History Focus
September 3

The chief leader of the Puritan Revolution in England was Oliver Cromwell. He was a soldier and statesman. He joined with the Puritans to preserve Protestantism and the law against the tyranny of King Charles I. Cromwell was made lord protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland, and Ireland in December 1653. This made him the virtual dictator of England. He held that office until his death five years later on September 3, 1658.

A Puritan was one of who wished to "purify" the national church of England of its remaining Roman Catholic elements.

Oliver Cromwell was born on April 25, 1599, at Huntingdon, in eastern England. His father was a well-to-do farmer. As a boy, Cromwell was educated in Huntingdon by Thomas Beard, an outspoken Puritan. Cromwell later attended the predominantly Puritan Sidney Sussex College, University of Cambridge, and studied law in London. In August 1620 he married Elizabeth Bourchier and returned to Huntingdon to manage the estate of his late father. As a member of Parliament for Huntingdon in 1628, he criticized toleration of Roman Catholic practices in the Protestant Church of England. King Charles dismissed this Parliament the next year and for 11 years ruled as a despot without calling Parliament at all.

Finally in 1640 the king was forced to call Parliament again. Cromwell was once more a member of this Parliament. At this time the conflict between King Charles I and the Puritans had reached the crisis stage. He became important to the Puritan cause because of his strong religious beliefs and the vigor with which he defended civil and religious liberties against the king. The people, particularly the Puritans, were gradually aroused to seek the overthrow of the king's unchecked rule. When civil war broke out in 1642 between the Puritan-dominated Parliament and the supporters of the Crown, Cromwell was quick to perceive that religious fervor could produce the fighting spirit that won battles. He then raised a regiment of cavalry to fight on the Parliamentary side. His men were full of religious fervor, each soldier carrying a Bible as an important part of his equipment. With this force he gained recognition as an able commander during the early phase of the war.

Cromwell would not allow Roman Catholics in his army, but he accepted devout God-fearing believers from all the Protestant churches. For the time in which he lived, this was considered religious tolerance. His commitment to the Puritan cause colored his whole career as soldier and statesman.

As the civil war dragged on, Cromwell became more and more prominent. He won an important and decisive victory over the king's forces at the battle of Naseby in June 1645. King Charles, left almost defenseless, gave himself up early in the following year to the Scots. Because Charles was a Scot, he thought he could come to some agreement with the English Parliament. The Scots, however, turned Charles over to the English. England was now ruled by the army and by that part of the Parliament of 1640 that was loyal to the Puritan ideals. This remnant, the "sitting" members of Parliament, was jokingly called the "Rump." Both the Rump and the army came to feel that Charles was so untrustworthy and autocratic that he must be eliminated. Cromwell was finally won over to this belief, and the king was tried and beheaded in 1649.

The Rump proclaimed the whole of the British Isles a republic under the name of the Commonwealth. Cromwell as commander in chief of the army, dismissed the Rump in 1653 when it fell out with the army. Not long after, he became the head of the Commonwealth under the title of lord protector. For the next five years he ruled the British Isles. Toleration was granted to all Protestants. The Jews, who had been legally banned from the country for more than 300 years, were allowed in England again and permitted to carry on their worship privately. Cromwell's vigorous foreign policy and the success of the army and navy gave England prestige abroad such as it had not enjoyed since the days of Queen Elizabeth I.

Cromwell's rule was not a long one. He died peacefully in his bed on September 3, 1658. The office of protector passed for a few months to his son Richard. His son was unable to retain the power. Much that Cromwell fought for was swept away in 1660 when the Stuart rule was resumed by Charles II. Charles II had Cromwell's disinterred. The body was hanged as that of a traitor, his head put on a pole mounted above Westminster Hall, and his body buried at the foot of the gallows. All that he worked for, however was not in vain. The British developed more liberal views in both church and state, the example of Cromwell and his protectorate was not forgotten by them.

Sources: Microsoft(R) Encarta(R) | Compton’s Encyclopedia