Oliver Cromwell

[Vickitoria]

Who is Oliver Cromwell and what did he do for our country? And was he good or evil?

[froggequene]

Oliver Cromwell was the Lord Protector of the Commonwealth during the 1600s. He fought as the leader of the Parlimanetary forces known as Roundheads against the King, Charles I. The King was a believer in the Divine Right of Kings, which essentially meant that he believed his power came from God. The Parliament of the time was trying to curtail his expenditure and some of his powers which as you can imagine he wasn't particularly keen on. Eventually after a little bit of political pushing and shoving a civil war broke out between the King and the Parliament. Parliament eventually won but unfortunately found themselves in a position where they had to execute the King. Oliver Cromwell then led the parliamentary forces to Ireland and Scotland where the local populations were still fighting the Civil War on behalf of the King. To the population of Ireland Cromwell is always painted as the Devil incarnate, I'm not sure about Scotland perhaps someone else could fill in the details. Cromwell was eventually made the Lord Protector of the Commonwealth. There is an argument to say that the roots of democracy as we know it in England today started during this era. I won't tell you that the man was either good or evil, that will be for you to decide based on the information you're given. Hopefully someone will be more forthcoming then I have been but you could always check out Antonia Frasers Cromwell, Our Chief of Men or the Encyclopedia Britannica.

[david niven]

During the civil war Cromwell founded his New Model Army which was the first 'regular' army in the country. Proir to this armies had been recruited as and when they were needed by local Lords and such. The New Model Army was the first to be uniformed and drilled. The first regiment raised was in Coldstream Yorkshire and still exsists in the form of the Coldstream Guards. So as Henry VIII founded the Royal Navy, Oliver Cromwell founded the British Army.

[froggequene]

The reason I did not mention atrocities that Cromwell may or not have committed against the Irish is because what little information I have on his Irish campaign is based on innuendo, hearsay and folktales which I did not feel would add to what I had to say and it would have offended me personally to propound the myths. It is true as far as I know that he was intolerant of Catholicism but his tolerance of Protestantism extended to most forms of it. From what little I have actually read of the man he was a dedicated family man, deeply religious and a conscientious politician. It should be remembered that he did not act alone, he had an entire parliament behind him, he was simply its public face.

[froggequene]

If you most mention the atrocities he committed, you should at least mention the circumstances under which they took place and why.

[froggequene]

Thank you for providing details Einstein but you haven't told us why he went to Ireland or why he did what he did. If you look at the situation at the time, the Civil War in England had just come to an end, people were at stalemate rather then living in peace, Scotland(I think, would someone fill in the details?) and Ireland were still fighting the Civil War on behalf of the King. The army had not been paid and was threatening to mutiny plus their continental enemies were just waiting for the opportunity to stick their oar in, Ireland would probably be the best base of operations. Cromwell needed to bring peace to the British Isles and quickly. The siege of Drogheda was meant to be an example to the Irish people and it was hoped that they would surrender if they thought similar actions would be perpetrated around the countryside. There was also an ulterior motive in coming to Ireland, in 1641 a number of Protestant settlers had been massacred, the rumours that reached England placed the numbers in the hundreds of thousands so it was an opportunity to avenge the dead settlers. If anything overshadowed Anglo-Irish politics it was the Plantations that occurred during Cromwells reign, not the sieges because if you look further along the line there were equally bloody battles fought. To take a single event and place that as the shadow over the relationship between our two islands denies the complexity of our relationship.

[froggequene]

As an Irish Catholic, I think that Schama is playing the 'green line'.

[froggequene]

Einstein , as an ongoing history student myself you cannot base an argument on one source, you need to read a numer of books, conflicting if necessary and then make a decision based on the evidence you have. I know who Schama is by the way. Vickitoria, I would like to apologise for taking up excessive space in your inbox and I hope that you have the information supplied helpful.

[froggequene]

I never denied that he was brutal, I simply asked you place what he did in context and not just rip it out randomly. Considering the intelligence of the people on the answerbank and the quality of some of the answers I have come across, I would be very surprised if they didn't know who Simon Schama is, only someone who doesn't own a television or visit a book shop could possibly not know who the man is. I also find it interesting that so many apparently English historians are willing to condemn the man, don't they have anything positive to say about him?