1599-1658. English general and politician,
Puritan leader of the Parliamentary side in
the Civil War. He raised cavalry forces
(later called Ironsides) which aided the
victories at Edgehill 1642 and Marston Moor
1644, and organized the New Model Army, which
he led (with General Fairfax) to victory at
Naseby 1645. As Lord Protector (ruler) from
1653, he established religious toleration and
raised Britain's prestige in Europe on the
basis of an alliance with France against
Spain. Cromwell was born at Huntingdon, NW of
Cambridge, son of a small landowner. He
entered Parliament 1629 and became active in
events leading to the Civil War. Failing to
secure a constitutional settlement with
Charles I 1646-48, he defeated the 1648
Scottish invasion at Preston. A special
commission, of which Cromwell was a member,
tried the king and condemned him to death,
and a republic was set up. The Levellers
demanded radical reforms, but he executed
their leaders in 1649. He used terror to
crush Irish clan resistance 1649-50, and
defeated the Scots (who had acknowledged
Charles II) at Dunbar 1650 and Worcester
1651. In 1653, having forcibly expelled the
corrupt `Rump' Parliament, he summoned a
convention (`Barebone's Parliament'), soon
dissolved as too radical, and under a
constitution (Instrument of Government) drawn
up by the army leaders, became Protector
(king in all but name). The parliament of
l654-55 was dissolved as uncooperative, and
after a period of military dictatorship, his
last parliament offered him the crown; he
refused because he feared the army's
republicanism. Cromwell was a critic of
Charles I and became active in events leading
to the Civil War. He signed the king's death
warrant in 1648 and in the power struggle
that followed sided with the army and the
establishment of the Commonwealth. He
expelled parliament and established the
Protectorate. His foreign policy was dictated
by religious and commercial considerations;
he found no constitutional basis for his rule
and refused the crown 1657.