I | INTRODUCTION |
Oliver
Cromwell (1599-1658), leader in the English Revolution (1640-1660) and
the first commoner to rule England. Cromwell governed as Lord Protector from
1653 to 1658 under England’s only written constitution, the Instrument of
Government. During the English Civil War (1642-1649), Cromwell rose from
obscurity on the basis of his devout Calvinism, natural military genius, and
forceful personality. These characteristics helped him hold together the
competing groups that had overthrown King Charles I in the first phase of the
civil war. Cromwell conquered Ireland and Scotland, made England a feared
military power in Europe, and expanded its overseas empire. He refused to rule
without constitutional authority. His civilian government introduced electoral
reform, moderate religious toleration, and the first truly British Parliament.
The revolution that he guided did not survive him, and after a period of
political chaos he was succeeded by the restoration of Charles II to the
throne.
II | EARLY LIFE |
Cromwell was born at Huntingdon in central
England, on April 25, 1599, in a minor branch of a once-prosperous family. He
was educated in the local grammar school and spent a year at Calvinist-dominated
Sidney Sussex College at the University of Cambridge. His father’s death
interrupted his studies, and he returned home to care for his mother and to
manage his meager inheritance. In 1620 Cromwell married Elizabeth Bourchier,
daughter of a prominent London merchant, and they lived a quiet life together,
first in Huntingdon and then at Saint Ives in Cambridgeshire. Cromwell did not
prosper in these years; while he could claim the rank of a gentleman in
Huntingdon, he had to rent land in Saint Ives, and his income declined as his
family grew. In 1636 he inherited from an uncle both lands and a minor office in
the eastern cathedral town of Ely. Cromwell became an able estate manager and an
efficient tax collector. His fortunes grew, and by 1640 he was one of Ely’s
wealthiest men.
It was during these years of struggle that
Cromwell experienced a religious conversion in which he came to believe that he
had been chosen for eternal salvation. This conversion decisively changed his
life. Following his conversion, Cromwell strengthened ties with friends and
relations who shared his religious outlook. He became part of a network of
people discontented with the government of Charles I, who they believed was
ruling in an arbitrary manner and was not doing enough to suppress Roman
Catholics. For 11 years Charles had governed without calling Parliament, and
when he was forced to do so in 1640 to raise money to put down a rebellion in
Scotland, Cromwell and his friends sought selection to Parliament. When
Parliament convened, they entered the House of Commons ready to challenge the
king.
III | CIVIL WAR LEADER |
From the beginning of this Parliament, which
became known as the Long Parliament, Cromwell was among a group of members known
as the fiery spirits. He was prominent in debates and on committees, and was
especially concerned about a Catholic conspiracy against the Protestant church.
As relations between the king and Parliament worsened, Cromwell volunteered to
raise forces in his home counties, despite his lack of military experience.
In 1642, as the First Civil War began,
Cromwell took up arms against the king along with other members of Parliament.
His first military action was at the indecisive Battle of Edgehill in October.
In the following year he was made colonel of a cavalry regiment, which he led to
successive victories. Cromwell quickly achieved a reputation as an effective
military administrator, as well as a fierce fighter, and in 1644 he achieved the
rank of lieutenant general of horse in the army of his kinsman, the earl of
Manchester. In July of that year, he made a decisive contribution to the victory
of Parliament’s forces at Marston Moor.
He eventually had a falling-out with
Manchester, whom Cromwell felt was relaxing his efforts against the king, and
Cromwell returned to Parliament to argue for an intensive commitment to the war.
Cromwell’s appeals led to the creation of the New Model Army in 1645, which
eliminated members of Parliament from army commands. Cromwell was the only
member of Parliament who returned to the army. He did so as second in command,
at the insistence of the army’s new commander, Sir Thomas Fairfax. Cromwell
became general of cavalry under Fairfax and played the principal role in
defeating the king at the Battle of Naseby in 1645, which effectively ended the
First Civil War, although fighting continued for another year before Charles
escaped to Scotland. In January 1647, the Scots returned Charles to
England.
Cromwell was now a hero among those who
supported Parliament. He was also one of the few army leaders who supported the
more radical religious groups demanding that the established Church of England
be abolished and replaced with a far less orthodox church. After the war ended,
many members of the House of Commons were more conservative than the army. These
were mainly Presbyterians, who supported a more rigid church structure than
Cromwell did. They were afraid of the army’s power and wanted to disband it.
They also sought to strip Cromwell of his command to prevent him from extending
the fighting to Ireland, where Catholics were revolting against the
English.
Cromwell was prepared to return to civilian
life, but political agitation within the army gave him new prominence. Soldiers
were worried about receiving their back pay, and they were angry because the
Presbyterians in the House of Commons refused to honor them for their loyal
service. Throughout the spring of 1647 Cromwell acted as mediator between
elected representatives of the soldiers and the House of Commons, which was
attempting to disband the irate army. When the struggle between the army and
Parliament could not be resolved, Cromwell threw in his lot with the soldiers.
His presence served to restore discipline and moderate the demands of the angry
troops, and he was able to prevent a mutiny.
Cromwell was now the most prominent military
commander in England. As such, he was involved in the intense debates regarding
what form of government England should have and who should be allowed to vote.
An important debate took place in the town of Putney in October 1647 and
involved members of the army and the Levellers, a radical political group
demanding franchise reform, religious toleration, and the overthrow of the
monarchy. During the debates, Cromwell and his son-in-law, Henry Ireton,
successfully faced down the Levellers.
In 1647 Charles, who had refused to agree to
settlement demands made by Parliament and the army, escaped to the Isle of Wight
and made an alliance with the Scots to invade England. This led to the start of
the Second Civil War. Cromwell again united the army and put down an attack in
Wales before defeating the Scots in the bloody Battle of Preston in August 1648.
IV | RISE TO POWER |
The Second Civil War had a powerful impact on
Cromwell. His victories convinced him that he had been chosen by God as an
instrument for great work. He changed his position regarding the king.
Previously Cromwell had believed that the king should be restored to the throne
with limited power, but he realized now the king could not be trusted. He also
hardened his position against his opponents in the House of Commons, who wanted
to treat leniently the Royalists who participated in the Second Civil War.
Nevertheless, Cromwell did not take part in either the drafting of the Army
Remonstrance in October 1648, which demanded Charles I be tried, or in Pride’s
Purge, which expelled from the Commons those who still wished to negotiate with
the king. The remaining members were known as the Rump Parliament.
Cromwell remained in the north of England
until the purge was completed. When he finally arrived back in London, he was
committed to the king’s trial and execution, as well as to the abolition of the
House of Lords. He was an active member of the High Court of Justice set up for
the king’s trial and boldly signed the king’s death warrant. For Cromwell,
Charles’s execution was a divine judgment against a tyrant. Following the king’s
execution, the Commonwealth of England was formed, ruled by a Council of State
that included members of the Rump Parliament.
For the next two years Cromwell remained a
soldier in service to the state. The new Commonwealth had powerful enemies,
especially in Ireland and Scotland, where Charles II, son of Charles I, was
proclaimed king. In 1649 Cromwell crushed a Leveller mutiny in the army by
soldiers who did not want to fight in Ireland and who believed their interests
were being sold out. He then reorganized his forces and went to Ireland, where
Catholics still held power. He conducted a brutal campaign against Irish
soldiers and civilians alike to shatter Catholic power.
The following year Cromwell was elevated to
supreme military commander, and the army stormed into Scotland to prevent the
Royalists from invading England. Cromwell won one of his greatest victories
against overwhelming odds at Dunbar on September 3, 1650; exactly a year later
he defeated the combined forces of the Scots and Charles II at Worcester.
Cromwell was now regarded as the savior of the Commonwealth.
Upon his return to London, Cromwell quickly
became entangled in political controversies. The army was again seeking reforms,
including an extension of the franchise and new Parliamentary elections. The
Rump Parliament had good intentions, but its members were divided over specific
programs and unable to achieve the reforms the army was seeking. They refused to
provide for new parliamentary elections, and by 1653 the army was again
pressuring for the overthrow of Parliament. Cromwell had consistently opposed
military rule, but he also opposed the continuation of the Rump. In April 1653
he brought a troop of soldiers into the House of Commons and forcibly evicted
its members. This action seemed to place Cromwell at the head of a revolutionary
government, but he at first refused to accept such a position. Instead, he was
involved in nominating a Parliament to replace the Rump; its members were chosen
from among army supporters and London’s Puritan congregations. This Nominated
Parliament, or Barebone's Parliament, as it was called, was no more able to
achieve necessary legal, religious, or social reforms than the Rump.
V | LORD PROTECTOR |
Although Cromwell had summoned the Nominated
Parliament into existence, he took no active role in its proceedings and was
himself surprised in December 1653 when a parliamentary delegation arrived to
place power in his hands. Cromwell again refused to establish a military
government and supported a plan developed by General John Lambert for a written
constitution, the Instrument of Government. Lambert had hoped a king would head
the new government, but Cromwell refused to accept the crown and was instead
named Lord Protector. He ruled as head of the military with a Council of State
and a Parliament that met every three years and included members from England,
Scotland, and Ireland. The protector’s powers were broadly defined, especially
in military and foreign affairs.
These broad powers offended the republicans
who were elected to the first protectoral Parliament in 1654. The republicans
were supporters of the original Rump Parliament and believed Parliament was the
only constitutional authority. In their view, the Instrument of Government was
not valid because it came from army leaders and not from representatives of the
people. Furthermore, they thought the Lord Protector was too much like a
dictator. They attacked Cromwell and the constitution, and Cromwell dissolved
Parliament before it undermined the government.
Cromwell attempted to establish many of the
reforms that Puritans had been demanding throughout the revolutionary decades.
These included religious toleration and stricter morals (see Puritanism).
He was willing to tolerate all but the most extreme religious sects, enforced
the stricter moral code established during the Commonwealth, and even closed
theaters. None of these Puritan policies enjoyed widespread support, and from
the first, the Protectorate was a minority government. In 1655 renewed Royalist
uprisings led Cromwell to appoint military governors, known as major generals,
in 11 regions, but this experiment was so unpopular that it was discontinued
after a year.
The main success Cromwell experienced as Lord
Protector was military. A naval war with Spain in 1657 resulted in the capture
of Jamaica in the West Indies and the seizure of the Spanish treasure fleet.
Cromwell’s government settled a trade war with the Dutch, making English
merchant ships secure in colonial waters. Under Admiral Robert Blake, the
English navy became a great international power, and Cromwell supported the
building of new warships. His alliance with France resulted in the capture of
Dunkirk, then a Spanish possession in northern France. Once again England had a
foothold on the continent.
These triumphs softened criticism of the
Protectorate, but the Parliament called in the fall of 1656 continued to attack
the Instrument of Government. In the Humble Petition and Advice, members of
Parliament presented Cromwell with a new constitution that included an upper
house, like the former House of Lords, and again requested that he accept the
crown. He agreed to create what was called the Other House and appointed army
officers and officeholders to it, but again refused to be king. Nevertheless,
his government took on the look of a royal court, and on his deathbed he
nominated his eldest son, Richard Cromwell, to succeed him. Cromwell died on
September 3, 1658, the anniversary of two of his great military triumphs.
VI | ASSESSMENT |
Rarely has one individual so characterized
his age as Oliver Cromwell. A minor gentleman, he represented the rise of that
class against the power of the great nobles and the king. A devout Puritan, he
represented the religious passions of his generation and their contradictory
desires for both stricter morality and greater liberty of conscience. A great
military leader, he captured the imagination of the English people, who longed
for an able ruler to recapture their country’s glory and power. A member of
Parliament as well as an army leader, he held these two vital elements together
in the days leading to the execution of Charles I and the establishment of the
Commonwealth, and then during the Protectorate. As a general he was universally
successful, but as a politician he experienced more frustration than
achievement. His government enjoyed little support, even from those who had
fought against the king, and his efforts to establish stability after 15 years
of civil war came to nothing. He refused to rule as a military dictator but
struggled to rule as a constitutional officer. The revolution that he, more than
anyone, had made possible could not survive his death, and in 1660 the monarchy
was restored in England with Charles II taking the throne.
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