Welcome to week six of the Cedar Files. It’s history week, and we complete the two-part series on seventeenth-century English general and politician Oliver Cromwell.
Introduction
Are you a Christian? If so, what do you do when your Christian beliefs and best interests seem to pull you in opposite directions? Let me give you an example. An essential Christian belief is to follow Jesus’ teaching to turn the other cheek when wronged.[1] Do you always follow this command? What if someone cuts you off in traffic? How do you respond? What if someone physically injures you or someone you love inadvertently or on purpose? How would you respond then? What if you knew the person who hurt you had a reputation as a bad person? What will you do when your best interest of standing up for yourself and obedience to Jesus’s command to turn the other cheek conflict with each other? If you asked him in 1649, Oliver Cromwell probably would have told you he faced a similar situation. In 1641, Irish soldiers attacked and killed many Protestant settlers in the Northeast of Ireland. After defeating their enemies in England, Cromwell and his Protestant forces had a chance to invade Ireland and pay back their Catholic enemies in 1649. For almost a decade, they had heard stories of Irish atrocities against Protestants. Cromwell, a Puritan, knew the Bible inside and out. He knew Jesus’ command to turn the other cheek to your enemies. As a general and political leader, however, it was in his best interests to end the rebellion in Ireland. Also, in the eyes of his supporters, his best interests included punishing the Irish for their deeds against Protestant settlers in 1641. His Christian beliefs and political best interests were in conflict. Today, we will explore Cromwell’s religious beliefs and affirm his sincere Christianity. Next, we will review his most controversial actions in Ireland and his dissolving of parliaments in England. Next, we will explore the larger context of seventeenth-century European war. Finally, we will conclude by examining his legacy.
Christian Beliefs
“You know what my manner of life hath been. Oh, I lived in and loved darkness and hated the light. I was a chief, the chief of sinners. This is true; I hated godliness, yet God had mercy on me. O the riches of his mercy! Praise him for me;–pray for me, that he who hath begun a good work would perfect it to the day of Christ.”[2]
Cromwell wrote this passage in a letter to one of his cousins in 1638—a decade before his rise to prominence. It reads like a common Christian conversion story—a life of unrepentant sin before a life-changing experience of divine grace. Since this was a private letter before he became famous, the logical conclusion is to believe that Cromwell is sincere in his faith in Christ and his conversion from a life of sin. Did Cromwell continue in these beliefs after his rise to prominence, or did a lust for power cloud his Christian convictions in his later life?
In a 1651 letter to New England preacher, John Cotton, Cromwell sounds much the same. He wrote:
“I am a poor weak creature, and not worthy the name of a worm; yet accepted to serve the Lord and his people. Indeed, my dear friend, between you and me, you know not me, my weaknesses, my inordinate passions, my unskillfulness, and every way unfitness to my work. Yet, yet the Lord, who will have mercy on whom he will, does as you see! Pray for me. Salute all Christian friends though unknown.”[3]
Cromwell was at the height of his political power in 1651, but he wrote this passage in another private letter not meant for public consumption. He confesses weakness to a well-known pastor and asks for prayer, two common behaviors among sincere Christians. Cromwell ruled England, Scotland, and Ireland in all but name until his natural death in 1658. Unlike many political figures, Cromwell made no effort to write memoirs, publish his correspondence, or have a friendly biographer chronicle his life. Thus, Cromwell probably told the truth about his beliefs and feelings in his private letters that were not written for the public.
Invasion of Ireland
Despite his professed beliefs, Cromwell’s actions and the actions of the army in Ireland stand out for their ruthlessness and brutality. Understanding Cromwell’s campaign in Ireland requires a look at the broader context of the English Civil War. Sometimes called the War of the Three Kingdoms because it included armies in Ireland, Scotland, and England, this war dominated the history of the British Isles in the seventeenth century. By 1640, the Irish, Scottish, and some English all had quarrels with Charles I, king of England, Scotland, and Ireland. Charles I and his supporters supported the authority of the king over the English and Irish parliaments and wanted Anglicanism to be the dominant church in all three kingdoms. The Irish were Roman Catholic and wanted independence from England. The Scottish were Presbyterian and wanted Presbyterianism to be the dominant church in England and Ireland as well as Scotland. English Puritans supported Parliament’s power over that of the king and wished for tolerance of different Protestant sects including Puritanism, Presbyterianism, and Baptists. In 1641, Irish Roman Catholics attacked Protestant settlers in Ulster (Northeastern Ireland) and killed as many as 12,000 Protestants either directly with the sword or indirectly by seizing their homes resulting in starvation and exposure to the cold.[4] The English royalists in Ireland and the Scots responded by sending troops to Ireland beginning a war that would not end for almost twenty years. In 1642, English Parliamentarians and Scottish Presbyterians allied in fighting King Charles I and his supporters in both England and Scotland. By 1647, the Parliamentarians led by Thomas Fairfax and Oliver Cromwell defeated the armies of Charles I, who was now a prisoner of the Scots. Sensing many of the English now wanted a government without a king, the Scots, who supported a monarchy they controlled, allied with Charles I against the English Parliamentarians. Cromwell and his army were victorious again and captured Charles I. He was put on trial and found guilty of making war against his own people and treason.[5] Charles I was executed on January 30, 1649. He remains the only monarch in English history to be put on trial and executed by his own people.
Meanwhile, low-level fighting had never ceased in Ireland from the start in 1641 to Cromwell’s arrival in 1649 after the execution of the king. Cromwell’s forces were motivated in part by a desire to avenge the Protestant settlers killed by the Irish in 1641. In Ireland, Cromwell was opposed by English royalists who had settled in Ireland and the Irish natives who were supported by the Pope in Rome.[6] Neither faction could fight Cromwell in the field, so they retreated behind the strong walls of different Irish cities. Cromwell controlled the seas and blockaded the Irish ports, not allowing relief or supplies to reach his enemies. Oliver Cromwell’s negative reputation in Ireland was made mostly in two sieges—Drogheda and Wexford. Drogheda was the first city besieged by Cromwell’s army. After giving the city an opportunity to surrender, Cromwell’s siege guns destroyed a portion of the outer wall and his army poured through the opening. In the seventeenth century, besieged cities knew if they refused to surrender to an approaching army, they could suffer when the attacking army entered the city.[7] Sieges often lasted for months and sometimes failed when the attacking army ran out of supplies, experienced an outbreak of disease, or was redirected to a higher priority in the campaign. If successful in their siege, attacking armies often took out months of anger from watching their friends and fellow soldiers perish of illness and battle wounds on the garrison and populace of the unfortunate city. At Drogheda, Cromwell’s army massacred 3,000 Irish and English royalist soldiers and an unknown number of civilians.[8] Word spread of what happened at Drogheda and several towns surrendered without a fight. Wexford was an exception. As Cromwell negotiated terms with the garrison commander, another Irish soldier secretly let Cromwell’s army through another portion of the defenses.[9] At the temptation of loot and plunder, many of Cromwell’s soldiers killed about 1,500 Irish soldiers and an unknown number of civilians and then sacked the town. There is no indication that Cromwell directly commanded the Irish garrisons to be slaughtered, but he expressed no remorse afterward. After capturing a few more towns, Cromwell returned to England to fight the rebellious Scots. He left his son-in-law, Henry Ireton, to finish the Irish campaign. Ireton died of disease in Ireland, but he ended all organized opposition to English rule.
In the 1650s, many veterans of Cromwell’s army were settled on Irish lands. The native Irish was pushed to the western Irish territory of Connaught. Many died of starvation and disease, as almost a decade of warfare had devastated most of Ireland’s crops and economy.[10] Disease also spread throughout the country. Cromwell’s legacy in Ireland was violence and death.
Dissolving of Parliament
Twice in his career, Oliver Cromwell directly intervened in Parliament’s affairs to orchestrate a particular result.
In 1648, Col. Thomas Pride, probably under Cromwell’s orders, purged the Long Parliament[11] of supporters of Charles I, to ensure the remaining members would vote for his execution. The other incident took place on April 23, 1653, when Cromwell marched into a meeting of the Rump Parliament and reportedly declared “You are no Parliament; I say you are no Parliament... In the name of God, Go!”[12] Thus, he forcibly dissolved the Rump Parliament[13] with armed men at his back.
Cromwell’s disrespect for the working of Parliament in these two instances is used as evidence that he wished to rule as an authoritarian dictator.[14] We will discuss this accusation more later in this essay. His treatment of the Irish and of Parliament are the two most controversial aspects of Cromwell’s legacy.
Broader Context
The English Civil War of 1642–1649 took place against the backdrop of The Thirty Year’s War that ravaged Continental Europe between 1618 and 1648. Aspects of this war between France and Spain did not conclude until 1659.[15] Largely fought between Protestants and Roman Catholics, as many as eight million Europeans died in battle, starvation, and disease during the war.[16] Brutal sieges,[17] armies sacking towns,[18] and waves of disease[19] defined Europe for several decades.
I mention this because many Irish, English, and Scottish soldiers fought in The Thirty Years War as mercenaries.[20] They brought their experiences fighting in Europe back with them to the battles in England and Ireland. Cromwell’s sieges of Drogheda and Wexford seem unspeakably brutal to modern sensibilities. Compared to the sieges of Magdeburg and Frankfurt during The Thirty Years War, they seem more representative of siege warfare in seventeenth-century Europe. The exception is that Catholic priests were targeted and killed or imprisoned by Cromwell’s forces[21] in a manner that events of The Thirty Years War lacked.
Legacy
Oliver Cromwell remains one of the most controversial, talented, ruthless, feared, and influential figures in British history. Irish historian, Helen Litton, writes:
“When it comes to battle statistics, Drogheda and Wexford seem small beer after the carnage of the English Civil Wars, the Irish Nine Years War, or any number of battles in previous centuries. Surely other military leaders had done equivalent damage, yet their names are now forgotten, and Cromwell’s is now a byword. It seems probable, however, that the massacres in these two towns, however inconclusive the actual numbers of dead, were peculiarly horrible in their cold-blooded ruthlessness. The memories they left behind were too strong to be erased. They may have grown in exaggerated tales as years went by, but the original events left an indelible mark.”[22]
Litton speaks for many Irish nationals today. The actions of Cromwell’s army at Drogheda and Wexford are viewed as one of the ultimate examples of English dehumanization of Irish lives.[23] Also, Cromwell is not popular among the English. Conservative politician Daniel Hannan, speaks for many when he condemned Cromwell’s government as a military dictatorship that disrespected the rule of Parliament.[24]
To understand Cromwell’s full legacy, however, we also must examine the positive attributes of Cromwell’s political and military accomplishments. In 1655, Cromwell’s government welcomed Jews to live in England without persecution for the first time since 1290.[25] Soon, England became one of the most welcoming nations for Jewish settlement even if they did not become Christians. Also, Cromwell’s government allowed Baptists, Presbyterians, Independents, and many Anglicans to worship freely in England.[26] For the seventeenth century, Cromwell’s England may have been the peak of religious tolerance. Roman Catholics, due to suspicion of their loyalty to the Pope and Continental European Catholic monarchs, were exempt from this religious toleration, as were any Anglicans and Presbyterians who supported a return to the monarchy.[27] After Charles II’s restoration as king of England, Scotland, and Ireland, he cracked down on all Protestants aside from Anglicans indicating a setback in the history of religious toleration.
Additionally, Oliver Cromwell’s government set the stage for the rise of democracy in the English-speaking world. In 1647, as a cavalry commander, Cromwell presided over the Putney Debates. The Putney Debates were one of the first discussions of the nature of government and liberty in the history of England. During the debates, Colonel Thomas Rainsborough said the following:
“The poorest he that is in England hath a life to live as the greatest he … I think it’s clear, that every man that is to live under a government ought first by his own consent to put himself under that government; and I do think that the poorest man in England is not at all bound in a strict sense to that government that he hath not had a voice to put himself under.”[28]
Rainsborough’s words calling for the dignity of all male citizens of the English nation have resounded throughout history. He was about two centuries ahead of his time. Only under Cromwell and the Parliamentarians could these views be espoused without punishment in seventeenth-century English society. Cambridge historian, John Adamson, theorized that without Cromwell’s influence in the 1640s and 1650s, the cause of English democracy probably would have been set back decades or even centuries.[29]
Finally, we must speak of Oliver Cromwell’s personal talents and abilities for a moment. He was the only common-born English citizen to rise to become head of state,[30] which speaks to his immense talents of leadership, charisma, and discipline. He won every war he fought, every battle he gave, and every siege he endeavored.[31]
I will conclude with two poems written by contemporaries of Oliver Cromwell. First, by John Milton:
Cromwell, our chief of men, who through a cloud
Not of war only, but detractions rude,
Guided by faith and matchless fortitude,
To peace and truth thy glorious way hast ploughed,
And on the neck of crowned fortune proud
Hast rear’d God’s trophies, and his work pursued,
While Darwen stream with blood of Scots imbrued,
And Dunbarr field resounds thy praises loud,
And Worcester’s[32] laureat wreath. Yet much remains
To conquer still…[33]
Second, by Andrew Marvell:
De Witt and Cromwell had each a brave soul.
I freely declare it. I am for old Noll.
Though his government did a tyrant resemble
He made England great and his enemies tremble.[34]
Conclusion
Cromwell leaves behind a complicated legacy. Sometimes he followed his best interests in killing his enemies instead of turning the other cheek.
What do you do when your best interests and your Christian beliefs seem to pull you in opposite directions?
Sources
Carlyle, Thomas. The Letters and Speeches of Oliver Cromwell. 3 vols.; 3rd Ed. London: Methuen Co., 1904.
Hannan, Daniel. Inventing Freedom: How the English-Speaking Peoples Made the Modern World. New York, NY: Broadside, an imprint of Harper Collins Publishers, 2013.
Hutton, Ronald. The Making of Oliver Cromwell. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2021.
Litton, Helen. Oliver Cromwell: An Illustrated History. Dublin, Ireland: Wolfhound Press, 2000.
The Thirty Years War. Ed. Theodore K. Rabb. 2nd Ed. Washington D. C.: University of America Press, 1972.
To Honour God: The Spirituality of Oliver Cromwell. Ed. Michael A.G. Haykin. Dundas, Ontario: Joshua Press. 1999.
Wilson, Peter H. The Thirty Years War: Europe’s Tragedy. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. 2009.
Woodhouse, William. “Puritanism and Liberty, Being the Army Debates (1647-49).” In the Clarke Manuscripts with Supplementary Documents. London, ENG: J.M. Dent, 1950.
[1] Matthew 5:39
[2] The Spirituality of Oliver Cromwell, 48.
[3] The Spirituality of Oliver Cromwell, 90.
[4] Litton, Oliver Cromwell, 35.
[5] Hannan, Inventing Freedom, 152.
[6] Litton, Oliver Cromwell, 41.
[7] Litton, Oliver Cromwell, 49.
[8] Litton, Oliver Cromwell, 50.
[9] Litton, Oliver Cromwell, 56.
[10] Litton, Oliver Cromwell, 74–75.
[11] The Long Parliament refers to the English Parliament that was in session in some form or another between 1640 and 1660.
[12] Oliver Cromwell’s Letters and Speeches. Ed. Thomas Carlyle, Vol. 3, 35.
[13] The Rump Parliament refers to the members of Parliaments who remained in session after Pride’s Purge in 1648.
[14] Litton, Oliver Cromwell, 78.
[15] Rabb, The Thirty Years War, X.
[16] Wilson, The Thirty Years War, 787.
[17] Wilson, The Thirty Years War, 468–469.
[18] Wilson, The Thirty Years War, 787.
[19] Wilson, The Thirty Years War, 787.
[20] Litton, Oliver Cromwell, 38.
[21] Litton, Oliver Cromwell, 56.
[22] Litton, Oliver Cromwell, 94.
[23] Litton, Oliver Cromwell, 8.
[24] Hannan, Inventing Freedom, 181.
[25] Hannan, Inventing Freedom 180.
[26] Litton, Oliver Cromwell, 7.
[27] Litton, Oliver Cromwell, 91.
[28] Woodhouse, Puritanism and Liberty, 53.
[29] John Adamson. “England without Cromwell: What if Charles I had avoided the Civil War,” as recorded in The Spirituality of Oliver Cromwell, 19.
[30] Hutton, The Making of Oliver Cromwell, 2.
[31] Hutton, The Making of Oliver Cromwell, 2.
[32] Worcester and Dunbar were the locations of two of Cromwell’s greatest victories over the Scots.
[33] Poem by John Milton in 1652 as recorded in Litton, Oliver Cromwell, 80.
[34] Poem by Andrew Marvell as recorded in Litton, Oliver Cromwell, 94.