Oliver Cromwell and The
English Civil War
By Jan Nápravník
Historical background
• Number of population was
increasing
• London reached 500 000
inhabitants
• Times of prosperity (in spite
of Thirty Years´ War in
continental Europe)
• Reign of Stuarts
James I.
• James I. of England (James
VI. of Scotland)
• 1566-1625,ruled since 1603
• Peaceful policy
• Persecution of extreme
Catholics and Puritans
• -1605 Gunpowder Plot (Guy
Fawkes)
• -The Mayflower voyage 1620
Charles I.
• Son of James I. (1600-1649)
• Ruled since 1625
• He wanted to unite England,
Scotland and Ireland much
stronger (it was his fathers´
dream),but in fact he was keen on
gaining control of the country
• 1629 dissolved the Parliament
• Came ´Eleven Years' Tyranny ´
• 1639 - Bishops War in
Scotland. He was forced by
shortage of funds to call
Parliament in 1640
• This one lasted only 3 weeksShort Parliament
• Since November-Long
Parliament
Charles I.
• The ´Long Parliament´ started immediately with
reduction of Kings´ power
• Dissatisfaction with the King,Charles moved to
Oxford
• 1642 broke the Civil War out
Oliver Cromwell
• Cromwell was born in Huntington
on 25 April 1599.
• 1620 married Elizabeth
Bourchier
• Cromwell became the Member of
Parliament for Huntingdon in
1628
• In 1630 Cromwell converted to
Puritans and his following life and
actions had a radical edge
springing from his strong religious
faith
• 1642 came The First Civil War
The First Civil War
•
•
•
Armed conflict between Parliamentarians
and Royalists started in the autumn of
1642
For the King: Catholics, most of the
Nobles and gentry, about half of all
Members of Parliament, the poorer areas of
the North and West. The supporters of
the King were called Cavaliers because
many of them fought on horseback.
For Parliament: Puritans, the more militant
Members of Parliament, merchants, the
richer areas of the South and East. Oliver
Cromwell was named its commander.
Parliamentarians were nicknamed
'roundheads' because they cut their hair
very short.
• Cavalier
• Roundhead
Here you can see several battlefields between
1642 and 1645.
Armies
•
•
•
•
•
•
Both armies were quite weak and
counted no more than 20 000 soldiers
At first the Royalists were more
successful, because of inexperience of
Cromwells´ army,but he started with
hard training and built the ´New
Model Army´. More than half of his
soldiers were volunteers persuaded
they fought for God.
´Ironsides´ - armoured cavalry
Royalists were continually loosing
control
The biggest battle – at Marston
Moore near York (1644) – about 45
000 soldiers, Parlamentarians won
Decisive victory of Parlamentarians at
Naseby (1645)
The Second Civil War
•
A series of Royalist uprisings
throughout England and a Scottish
invasion occurred in the summer of
1648. The uprisings in England were
put down easily by forces loyal to
Parliament, but when in 1648 unpaid
parliamentarian troops in Wales
changed sides, it brought serious
problem for Cromwell. But he kept
his reputation and won in Battle of
Preston.
•
The Pike – one of the most common
used weapons – cheap and easy to
make
The Third Civil War
•
Unfortunatelly, Cromwell had to still
solve war problems. It led to to new
coflicts - in Ireland againts Catholics (
Cromwells´ army was said to had been
very cruel there),in Scotland, which
was shocked with Charles´ execution
and supported his son Charles II., and
also in England. Finally,Cromwell won
and the Charles´escape to France
ended the civil wars(1651).
•
Massacre of Drogheda in
September 1649 ( Catholics vs.
Puritans)
The execution of Charles I.
• Despite the majority of
Parlamentarians wanted to reelect the King, Independents
decided to execute him. He was
sentenced to death and
beheaded in 1649.
• Charles didn´t show any fear
during the execution and died with
nobleness.
• Some people dipped their
handkerchiefs in his blood
The Protectorate (1653-1658)
•
•
•
•
The Republic was declared in 1649
after the Kings´ execution
But the situation was going wrong
and independents started misusing
their power
Cromwell was fed up with them and in
1653 he dissolved the Parliament
He named himself The Lord
Protector and ruled till his death in
1658
Cromwells´ death
• Cromwell suffered from
malaria and from ´stone´,
a common term for
urinary infections.
• He died at Whitehall on
3 September 1658.
• 1661 posthumous
execution of his body
Cromwells´ statue in
Westminster Palace
• His Deathmask
• Cromwell on the coin
Letter of Oliver
Cromwell
Sources:
• www.historyonthenet.com
• www.olivercromwell.org
• www.wikipedia.org
Thanks for your patience