Cromwell: hero or villan?

[jacko_13]

<P align=center>Is Cromwell a <FONT color=#ff0000>hero</FONT> or <FONT color=#ff0000>villan</FONT> and why?

[noxlumos]

Errrr, being Irish VILLAIN. See below for further comfirmation ( watch right to the end) :)

http://www.langerland.com/content/view/37/59

[maxi29]

I'm not Irish but he's still a villain in my eyes. There are so many reasons: his genocidal approach to Ireland, his distrust of parliamentary democracy, the destruction of the Leveller movement and his clampdown on the likes of John Lilburne, and his imposition of a puritanical, theocratic state on Britain - his regime was the Taleban of his day.

I'm a republican and would love to see the end of the monarchy and the accompanying aristocracy (without favouring the method that Cromwell used) and what irks me most about Cromwell is that his joyless, oppressive regime set back the republican cause by centuries.

[raysparx]

When I was young I thought he was a Hero,but when his popularity wained he had loads of people killed in Ireland, then you change your mind, I think when he started he meant well,but then got carried away with the power, Bit like some politicians now.

[jno]

we're talking about Oliver, not Thomas? People are seldom heroes or villains; but you have to see them in the context of their times. This means considering whether Cromwell was better for the country than Charles I, whom he displaced. (And of course people from other countries will have their own viewpoints.) For my money, England was better off losing a ruler who believed in the Divine Right of Kings and being set on the road towards constitutional rule. We're not there yet, though.