An argument that he was a villain that was frequently used during and shortly after his rule (but less today) is that he opposed the king unlawfully as the king has the power of the divine right of kings. This law had been passed down for centuries and stated that the king was above all of his subjects and that he should only answer to God, as God was the only one that had more power than the king. Due to this, Cromwell illegally undermined the king’s authority and was therefore guilty of treason; a serious criminal offence.
Furthermore, that means therefore that the “trial” which was held for the execution of the king was illegal as Parliament shouldn’t be allowed to challenge the king’s authority. Another reason the trial was illegal was that Cromwell set up a special court for Charles, at Westminster Hall. Cromwell (as the main figure of Parliament) had chosen 135 judges to try the king (none of which, that he knew, supported the king). Only 85 turned up. This already shows that the judges were afraid of Cromwell’s power, which, in turn means that the decision was greatly influenced by Cromwell’s presence at the trial as the judges were fearful of what he might do to them if they refused to sign Charles’s death warrant. This makes Cromwell a villain as he commenced an illegal trial and also dictated the verdict of the court by using fear as a tool to make sure that the death warrant was signed and that Charles was found guilty and executed.
The period when he ruled alongside the army was very unpopular and people had their lands plundered and restrictions placed on entertainment such as the performing of plays because of Cromwell’s extremist views about them being hellish places (this was based on that the plague was easily spread in crowded places and the plague came from hell). It was a dictatorship and these restrictions were enforced by violence (people being hung to made examples of them).
He even killed his own men in cold blood, while they were sleeping. This is because he is a power-hungry dictator and didn’t like the idea of not having ultimate power within the country.
When he went to Ireland he massacred women and children with no weapons, which had surrendered. He slaughtered them inside a church and also killed the priests. He then moved on to another Irish settlement, Wexford, who also suffered the pain and murder that Drogheda had endured. No-one was spared. He then used propaganda to justify his horrific actions, saying that they were just as bad as they had killed English settlers and also that they were Catholic and were therefore not worth as much as Puritans “barbarous wretches”.
Finally, when he ruled as lord protector it was a dictatorship and he had too much power and did not know how to deal with the power well. People at that period of time also felt that the country was badly managed and unstable during his rule as they decided that they wanted to restore the monarchy.
A reason that Cromwell was a hero is that he was a military genius who helped parliament win the civil war to put an end to Charles’s tyrannous reign.
Secondly, the death of the king put an end to the civil war and was also a benefit as it has prevented a lot of bloodshed since there has not being a single civil war in England since the day that he died.
After the king’s death the country was thought of more highly by countries from abroad as they had an excellent, well disciplined army that was a force to reckon with. This might have also prevented more bloodshed due to the prevention of an invasion as the other countries feared our army.
The shooting of Leveller ringleaders was justified as they were no more than mutineers that had betrayed their country. This action may have avoided an army revolt. We have to remember that theft was still punishable by death at this point in time and even in the modern day (WWII) deserters of the army were shot. In light of this his actions seem quite lenient as he only shot their ringleaders (only 3 men were killed). Because the Levellers were his army he may have prevented more deaths by stabilizing them as if another country saw that we were vulnerable they may have attempted to invade.
The Irish at Drogheda and Wexford refused to surrender and so Cromwell was only following the conduct of war when he ordered everyone with a weapon in the settlements to be “put to the sword”. At Drogheda it is possible that the church with women and children inside was set alight by mistake with a stray cannon ball or musket fire at the wooden timbers of the roof. It was also done in retaliation as 3000 English Protestant had been murdered by Irish Catholics in Ulster. These actions also prevented further bloodshed of English settlers by setting an example to the Irish that attacks on the English would not be tolerated.
Although he disbanded Parliament, it was justified as parliament was running inefficiently as the MPs were just squabbling and decisions were taking too long. Because of this, he ran the country with the army which was more efficient.
Lastly, he was under pressure to take Charles a prisoner from the army. This is because they were owed wages and also wanted the result that they had been fighting for. The army overshadowed Cromwell over all decisions to do with Charles’s trial and this may have influenced his decisions.
To conclude, I agree with the statement to some extent but I also respect that it is easy to interpret the statement in many other ways as Cromwell’s life is wrapped up in speculation which makes it hard to get a clear view of his life as almost every action that he does is viewed in different ways by different sources. He is a victim of propaganda both for and against him. I agree with the statement because when he ruled as Lord Protector the country was in an unstable dictatorship and the idea of abolishing the monarch was undermined as he ruled just like the king, with the ability to disband Parliament. You could compare him to modern day dictators such as Ariel Sharon: fighting for his religion, a military genius which has helped his country during conflict and helped the country and army to run efficiently, but more importantly, running the country in a dictatorship based on fear. This is the main reason to which I agree with the statement but also that he justified most of the atrocities that he committed with religion, claiming that he was a devout Puritan whereas if you examine his life more closely it doesn’t appear this way. The clothes he wore for example were often embroidered silk and his funeral cost more than 60,000 pounds. When the main Puritan belief is to lead a life of modesty this seems very extravagant.
