Oliver Oliver CromwellCromwell

NCEA Year 13 Tudors and Stuarts

Part Four

• There was severe criticism that Cromwell controlled the Army and that he wielded such power

• Sir Henry Vane and Arthur Haslerigg began to draw up their own constitution

• They had over 90 supporters• Cromwell sent for the troops and told them they must

accept government by one person• 300 of the 410 swore loyalty• The Republicans refused and left the House

• Cromwell dissolved Parliament• In the countryside a minor rebellion

called Pennruddock’s Rising occurred

• Cromwell needed more control over the counties

• He divided England into 11 areas and placed a Major-General in charge of each one

• They were ordered to enforce a strict puritan way of life

• Drinking, dancing, gambling and singing were forbidden

• Theatres closed• A tax was levied for the upkeep of the M-Gs• Local gentry and Justices of the Peace resented

having their jobs taken from them

• In 1657 a Second Parliament was summoned to finance a Spanish war.

• Cromwell realised that Army rule was not the answer

• Cromwell had three aims abroad:

1)He wanted England to lead Protestant Europe

2)He wanted to ensure Charles ll could not get foreign help

3)He wanted to promote English trade

• Between 1652-4 England was at war with Holland over trade rights, not religion

• England had made a law that only English ships could bring goods into England

• It ruined Dutch trade so they signed an agreement with Denmark which in turn ruined English trade in the Baltic

• The war was concluded in April 1654 with the Treaty of Westminster

• The Dutch promised not to help Charles ll and England secured its waters

• Other treaties were signed which preserved England’s supremacy at sea

• After some ill conceived attempts at gaining lands in the Caribbean from Spain England did acquire Jamaica at some cost to the troops

• Cromwell unsuccessfully tried to encourage people to live in Jamaica by offering them land

• Spain was not pleased with English incursions into their sphere of influence

• War broke out in October 1655• England captured a hoard of

Spanish silver in 1656• 1657 France joined with England

against Spain• The Spanish were decimated –

opening the sea to English domination

• When Cromwell was born England had Virginia

• During the Interregnum England gained Jamaica, St Helena, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Dunkirk

• 1655-60 Cromwell had 200 ships built• Europe regarded Cromwell with terror and

admiration• Cromwell laid the foundation of the British

Empire

• People began to consider that there should be another House to check the Commons

• January 1657 there was an attempt to assassinate Cromwell• They realised how important Cromwell was and drew up the

Humble Petition and Advice – offering Cromwell the crown and the right to nominate his successor as well as recommending a second house

• Cromwell declined he wanted to be a Constable to keep the peace of the land

• The Army still objected to the title of ‘King’

• Cromwell was asked again. This time he agreed to be invested as Lord Protector on the 25th May 1657. He wore velvet and ermine

• Cromwell could now name his successor and appoint a Second House – it was formed in February 1658 and had 60 members

• The Third Parliament of the Protectorate refused to acknowledge the ‘Other House’

• Arguing ensued and Cromwell dismissed Parliament after only 16 days

• The army was delighted• The MPs were not happy• Cromwell now ruled alone

• By 1658 Cromwell was regarded as an old man

• The malaria plagued him• In August 1658 Cromwell grew worse• On the 24th August 1658 prayers were

said throughout the country• He died on the 3rd of September 1658• He lay in state for 8 weeks at Somerset

House• On the 10th November he was buried

secretly in the Henry Vll Chapel

Account for Cromwell’s funeral

• Cromwell’s son Richard took over• He was not a soldier and he was

unpopular with the army• He was known as ‘Tumbledown

Dick’• He resigned and retired into

private life.• The Commonwealth crumbled• On the 30th May 1660 Charles ll

returned to claim his throne

• General Monck took charge and presented Charles ll with the Declaration of Breda which was an agreement allowing him to return to England as King.

• In January 1661 Cromwell and other prominent men who were responsible for Charles l execution were dug up and hanged at Tyburn

• Cromwell’s head was cut off and placed on a pole above Westminster Hall.

• It remained there for the rest of Charles ll reign

Declaration of Breda

“Charles, by the Grace of God, King of England, Scotland, France and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, to all our loving subjects………If the general distraction and confusion which is spread over the whole kingdom doth not awaken all men to a desire and longing that those wounds which have so many years together been kept bleeding, may be bound up, all we can say will be to no purpose; however, after this long silence, we have thought it our duty to declare how much we desire to contribute thereunto;…..And to the end that the fear of punishment may not engage any,….we do grant a free and general pardon……excepting only such persons as shall hereby be excepted by Parliament, those only to be excepted….we are desiring and ordaining that henceforth all notes of discord, separation and difference of parties be utterly abolished among all our subjects, whom we invite and conjure to a perfect union among themselves, under our protection, for the resettlement of our just rights and theirs in a free parliament, by which upon the word of a king, we will be advised.”

Conclusion• Cromwell has been recognised as a great

personality of English history• At the time many regarded him as evil• He regarded his troops highly• His foreign policy was sound• He laid the foundations of the British Empire• The Protectorate was generally peaceful• He showed an amount of religious toleration

• The penal system was reformed• Arts were encouraged• Music flourished – the first English opera was written• Education was nurtured – new universities were

established• He believed he was the one chosen by God• He believed he was doing God’s will• He remained devoted to his family

Postscript1758 “While he [Cromwell] had power...[he] did

more to set things forward than all the Kings who reigned during that century....England was never so much respected abroad, while at home...talents of every kind began to show themselves, which were immediately put to sleep or crushed at the Restoration.”

- Lord Shelburne

BibliographyCromwell, by Amanda Purves, Wayland,London, 1977