda. On September 10–11, the British took the city by storm and killed almost the entire capitulated garrison. Cromwell later wrote that the massacre was "God's just judgment upon the wretched barbarians." The Drogheda massacre prompted some other garrisons to surrender. In October, the resistance of the Wexford garrison was broken, after which mass executions took place here. By the end of the year, Cromwell controlled a large part of the east coast of Ireland, and at the beginning of 1650 he led an army into the interior of the island, ravaging the country and exterminating the population without distinction of age or gender. By the time Cromwell was recalled to London, most of Ireland was devastated. Beginning in 1651, all land holdings of the Irish were confiscated, they were left with only the barren and undeveloped region of Connacht, where the bulk of the population was driven, dooming them to death from hunger and epidemics.
Scotland also promised trouble for the Republic, where the Presbyterians came to an agreement with Charles II, the eldest son of Charles I, and proclaimed him king. Not wanting to invade Scotland, General Fairfax resigned, and on June 25, 1650, Cromwell was asked to take the post of commander-in-chief. The English army crossed the Scottish border on July 22, 1650, but was initially unable to achieve any significant success, as the enemy chose defensive tactics. As during the Irish campaign, the ground forces were supported by the fleet, to which Cromwell gave great importance. Despite the fact that his army was cut off from English bases, on September 3, 1650, he won a major victory at Dunbar (east of Edinburgh). During the winter, Cromwell fell seriously ill, and the army stood motionless until the summer, when he outwitted the Scots with the help of successful maneuvers. The latter chose not to jeopardize their lines of communication, but followed the young Charles II to England, and here at Worcester on September 3, 1651, Cromwell surrounded and defeated them. When he returned to London he was greeted as a hero.
Establishment of the protectorate (1653).
The next two years were marked by the renewal of the conflict between parliament and the army that had begun in 1647. Radical sentiments prevailed in the army; it demanded reform of the church and state. At first Cromwell tried, as before, to reach a compromise, but in the end he began to speak on behalf of the army. The soldiers demanded the dissolution of the remainder of the Long Parliament, which was called a "rump", and the election of a new unicameral parliament capable of reform. Society as a whole was also tired of the war at sea that was waged against the Dutch Republic (1652–1654); Although Cromwell's soldiers did not participate in this war, they undoubtedly condemned the killing of fellow Protestants.
When negotiations on convening a new parliament were disrupted, Cromwell dispersed the “rump” on April 20, 1653. However, he did not immediately take power into his own hands. Instead, the Independent congregations were asked to appoint members of the Puritan Assembly, which would exercise both legislative and legislative functions. executive power. This representative body, known as the "Little Parliament" (or "Assembly of Saints", also the "Parliament of Barebon"), enthusiastically took up reforms, but soon split between conservatives and radicals. The struggle between them ended with the victory of the conservative wing in December 1653, most of whose members transferred their powers to Cromwell. The coup was carried out with the help of Major General John Lambert (1619–1684), the second-in-command in the army after Cromwell. It was Lambert and his assistants who compiled the so-called. “The Instrument of Government” is the new constitution of the English state (adopted on December 16, 1653), which established an elected unicameral parliament convened every three years, members of the Council of State appointed for life and the Lord Protector as the head of the legislative and executive powers. The post of Lord Protector, not a dictator, but the first servant of the Commonwealth (Republic), which included conquered Scotland and Ireland, was, of course, offered to Cromwell.
Lord Protector: problems and achievements.
For the remaining five years of his life, Cromwell ruled the country as Lord Protector, sometimes with the help of Parliament, sometimes without it. But, like the kings of earlier times, he was invariably dependent on the advice and support of the Council of State (later called the Privy Council). The first session of the Protectorate Parliament (September 3, 1654 – January 22, 1655) was more concerned with revising the constitution than with drafting and passing new laws. Disagreements between the Lord Protector and Parliament revived Royalist hopes of success. On January 22, 1655, Cromwell dissolved parliament, and in March 1655 a royalist uprising broke out. And although it was immediately suppressed, the Lord Protector considered it necessary to divide the country into 10 districts, at the head of which he placed major generals.
Meanwhile, England became involved in another war, this time with Spain (October 1655), and Cromwell was forced to convene a new parliament to approve military spending. On September 17, 1656, the first meeting of the second protectorate parliament was held, where Cromwell again faced serious opposition, especially from ardent republicans who objected to the very idea of a protectorate. As a result, parliament was purged, removing 160 members, many of whom refused to swear allegiance to the regime. Those who remained largely cooperated with Cromwell and the Council of State, although they opposed the system of local government through the major generals. At the same time, a group of legal scholars and civil leaders proposed replacing the military dictatorship with a constitutional monarchy (Cromwell was to become king) and creating a state Puritan church.
Cromwell was forced to refuse the offer, since this idea was opposed by his old army friends and comrades. Nevertheless, a new constitution was adopted, under which the House of Lords was restored; everyone was allowed into the House of Commons except obvious royalists; the place of the State Council was taken by the Privy Council; in addition, some restrictions were introduced on the power of the Lord Protector and freedom of conscience. The new constitution, known as the Most Obedient Petition and Council, came into force in June 1657 (adopted May 25, 1657). An upper house was formed, but the House of Commons now included previously expelled members of Parliament, and at the same time, Cromwell's friends, who had been appointed by him as members of the House of Lords, left it. Therefore, already in June 1658, the House of Commons turned into an arena for attacks on the Lord Protector by Republicans who advocated the abolition of the new constitution. This time Cromwell was unable to contain his anger and, convinced that a new conflict would be followed by a royalist invasion, dissolved parliament on February 4, 1658.
For the last few months of his life, Cromwell ruled without parliament. The war against Spain, which was fought in alliance with France, was actually won due to victories at sea. In December 1654, a military expedition was sent to the West Indies, and in May 1655 it captured Jamaica. Cromwell did everything to turn the island into a prosperous colony. This was the only significant outcome of his project of an overseas “Protestant empire.” However, in 1658 he received the port of Dunkirk from the French - in gratitude for supporting France against Spain. After the conclusion of a peace treaty with Holland in 1654, it began to develop international trade. Cromwell fought against the fanatical Puritans for true freedom of Christian worship, which would allow members of the Episcopalian and Roman Catholic churches to worship in private homes. He allowed Jews expelled by Edward I to settle in England, appointed worthy judges and called on his legal advisers for legislative reform and a cheaper judicial system. Cromwell promoted education, served for a time as Chancellor (figurehead) of Oxford University, and helped found Durham College. However, peace in the country rested only on the authority and power of his personality, as well as on the support of the army: Cromwell had to fight both the Republican conspirators and the irreconcilable royalists and external enemies. He died of malaria in London on September 3, 1658. Before his death, Cromwell named his son Richard as successor.
In 1661, after the Restoration, royalists removed Cromwell's embalmed body from Westminster Abbey and hung it on the criminal gallows at Tyburn, then burned and mixed with the ashes, and the head was impaled in Westminster, where it remained until the end of the reign of Charles II. But they were unable to destroy what this man had achieved.
In London, in front of Westminster Hall with its centuries-old stones, there is a lonely monument. A man in armor and boots stands with a slightly bowed, bare head and a tired but adamant face. Right hand, as if on a cane, he leans on a sword, holding the Bible with his left. At the foot of the monument lay a lion, the symbol of Britain. This is exactly how he appears to us centuries later - a symbol of the English revolution, a desperate fighter and a cold-blooded judge who executes a king, a cruel pacifier and a gentle father, a true Christian and a dictator who almost became a king himself, and all this is one person - Oliver Cromwell.
A little philosophy and maxims
Different human communities develop differently. Deducing the patterns of this development is an incredibly difficult task to solve, practically unsolvable. Similar processes and stages in the history of different civilizations and peoples do not, in fact, go beyond the framework of similarity, repetition and borrowing of experience. But in some cases, events can occur without obeying any theories with axioms, but only based on subjective factors. We are talking about revolutions.
Different societies go through them in different ways. The excesses of destruction of previous, outdated orders can vary in the range from the total destruction of all structures and the most severe, long-term, sometimes for more than one generation, crisis and overcoming the consequences. But sometimes a revolution is limited to minimal bloodletting, and this action from the arsenal of healers of the past produces a healing effect. Perhaps, from this angle one can look at the history of the English Revolution and the subsequent civil war in the mid-17th century.
A short excursion into English history
Over the previous three centuries of its history (XIV-XVI centuries), England experienced many adversities: Hundred Years' War, 30 years of the War of the Roses, which led to the extermination of almost the entire ancient aristocracy and the end of the Plantagenet dynasty; confrontation with Spain, which wiped out most of new nobility. But this thinning out of the upper class turned out to be an inoculation against the absolutism that flourished on the continent and ultimately brought Britain into world leadership, thanks to its purely British characteristics, which consisted of a combination of a constitutional monarchy and an industrial revolution driven by the national bourgeoisie.
Dictator - Puritan
The main actor in all these turbulent events, by chance, became not the darling of fate and the favorite of the crowds, but a man with the boring face of a rural squire. However Oliver Cromwell came to his place not to play any role, but to do work (as he understood it) for the good of Britain. And the fact that assessments of this work are placed by both contemporaries and historians in a very wide range - this only confirms the complexity of this work. However, let’s not get ahead of ourselves and put the cart before the horse, but let’s start in order...
The future dictator of England was born on April 25, 1599 in the family of Robert Cromwell, bailiff(Judge of the Peace) of Huntingdon Township, Huntingdon County. The town, which had 1000-1200 inhabitants, was actually a village (and not even a big one). The family, despite the father's position, was not rich, having an annual income of around 300 pounds. The fact is that Robert Cromwell was the youngest son of Sir Henry Cromwell and, according to the laws of the then England (and Europe too), was, in the language of the stock market, a minority shareholder and his share of the inheritance was tiny, if any...
The Cromwell surname, although not one of the aristocracy, was nevertheless well known thanks to Thomas Cromwell- an incredibly bright personality. He was an advisor to Henry VIII and one of the main founders of Anglicanism ( Act of Supremacy).
As the son of an innkeeper from Putney (a criminal area of London at that time), he left for the continent in his youth and fought for some time as a landsknecht in France and Italy. Remaining in Florence, he enters the service of the Friscabaldi bankers. The originality of his personality helps him advance in his career. On business with this service he travels to the Vatican, takes a keen interest in Macchiaveli and takes the theses of “The Prince” into service. Returning to London, he quickly makes an incredible career leap, becoming one of the most important figures of the era of King Henry VIII.
Thomas Cromwell takes care of Richard, the son of his sister Catherine, who married Morgan Williams, a lawyer from Wales, taking him into his service. Richard Williams would later take his uncle's surname (and his mother's maiden name) and become Oliver Cromwell's great-grandfather.
Information about the childhood and youth of Oliver Cromwell is extremely scarce; it is only known that it was a Puritan family of rural squires. At the age of 17 (1616) he entered Cambridge University, where, after studying for a year, he returned home due to the death of his father. For two years he helps his mother, Elizabeth, run the household, being the only man in family. Then, in 1619, he went to London to study law. There is no information about this period of his life and Oliver is discovered in 1620 in connection with his marriage to the daughter of a furrier, Elizabeth Burshire. After which he returns to Huntingdon. The next 20 years of his life included the birth of seven children, of whom six (two daughters and four sons) survived.
In 1628, Oliver was elected to parliament from Huntingdon and took part in its work until the dispersal of Charles I on March 2, 1629. The time of “reaction” came, as Soviet historians would write in this case, and it lasted for 11 long years.
These years were difficult for Oliver Cromwell. In the spring of 1631, having quarreled with the top of his town, he sold all his property and the family moved to the town of St. Ives, five miles below, along the River Ouse. Finding himself as a tenant farmer, he experiences financial difficulties, balancing on the brink of poverty. Only the death of his childless uncle, Thomas Steward, makes the situation a little easier. He moves to Ely, County Cambridge.
And yet Cromwell’s state of mind cannot be called positive. At this time, Oliver Cromwell begins to think about emigrating to New England(America). In his house, persecuted Puritans find shelter; a severe spiritual crisis during this difficult period of his life transforms Oliver Cromwell into a furious Calvinist Puritan, henceforth convinced of his duty to defend justice and contribute to its victory.
Beginning of the ascent
Ruling for 11 years without parliament, King Charles I tirelessly increased the number of his enemies, which is not a sign of amazing statesmanship. He crushed all layers of society with taxes and extortions. Using the privileges and powers of the Middle Ages, he squeezed out the “ship tax” (1635), strangled nobles with fines (as, by the way, Cromwell) if they refused the title of “sir” for a fee, introduced “voluntary offerings”, etc. . etc. The king thus violated the laws, since without the consent of parliament he did not have the right to impose new taxes on the population. All of Charles's short-sighted policies spoke of a movement towards an unlimited monarchy and absolutism, like those of his French neighbors, where the Louis-Sun Kings enjoyed life. Which their English colleague, presumably, was fiercely jealous of...
In 1638, Charles started a so-called war with the Scots. "Bishop Wars" (Bishop's Wars), allegedly with the aim of imposing Anglicanism on them church canon. However, the Scots, being staunch Presbyterians, categorically disagreed with this and the war flared up in a way that was not childish. Charles I, in dire need of money and gritting his teeth, was forced to convene parliament in order to maintain the appearance of legality and without looking like an outright usurper, approve new taxes and receive allocations for the war with the Scots.
But in February 1639, a 20,000-strong Scottish militia invaded England and put the royal soldiers to flight in several brutal skirmishes. In the summer of 1639, Charles signed a truce, practically without bargaining and promising a lot of things: amnesty, independence of the Scottish kirk, etc. The majority, of course, did not believe all of Charles’s promises and it turned out to be absolutely right. He sends secret instructions to the bishops in Scotland not to stop hostile actions against the Presbyterians, and negotiates with a lot of promises to the heads of the mountain clans under the general leadership of Montrose.
On April 13, 1640, the so-called Short Parliament met ( Short Parliament), where Cromwell was also elected from Cambridgeshire. He immediately identified himself as an irreconcilable enemy Church of England and the authorities, attacking them like a true Puritan. But on May 3, 1640, the enraged Charles dissolved parliament, which had thus worked for less than a month.
But soon in the summer the war resumed and on August 28, in a battle near Newburn-on-Tyne, the royal troops were defeated. The next day the Scots took Newcastle.
It was under these conditions that the Long Parliament met on November 3, 1640, and was destined to play a vital role in this fateful turn. English history. And he began to live up to expectations by abruptly taking off from his place in the “quarry”: a week after the start of work, he arrested and sent Thomas Wentworth, Earl of Strafford, to the Tower.
Opposition leaders: Pym, Hampden, St. John, Barnard went all in, initiating a parliamentary petition against Strafford. If the House of Lords had not supported this initiative, all of them would have faced inevitable death. But Charles’s “wise” policy deprived him of support even among the highest nobility, which, in fact, played to the benefit of the future English revolution.
On November 9, Strafford appeared in London and spent a long time in audience with Charles. Two days later, on November 11, he was supposed to join the House of Lords and bring charges of treason against Pym, Hampden, St. John and other parliamentary leaders and obtain a decision for their arrest.
On the same day, November 9, Pym, soberly and coldly aware of the mortal danger hanging over him and his comrades, makes a brilliant and emotional speech in the House of Commons against Strafford, accusing him of arbitrariness, greed and deceit of the “good and most Christian king” and therefore “Everywhere where the king allowed him to interfere, he brought grief, fear and unbearable suffering to His Majesty’s subjects, hatched and carried out plans detrimental to England.”
The chamber exploded with indignation and rage. In vain, some of the deputies loyal to the king tried to object - based on the facts set out in Pym’s speech, it was decided to present the Earl of Strafford with treason to the House of Lords and take the Earl into custody for the duration of the investigation.
Strafford was immediately summoned to the House of Lords. The speaker read the text of the accusation to the kneeling leader, and right from there he was sent to the Tower. A week later, Archbishop William Laud was also arrested.
All this time, Cromwell, actively participating in the activities of parliament, gained experience, delving into the intricacies and nuances of London politics. From a rude and uncouth village squire-tenant, he begins to transform into what he will very soon become - the furious and fanatical leader of the Puritan revolution.
He attacks the privileges of priests and bishops, demanding the annulment of their various privileges, rightly seeing in this a similarity with the corrupted Catholic priesthood, serving not only not the flock, but not even God, but only - strong of the world this.
On December 11, a draft bill was introduced into the House of Commons for the complete destruction of “the tree of prelacy, root and branch,” signed by more than fifteen thousand people. On December 30, he advocated the adoption of a bill for the annual convening of representatives of the House of Commons. However, after much debate, parliament in February 1641 approved "Triennial Act". According to it, the king is obliged to convene parliament every three years.
But Cromwell continues to stubbornly hit the hated princes of the church: on February 9, an “Act for the abolition of superstition and idolatry and for the better maintenance of true worship” is introduced, aimed, in fact, at depriving the priests of their special position in the kingdom. To which the adherents of traditions fearfully stated that if equality in the church is legislated, sooner or later the question of equality in the state will arise, especially since bishops are one of the three pillars of the kingdom, and they have their representation in parliament.
Meanwhile, the trial of Strafford was completed with great difficulty and, with even greater difficulty, approval of the death sentence was wrested from the lords and the king, for which Pym had to organize a demonstration of angry and armed people at the walls of Westminster and the royal palace.
Finally, on May 12, 1641, the head of the royal favorite rolled off the block. So far this was not a point in Cromwell’s personal account - he only played actively in the team, but this became an overture to the upcoming personal triumph of the recently unknown country gentleman.
The summer of 1641 was a hot time in the work of parliament in the abolition of the attributes of absolutism and the limitation of royal autocracy: June - the dissolution of the king's army, the abolition of customs duties. July - abolition of the Star Chamber, High commission, emergency courts - instruments of royal tyranny.
August - abolition of “knightly fines”, forest taxes and the “ship money” that made Hampden famous.
In the fall, events begin to accelerate, acquiring a frightening acceleration every month. On October 23, the uprising begins in Ireland. On November 22, parliament passes the Great Remonstrance.
Beginning of civil war and revolution
1642 - January: The king tries to arrest five leaders of the parliamentary opposition, but fails and flees to the north. February: Parliament passes an act to confiscate 2.5 million acres of comfortable land from the Irish to secure a £1 million loan taken out by the government to suppress the Irish Rebellion. Cromwell participates in this loan. On June 2, Parliament passes the “Nineteen Proposals” to the king. On June 12, a decree was issued on the organization of a parliamentary army under the command of the Earl of Essex. On August 22, the king declares war on parliament - he raises his banner in Nottingham. October 23 - first major battle between parliamentary and royal troops at Edgehill. Cromwell participates in it with the rank of captain.
1643 - January: Parliament issues an act of abolition of the episcopacy. February: Cromwell is appointed colonel of the troops of the Eastern Counties Association. May 13 - Battle of Grantham. In June, John Hampden was mortally wounded. In summer and autumn, Cromwell creates the first detachments New model armies. July 28 - Battle of Gainsborough. On August 10, the Earl of Manchester was appointed commander-in-chief of the troops of the Eastern Association, and Cromwell was appointed his deputy. September: Parliament accepts the Scottish "Holy League and Covenant". September 20 - Battle of Newbury. On October 10, Cromwell's troops defeated the royalists at Winsby. November - siege and capture of Basing House:
1644 - the Scottish army, an ally of the English Parliament, enters the territory of Northern England. Cromwell is appointed lieutenant general. His second son Oliver dies. On July 2, the Battle of Marston Moor takes place, where Parliamentary troops win a decisive victory.
October 27 - Second Battle of Newbury. In November, a tough confrontation took place between Cromwell and the Earl of Manchester regarding the intensification of the confrontation with the king. November 25 Cromwell sharply accuses Manchester at a session of parliament. On December 9, Cromwell gives a speech in parliament about the need for radical reform of the army. He proposes to the House a bill of self-denial. ( Self-denying Ordinance), according to which all members of both houses (commons and lords) had to refuse command posts in the army.
1645 - On February 17, parliament passes an act on the creation of a new model Army. In its ranks there were 22 thousand soldiers and officers, distributed among twenty-three (23) regiments: 12 infantry, 10 cavalry and 1 dragoon. Strict discipline and a Protestant spirit reigned in the New Model Army. Cromwell's associate Thomas Fairfax is rapidly training new soldiers. June 14 - Battle of Nasby - victory of the parliamentary army. Bristol was captured in September.
1646 - On February 24, parliament destroys another relic of feudalism - the “knighthood” personified Chamber of Guardianship Affairs.
Late April: Charles I flees to the north where the Scots take him prisoner. On June 24, Oxford was taken. December: The Scots hand over the king to Parliament for four hundred thousand pounds.
1647 -January: Cromwell becomes seriously ill, doctors find an abscess on his head, threatening the life of Oliver, who is tormented by severe headaches. February: The Scots hand over the king to the commissioners of the Parliament. The royalists and their accomplices in parliament are beginning to raise their heads.
Parliament is trying to disband the army. The Levellers, led by Lilburne, who publishes denunciatory pamphlets, are strongly opposed. There is unrest in the army - the soldiers refuse to march to Ireland. Presbyterians create a Committee of Safety in London. In early June Cornet Joyce captures the king at Holmby Castle and takes him to the army headquarters. The recovering Cromwell arrives at headquarters. A General Army Council is created. On August 1, the Independent Constitution, the “Chapter Proposals,” is published. On August 6, the army led by Cromwell and Fairfax enters London.
September: Cromwell begins negotiations with the king. The Levellers denounce him as a traitor. October 28 - November 11 An enlarged meeting of the army council is convened in Putney to discuss the Leveller constitution - the “People's Agreement”. On November 11, the king flees from Hampton Court to the Isle of Wight. November 15 Cromwell reprisals the Levellers in Ware, executing soldier Richard Arnold. December the king enters into an alliance with the Scots to fight the independents.
1648 - On January 3, the House of Commons stops negotiations with Charles. March: Second civil war begins. On April 29, a meeting takes place in Windsor, where a decision is made to bring Charles I to trial as an enemy of the nation. On May 3, Cromwell leaves London for Wales. July: Siege of Pembroke. After its capture, on August 17-19, the “ironsides” defeated the royalists at Preston. September October: The Ironsides fight Scottish royalists in the north, and the Independents capture Edinburgh in early October. A truce was concluded with Argyll. Having gone south, the “roundheads” besiege and take Pontefract.
1649 - January 20 begins the trial of Charles I. January 30 - execution of Charles I. February 6 Parliament issues a bill to abolish the House of Lords. In February, Lilburn published a pamphlet, "England's New Chains Exposed." In March - the pamphlet “Fox Hunting...” and the pamphlet “The Second Part of Exposing England’s New Chains.” Parliament, considering this pamphlet seditious, throws the Leveller leaders into the Tower. Performance begins in early spring "true levelers" - diggers. At the end of April, a rebellion breaks out in Whalley's dragoon regiment. 26 April: Fifteen soldiers from Whalley's regiment were court-martialed. Eleven of them were found guilty, six were sentenced to death. Cromwell insisted that five of those convicted be pardoned. 23-year-old Robert Lockyer was destined to die... April 27 - execution of Robert Lockyer. In early May, the Leveller uprising in Burford was suppressed. On May 19, a republic is officially proclaimed in England.. On August 15, the “ironsides” land in Ireland. September 11 - assault and massacre in Drogheda... (for which Cromwell is still, 360 years later, fiercely hated in Ireland). Wexford captured on 11 October.
1650 April-May: Cromwell with his “ironsides” besieges Clonmel and receives a number of crushing blows. On May 26, Cromwell's troops leave Ireland. June 8 - heads north and invades Scotland with an army in July. September 3 - defeat of the Scots by Cromwell at Denbar.
1651 February-May: While in Edinburgh, Cromwell becomes seriously ill. Beginning of August - the capture of Perth, then pursuing the Scottish royalist army on September 3 at the Battle of Worcester inflicts complete defeat on them.
October 9: Parliament issues the "Navigation Act" to deprive the Dutch of their trade monopoly on the seas. In December, Cromwell and Whitelock delve into the question of the “structure of the nation.”
1652 April: First Anglo-Dutch War begins. In August, the Irish Settlement Act appears. There is renewed unrest in the army: in August, army officers demand reforms. In November, with Whitelock, Cromwell again examines the constitutional question.
1653 - On April 19, Cromwell holds a meeting in Whitehall, on April 20 he disperses the Long Parliament and the Council of State.
July 4—beginning of meetings of the Small Parliament. August: Lilburne's trial, ending with his acquittal. On December 12, the Small Parliament dissolves itself. December 16 Cromwell becomes Lord Protector of England. A new constitution is adopted - “Instrument of Governance”.
1654 - April: England makes peace with Holland and signs a trade treaty with Sweden. On September 3, the first protectorate parliament opens. In September, Oliver Cromwell's mother, Elizabeth Cromwell (Steward), dies. December: An expedition is sent to the West Indies, marking the beginning of England's colonial expansion.
1655 - January 22 Cromwell dissolves parliament. In April, the English fleet tried to take Hispaniola, but was unsuccessful. May 17 - The British capture Jamaica. On August 9, Cromwell divided England and Wales into 11 military administrative districts led by major generals. November 3 England concludes an expanded treaty with France. War with Spain begins.
1656 - On September 17, the second parliament of the protectorate will begin its work. On November 27, a bill was adopted confirming the 1646 ordinance on the abolition of the guardianship chamber.
1657 - February: A “Humble Petition and Advice” is introduced into Parliament - Cromwell is offered the title of king. On March 23, an agreement was signed with France on joint military actions against the Spanish Netherlands. On May 8, Cromwell, under pressure from officers, renounces the royal title. On May 25, Parliament adopts the “Humble Petition and Advice.” On June 26, the solemn approval of the new constitution and the enthronement of Cromwell take place - his second proclamation as Lord Protector. Cromwell draws up the lists of the House of Lords.
1658 - February 4 Cromwell dissolves parliament. On June 4, the Battle of Dunkirk takes place, where the Spaniards are defeated. Dunkirk goes to England. On August 6, Cromwell's daughter, Elizabeth Claypole, dies.
1659 The year passes in the seething and ferment of all circles of English society. In August, a royalist rebellion broke out, suppressed by General John Lambert, an ally of Cromwell. In November, Lambert disperses parliament, but does not find support from the generals. In this situation, General George Monck staged a coup in February 1660, threw Lambert into the Tower and began negotiating with Prince Charles to restore the monarchy.
1661 - On January 30, on the day of the execution of Charles I, the bodies of Cromwell, Ayrton and Bradshaw were dug out of their graves and subjected to mockery: first the corpses were hanged, then their heads were cut off, they were impaled on 6-meter stakes and displayed in front of Westminster Abbey. The bodies were chopped into small pieces and drowned in sewage. Thus England marked the beginning of a new stage in its history.
Oliver Cromwell is one of the most famous figures of the British state. He became famous for his military achievements and reforms.
Biography: Cromwell Oliver. Briefly: life before the war
Born in 1599 in Huntingdon County. The family of landowners was not rich by the standards of the English elite of that time. Oliver's ancestry can be traced back to the time of his reign. It was during this period that the family was able to make a fortune by confiscating the lands of the church, and, presumably, receive a high title. One generation of Cromwells was close to the king, and even served as Henry’s advisor for 8 years.
In the center of the county - the city of the same name - Huntingdon - Oliver received his primary education. The family strictly adhered to the Puritan "spirit". Therefore, Cromwell continued his further studies at Sidney Sussex College, which was known for its Protestant traditions and Calvinism, which are so inherent in Puritanism. Oliver did not like studying law, and he soon dropped out of school. At the insistence of his relatives, he married the daughter of a small landowner.
Beginning of the Civil War
At the beginning of the 17th century, dissatisfaction with the central government was growing in Britain. King Charles I was unable to carry out the necessary reforms. The monarch, relying on significantly reduced the influence of parliament. This helped him restore the old system of taxation and government of the country. Such transformations caused indignation among the people, which served as the reason for the uprising.
Supporters of Puritanism were represented in parliament by several parties, most of which were moderate supporters of the preservation of church power. But some of the Puritans created the Roundheads party, a radical Protestant organization whose goal was to overthrow the monarch through revolution. It was led by Oliver Cromwell.
Ironside Cavalry
The beginning of the civil war can be considered the king's unsuccessful attempt to arrest five parliamentarians. After this, both sides began to gather troops. The royal army had powerful cavalry, which gave it a huge advantage. The parliament's army consisted of militia units that took up arms for the first time. It was then that Cromwell decided to create a detachment of cavalry that was capable of repelling the royal cavalry.
Oliver himself was not a military man and had no training, but his years as a landowner had given him an understanding of horses. At the beginning of the war, he became captain of a cavalry detachment of fifty people. He taught them to attack in formation and attack from the flank. During the battle, Cromwell's cavalry stood side by side and charged in unity, while the royal cavalry, made up of upper-class men, charged in disarray. The innovations very quickly yielded results, and Oliver Cromwell became the commander of the famous Ironside Cavalry detachment.
The combat unit consisted of about 2 thousand fighters. All of them were tested and strictly selected. Each soldier was a zealous Protestant and a supporter of Puritanism. Oliver Cromwell categorically prohibited drinking and gambling in the camp of the detachment entrusted to him. Exemplary behavior and strict discipline had a serious propaganda influence. The local population admired the non-drinking fighters and en masse joined the army of parliamentarians. In the camps, the dependence of the hierarchy on origin was leveled. Therefore, the detachment was extremely united and friendly. For their courage and steadfastness on the battlefield, Cromwell’s cavalry received the name “ironsides.”
Mastery of the North
By mid-summer 1644, parliamentary troops were already besieging York, the main stronghold of royal (royalist) power in the North. Both sides understood the extreme strategic importance of the city, so they allocated their best forces. King Charles sent his nephew Rupert to help the besieged, fearing the surrender of the city garrison. The sudden reinforcement forced the army of parliamentarians to retreat. Encouraged by this success, Prince Rupert united with the rest of the royal army and marched to Marson Moor, with the goal of defeating the army of the Roundheads.
On July 2, the parties lined up in battle formations, awaiting battle. The famous “cavaliers”, numbering 6 thousand, were opposed by a detachment of cavalry, led by Oliver Cromwell. The commander left a small platoon of Irish horsemen in reserve for a critical situation. The royalists approached Marson Moor with 17,000 troops. There were 10 thousand more parliamentarians. But the outcome of the battle largely depended on the actions of the cavalry. Cromwell was positioned on the right flank. He ordered his men not to scatter after the attack, but to act as one. Against Rupert's cavalry, he deployed spearmen with long spears, which hit the horsemen before a direct collision.
Battle of Marson Moor
At 5 pm artillery preparation had already begun. After 2 hours, the trumpets began to play, and Cromwell’s detachment rushed to the attack. At full speed the armies clashed in a fierce battle. From the very first minutes, the royalists began to push back their opponents. The qualitative superiority of the fighters had an effect. All of Rupert's horsemen were trained in the basics of military craft from childhood. Oliver Cromwell was wounded in the battle and retired to be bandaged. At this moment, he gave the order to the reserve detachment to strike the “cavaliers” on the flank. The maneuver bore fruit, the enemy wavered. And here Oliver’s bet on attacking in a tight formation came into play. Scattered over a large area, Rupert's horsemen were unable to unite to organize resistance, while the forces of the Parliamentarians had already reorganized and launched a new attack as a single unit.
Results of the battle
Thanks to the successful actions of Cromwell's cavalry, by nightfall the royalists were completely defeated. 4 thousand soldiers were left lying on the battlefield, more than a thousand were captured. The army of parliamentarians lost only 300 soldiers.
The defeat of the royal troops at Marson Moor was the first significant victory for the rebels. The capture of York allowed the Parliamentarians to control the entire North. Cromwell's cavalry demonstrated in practice the superiority of the new tactics of attacking in formation. An enraged Prince Rupert said that Oliver Cromwell “must be iron-sided if he could defeat us” (there is no official confirmation of the statement).
Oliver Cromwell: Lieutenant General of the Parliamentary Army
Cromwell's demonstrated skill as a general made him commander-in-chief of all the fighting forces of Parliament. He immediately began forming an army of a new model, following the example of his “iron-sided” horsemen. In absolutist England, officer ranks were received depending on their hierarchy in society. In the new army this rule was abolished. Leadership positions were occupied by people who had demonstrated their skills in practice. This contributed to the cohesion and unity of the soldiers. Also, such transformations were approved by the people. Peasants and small landowners began to join parliamentarians en masse.
New model army
Three irregular armies, which acted separately and were directly subordinate only to the field commanders, were transformed into one, numbering 22 thousand people. Strict rules of discipline were introduced, for violation of which various punishments were imposed. The morale of the soldiers was supported by the clergy. Some of them were present directly on the battlefields, dressed in Cromwell attached special importance to the religious training of fighters in the spirit of Puritanism.
The day before, representatives of the eastern lands, which provided for the needs of the army, declared their inability to continue support. The reorganization of the army made it possible to reduce financial expenses. Your baptism of fire new army received parliamentarians in the battle of Nesby, winning confident victory over the "cavaliers".
Cromwell's reign
After the final victory over the royalists, the parliamentarians were able to establish their power. The country was led by Oliver Cromwell. The Lord Protector (Cromwell's title) established an authoritarian dictatorship and an "iron" order. He relied on the support of his military comrades, who, after the end of the war, occupied key leadership positions. These people were loyal to Cromwell and unconditionally carried out all his orders. By refusing to accept the title of king, Cromwell actually confirmed the republican status of England.
The tax system was revised. All main roads (especially freight routes) were completely controlled by the army. At this time, uprisings began in Scotland and Ireland. Cromwell personally led an army to suppress them. After restoring order, he restored the power of parliament and all supporters of the king were persecuted and repressed. The lords who supported the royalists in the civil war had their property needed for reforms confiscated. Such actions were positively received by Calvinists and the common people.
Death and trace in history
Oliver Cromwell died on September 13, 1658. The cause was presumably poisoning (some historians believe that the Lord Protector died of malaria). Iron Oliver's funeral was gorgeous. But after them, turmoil began in the country. A wave of unrest and chaos swept across England. Parliament was forced to invite the son of the executed king to the throne. After the coronation, Charles ordered Cromwell's body to be taken out, hanged, and then cut into 4 parts. From then on, peasants were forbidden to even pronounce the name "Oliver Cromwell." The lord's biography was censored for a long time.
Cromwell went down in history as a reformer. During his reign, he enjoyed enormous popularity among the common people. His policy is a shining example Calvinism and democracy. The reforms carried out by the Lord Protector were the first step towards the overthrow of feudalism. In the 20th century, a funeral mask was found in which Oliver Cromwell was buried. Photos of the find are presented below. He was finally buried only in 1960 in the chapel of one of the Cambridge colleges.
If we approach the issue from a historical point of view, the years of the republic and protectorate did not affect the future fate of England, despite all the reforms that Oliver Cromwell introduced. A short biography of the outstanding Englishman is nevertheless included in the mandatory curriculum of all historical universities in Britain.