© boardworks ltd 2006 1 of 25 britain 1500–1750 oliver cromwell: hero or villain? © boardworks...

© Boardworks Ltd 20061 of 25

Britain 1500–1750

Oliver Cromwell: Hero or Villain?


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Learning objectives

What we will learn in this presentation:


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Who Oliver Cromwell was.

Why historical events can be interpreted in different ways.

Why Oliver Cromwell is seen as a hero.

Why Oliver Cromwell is seen as a villain.


Oliver Cromwell

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My name is Oliver Cromwell.

I started out as a poor country nobleman

and sat in parliament as MP for Huntingdon. I was 41 years old when the Civil

War broke out.


Oliver Cromwell

I became a soldier and led the New Model

Army to victory against the Royalists. I was the

leading figure in the trial and execution of the King,

and went on to rule the country for five years as

‘Lord Protector’.

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Oliver Cromwell

My actions have been argued

over by historians for centuries – some people

see me as a champion of democracy, other people

think that I was a murderer and a tyrant.

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Interpretations

Imagine a football match between two neighbouring towns.

After the match, newspapers from each side’s home town write reports about the game – will they be the same?

Of course not – where the reporter comes from will affect their perspective (interpretation) of the game.

History is like that too. People in the past saw events in different ways depending on their own background and beliefs.

If we think that a person’s background might make their evidence unreliable, we say that they are biased.


Interpretations


Cromwell and Ireland

Ireland was a divided nation. Most of the people who lived there were Catholics, but there was also a large number of Protestants – many of these were English settlers.

There was a lot of tension between Catholics and Protestants in Ireland. This was partly because the Protestant settlers tended to be richer than the Catholics.

Most Catholics supported Charles I’s son and wanted a restoration of the Monarchy.

Many English Royalists had fled to Ireland after Parliament won the Civil War.

Cromwell feared that an invasion would be launched from Ireland aimed at putting a

Catholic monarch on the throne.


Cromwell and Ireland

In 1641, just before the Civil War, some Irish rebels had risen against English rule.

They had attacked the English Protestant minority in Ireland killing around 4,000 of them.

During the English Civil War nothing could be done about the problem, but after the war ended Cromwell took action.

In 1649, Cromwell took 12,000 men to Ireland.


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Cromwell writing to Parliament, September 1649


Hero or villain?

Cromwell’s actions appear harsh.

Did Cromwell do the right thing?

However, if the town refused to surrender and the attacking army had to take the

town by force, then it was common practice to kill all of the soldiers in the town.

In the 17th century, soldiers attacking a town were not supposed to kill soldiers who surrendered or

ordinary townspeople (this was called ‘giving quarter’).

But would people at the time have seen it like that?


Hero or villain?


We fought and died for Parliament. Now we demand reform of the law,

regular elections and that more people should be allowed to vote.

Cromwell and Parliament

Cromwell had to decide who to support.

After the Civil War, England was ruled by the Council of State, led by Cromwell, and the Rump Parliament (what was left behind of the old pre-war parliament).

ARMY

Cromwell was in a difficult position:

We went a bit far in killing the King. What we need now is

stability, not reform. PARLIAMENT


The Rump Parliament

Cromwell chose the army – the Rump Parliament’s refusal to pass reforms was frustrating and Cromwell had many loyal supporters in the army.

In May 1653 Cromwell used troops to dissolve the Rump Parliament.

I’d asked Parliament to reform, but all

they did was sit there doing nothing.

In the end I ordered the army to clear them out! The last man to

bring troops into Parliament was Charles I…

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The Barebones Parliament

Cromwell and his council could not be sure that new elections would choose MPs who were opposed to the monarchy.

They decided to set up a parliament where they chose the MPs. This way, they could ensure that the new parliament shared their religious and political beliefs.

The parliament was named after one of its members who was called Praise-God Barbon or Barebones by his friends!

However, the Barebones Parliament could not agree, and after a few months it dissolved itself and handed power back to Cromwell.


Cromwell and Parliament

In December 1653, Cromwell was made ‘Lord Protector’. This meant that he had almost all the powers of a monarch.

A new Parliament would choose Cromwell’s advisers for him.

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don Cromwell was made ruler because he had

the support of the army. The army had become very large and powerful during the war, but they respected Cromwell.

He was granted £200,000 a year – a fortune in those days. Strangely, Cromwell said he never wanted the power!

“I called not myself to this place, as God is my witness.”


The Major-Generals

Another parliament was called, but Cromwell dissolved it in 1655 when it demanded army cut-backs.

Cromwell then used the army to run the country.

England was split into 11 districts, each run by a Major-General.

This was very unpopular. Some Major-Generals used their powers to impose Puritan ideas. Pubs were closed and gambling and dancing were banned.

People also objected to the high taxes that were needed to pay for the army.


Cromwell for king?

In 1656 Cromwell had to call a new parliament in order to raise money. He excluded a lot of the radical MPs, so this parliament was very traditional.

Many of the MPs thought that monarchy was the best and most stable way to run the country.

Since Charles I’s son was in exile, they offered Cromwell the crown of England!

This was surprising since Cromwell had been largely responsible for having the last king beheaded.


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Even I could see the issues with this idea!

I said no, but I asked that my son take over as Lord

Protector when I died.

I was confirmed as Lord Protector for life in a grand ceremony much like a royal

coronation.

Cromwell for king!

Cromwell may have refused the crown, but was there any real difference between being Lord Protector and being king?


Cromwell: the hero?

The evidence against Cromwell may look quite bad, but he had many problems to deal with:

Cromwell had to deal with political extremists, many of whom were in the army – these included radical reformers known as Levellers who wanted big changes in society.

There were lots of religious tensions. Radical Puritans and Quakers challenged the authority of the church.

At the same time, most nobles and landowners resisted all reforms and wanted things to return to how they had been before the Civil War.

Some historians argue that only Cromwell had the popularity and power to keep the

peace between these groups.


Cromwell: the hero?

Was Cromwell’s ‘dictatorship’ the only way to prevent another civil war?

Some historians now argue that the reports of Cromwell’s troops killing Irish women and children were exaggerated.

Cromwell did refuse the crown of England (though some historians think this was because the army would have been very angry if he had accepted.)

Cromwell’s actions did help the development of rule by parliament. After the Civil War, English kings could no longer ignore MPs.

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Hero or villain?


So, now that you’ve seen the evidence, am I a hero or a

villain?

Why don’t you have a vote in class? You can use the

activity on the next slide to view the results.

Try to think of at least five reasons to back up your view.

Hero or villain?

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Hero or villain?


Cromwell Quiz

© boardworks ltd 2006 1 of 25 britain 1500–1750 oliver cromwell: hero or villain? © boardworks...

Documents

ireland ireland

london slide

english civil war

english royalists

english settlers

english rule

english protestant minority

different ways