7 Oliver Cromwell 7as lord protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland from
1653 to 1658 during the Commonwealth.
Cromwell’s father had been a member of one of Queen
Elizabeth’s parliaments. Oliver went to the local grammar
school and then for a year attended Sidney Sussex College,
Cambridge. In August 1620 he married Elizabeth Bourchier,
and the couple had five sons and four daughters.
Cromwell was elected to Parliament in 1628, but King
Charles I dissolved that Parliament in 1629 and did not
call another for 11 years. By then, Cromwell had already
become known as a fiery Puritan, launching an attack on
Charles I’s bishops. Cromwell, in fact, distrusted the whole
hierarchy of the Church of England.
In 1640 Cromwell was elected to the Short and the
Long Parliament. Differences between Charles and
Parliament, however, eventually erupted into the English
Civil Wars, in which Cromwell became a leading military
figure on the Parliamentary side. During 1643 he acquired
a reputation both as a military organizer and a fighting
man. He made it a point to find loyal and well-behaved
men regardless of their religious beliefs or social status.
Although he would not allow Roman Catholics in his army,
he accepted devout God-fearing believers from all the
Protestant churches. Appointed a colonel in February, he
began to recruit a first-class cavalry regiment. While he
demanded good treatment and regular payment for his
troopers, he exercised strict discipline. If they swore, they
were fined; if drunk, put in the stocks; and if they deserted,
they were whipped.
The quality of Cromwell’s generalship was first proved
at Marston Moor, near York, in July 1644. Prince Rupert
drove the right wing of the Parliamentarians before him,
but Cromwell’s forces on the left restored the balance and
won the battle. After the battle, Prince Rupert gave the