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Oliver Cromwell

Type Figure Region England Time 1599–1658 Also known as Lord Protector Cromwell

Oliver Cromwell (1599–1658), a Huntingdonshire squire who managed estates and was elected MP for Cambridgeshire in the 1630s and took part in the Pet…

Timeline

  1. 1631–1640Huntingdon · CambridgeshireIn the 1630s Cromwell managed estates in Cambridgeshire and Huntingdon, his faith growing increasingly devoutly Puritan. Elected to the Commons in 1628 to join the struggle to limit royal power; though inactive in Parliament during the Personal Rule, he was re-elected to the Short and Long Parliaments in 1640, becoming a steadfast Puritan member of the opposition.
  2. 1642–1651England · EnglandAfter the war broke out in 1642 Cromwell formed the Ironsides and won repeated victories; in 1645 he oversaw the creation of the New Model Army, defeating the Royalists at battles such as Naseby. He supported the execution of Charles I and suppressed resistance in Ireland and Scotland, laying the foundation for military dictatorship.
  3. 1653–1658London · EnglandIn 1653 Cromwell dissolved the Rump Parliament, became Lord Protector with supreme civil and military power, and ruled Britain and Ireland. He enacted Puritan moral legislation and expanded the navy, dying of illness in 1658; his son Richard succeeded him but could not hold power, and the Stuart monarchy was restored in 1660.

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