Cromwell, hero or villain?

589 Words3 Pages
Oliver Cromwell rose to power by being a member of Parliament. Although he was merely a Gentleman farmer, he was wealthy enough to become an MP. He achieved a more important role when he was asked to help parliament fight the King. The main reasons for civil war braking out were King Charles I being stubborn and selfish. For example, he re-introduced Ship tax, and believed in Divine Right. He also ruled for 11 years without calling for Parliament. One of the sparks was the fact that he married a french Catholic princess. Though the main spark was that Charles tried to arrest 5 MP's. Many people opposed the King for these reasons; Parliament and more importantly, Oliver Cromwell were one of these people. So was Cromwell to become a hero or villain? After becoming an MP for Huntingdon, Cromwell was asked to help fight against King Charles. He had no military experience, but between 1649 and 1658 he had more power than anyone in Britain. He created the New Model Army. He taught them how to fight, gave them strategies against the enemy etc. During the English Civil War Cromwell had heard terrible stories from Protestants in Ireland. He heard that Catholics committed terrible crimes such as cutting off people's hands and feet and beating women's brains with poles. There were many stories alike. Whether they were true or not, we don't know - but Cromwell believed them. He was a puritan and he believed it was his duty to punish the Catholics, hence going to Ireland. When Catholics refused to surrender to Cromwell, he ordered his Soldiers to kill all of them with the words "Show them no quarter". Hundreds hid in a church, but Cromwell ordered it to be set alight - many were burnt alive, and all local priests were killed. The son of the dead Charles I soon caused Cromwell trouble, leading a Scottish army against England. Cromwell beat the Scottish army, but Charles
Open Document