Oliver Cromwell

        “Many people in our times… have a great respect for the memory of Oliver Cromwell, as being a man of devout religion and a great champion of the liberties of the nation.”  - Nathaniel Crouch, A History of Oliver Cromwell

        “Without doubt, no man with more wickedness ever brought to pass what he desired more wickedly.”  - Ear of Clarendon, History of the Rebellion

        Which of these quotes describes Oliver Cromwell?  History had showed us the kind of person he was.  

Oliver Cromwell was born in Huntingdon in 1599.  He got his education at Huntingdon Grammar School and Sydney Sussex College.  He studied law in London.  Sponsored by the Montagu family he was elected to the House of Commons in 1628.  When Parliament dissolved in 1629 he took up farming in Huntingdon.  Soon afterwards he was converted to Puritanism.  After the Civil War broke out in England, Cromwell returned back to Parliament to represent Cambridge.  

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Cromwell was a strong critic of Charles II.  Cromwell joined the Parliamentary forces and served under Edward Montagu, Duke of Manchester.  Cromwell took the job with no military training, although his experience of a large landowner gave him vast knowledge on horses.  Cromwell figured that if he could produce a well-disciplined army he could defeat King Charles II.  Cromwell trained his Calvary to keep together after a charge.  This way his men could repeatedly charge the Cavaliers.  Cromwell’s army took place in its first major battle at Marston Moor in Yorkshire in July 1644.  Cromwell’s disciplined soldiers destroyed the ...

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