Sunday, September 30, 2018

Gabi on Oliver Cromwell

Oliver Cromwell (Gabi Jauregui)



                                          (National Portrait Gallery, London)

Oliver Cromwell was born on April 25th, 1599 in the village of Huntingdon, Huntingdonshire, England (Morrill et al.). Cromwell was heavily relied upon by his family, especially after the unanticipated death of his father while he was eighteen (Morrill et al.). Due to this tragedy, Cromwell decided to take initiative regarding his familial affairs and tended to his mourning mother and sisters, sacrificing his education and career pursuits until later in his life (Morrill et al.). Cromwell was forced to cultivate a farm in St. Ives, Cambridgeshire, England to earn a living wage, however, he eventually was able to improve his standing and gain notoriety by the English Parliaments (Morrill et al.).
Cromwell was extremely outspoken against the rule of England’s King Charles I, partially because of his “treason” due to having eloped with the catholic Henrietta Maria of France (Morrill et al.). Following the Short Parliament, Cromwell’s victory leading to his key position in the Long Parliament in 1640 is the first action taken in regards to his plot to overthrow King Charles I (Morrill et al.). Subsequent to this, Cromwell also commences his active participation in the English military, where he leads troops throughout three separate civil wars against King Charles I, spanning between 1642- 1651 (Morrill et al.). Shortly thereafter, the Long Parliament was scrutinized by Cromwell, causing what was known as the “Pride’s Purge” in 1648 (Morrill et al.). This purge eradicated any members of the Parliament who were deemed unfit. The rest of the Long Parliament was known thereafter as the “Rump Parliament” (Morrill et al.)
As Cromwell continued to ascend through England’s former legislative system, he was eventually granted the opportunity to travel with his troops to Scotland and Ireland, where he would essentially conquer both countries and become the “Lord Protector” of all three nations (Morrill et al.). Cromwell allegedly committed numerous atrocities while pillaging present-day Britain, some so severe (such as the tragedies caused in Drogheda and Wexford), that he was infamously considered to be “one of the most hated in Irish history” (Plant).
Seventeenth Century author and poet John Milton, however, was an acquaintance of Cromwell and highly regarded him and his actions. Milton once composed a sonnet to Cromwell, referring to him as “our chief of men” (Milton ln. 1).  Yet, although Cromwell piqued the interest of many for a variety of reasons for decades, he eventually grew ill from malarial fever and died on September 3rd, 1658 (Plant). Approximately two and a half years following his death, Cromwell’s remains, along with the remains of two others, were exhumed by vindictive members of the former Long Parliament and publicly hanged and decapitated (Plant). Following this decapitation, Cromwell’s head was pierced through a stake and left to rot above the Westminster Hall for almost thirty years, when it eventually fell (Plant). Subsequent to this, Cromwell’s head was stolen, put on display, and eventually found again and returned to his former alma mater, the college of Sidney, Sussex, Cambridge, where it’s exact location remains a mystery (Plant).
Sources:
Milton, John. “Sonnets: 16.” Samson Agonistes: Introduction, www.dartmouth.edu/~milton/reading_room/sonnets/sonnet_16/text.shtml.
Morrill, John S., and Maurice Ashley. “Oliver Cromwell.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 14 Sept. 2018, www.britannica.com/biography/Oliver-Cromwell#ref22095.
Plant, David. “Oliver Cromwell, 1599-1658.” The Navigation Act, 1651, 2001, bcw-project.org/biography/oliver-cromwell.
The World Encyclopedia. Oxford University Press, 2004.

Image Source:
https://olivercromwell.net/cromwells-head/

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