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Oliver Cromwell ( April 25, 1599 - September 3, 1658) was an English military leader and politician. After leading the overthrow of the British monarchy he ruled England, Scotland and Ireland as Lord Protector from December 16, 1653 until his death, which is believed to have been due either to malaria or poisoning.At the outset of the English Civil War, Cromwell began his military career by raising a cavalry troop which became the basis of his Ironsides Cavalry. Cromwell's leadership in the Battle of Marston Moor in ( 1644Events February to August Explorer Abel Tasman's second expedition for the Dutch East India Company maps the north coast of Australia. April A popular Chinese rebellion led by Li Zicheng sacks Beijing, prompting Chongzhen, the last emperor of the Ming Dyn) brought him to great prominence. As a leader of the ParliamentarianA parliamentarian is a specialist in parliamentary procedure. The adjective parliamentarian refers to any person or thing especially associated with a parliament (see parliamentary system). A Parliamentarian (as an upper-cased noun) often labels a Member cause, and commander of the New Model ArmyThis article deals with the English Civil War army. For information on the band, see New Model Army (band). The New Model Army was the most famous of various Parliamentarian armies in the English Civil War. It was an army of professional soldiers led by t (informally known as the Roundheads), he defeated King Charles ICharles I ( 19 November 1600 30 January 1649) was King of England, Scotland and Ireland from 27 March 1625, until his death. He famously engaged in a struggle for power with Parliament; he was an advocate of the divine right of kings, but his foes in Parl's forces, thus bringing to an end the absolute power of the English monarchyFor related meanings see also Monarch (disambiguation A monarchy (from the Greek monos archein , meaning "one ruler") is a form of government that has a monarch as Head of State. The distinguishing characteristic of monarchies is that the Head of State ho.
1 Family and childhood
Oliver Cromwell descended from Catherine Cromwell (born circa 1483Events April 9 Edward V becomes King of England. April King Edward V of England and his younger brother Richard, Duke of York reside in the Tower of London. Later this year rumors of their murders start circulating. By December the rumors have reached Fra), an older sister of TudorThe Tudor dynasty or House of Tudor is a series of five monarchs of Welsh origin who ruled England from 1485 until 1603. The three main monarchs ( Henry VII, Henry VIII and Elizabeth I) each played an important part in turning Britain from a European back statesman Thomas Cromwell. Although she married, her children kept her name, possibly to maintain their connection with their famous uncle. The family line continued through Richard Cromwell (c 1500 - 1544), Henry Cromwell (c 1524 - January 6, 1603), then to Oliver's father Robert Cromwell, Esquire (c 1560 - 1617), who married Elizabeth Steward or Stewart ( 1564 - 1654) on April 25, 1599, the day she delivered him an infant son.
Oliver was born in Huntingdon, in the county of Huntingdonshire in East Anglia. He was a gentleman farmer, but had to sell his farm and land to repay debts he had accumulated, as his grandfather had bequeathed land but not money to the family. Already a devout member of the hard-line Puritan sect, he became an evangelical member.
