What Happened to Oliver Cromwell’s Body?
Bernice D. Abrams
World Civ. 102
Fall I 2008

What Happened to Oliver Cromwell’s Body?

Oliver Cromwell was born on April 25, 1599, in Huntingdon, near Cambridge. His father Robert was the younger son of a Knight, which in those days meant that he had very little property. Cromwell grew up in genteel poverty; not quite a member of the nobility, yet not a commoner either. In 1620 he married Elizabeth Boucher. For the early part of his adult life, he scraped along, barely making ends meet on the scraps he had inherited from his father. Then in 1630 the failure of his business caused him to move to St. Ives and begin again as a yeoman farmer. However in 1637 he inherited a modest income and property when his mother’s brother died without heirs. Despite his impoverished circumstances, he had many opportunities to interact with powerful figures at court. His grandfather lived in state at his house outside Huntingdon, where he frequently entertained royalty and court officials. Through his wife’s father, Sir James Bourchier, he was brought into contact with London merchants and leading Puritan figures. In 1630, he suffered what we would today term a mental breakdown. At the same time he under went a powerful religious conversion to the Puritan cause. He afterwards said that he felt as though he was waiting for God to give him a mission. In the meantime, he was elected as a Member of Parliament for Huntingdon, a post he owed more to patronage and aristocratic connections than to any great merit. He attended the Parliament of 1628-29, and was likely the poorest there. He seems to have been overawed by his elevated status, and hardly made any contribution to Parliamentary sessions. In 1640, he was back in Parliament, this time representing Cambridge. This time, he had quite a lot to say. He was one of the most outspoken critics of royal policies and of the established Anglican church. He also advocated increased Parliamentary powers, and for Parliament, not the king, to have the power to name army generals. When fighting finally broke out in 1642, he was named a captain of horse (a minor cavalry commander). Now, his military leadership qualities came to the fore. Within a year he was Lieutenant General of Horse for the Army of the Eastern Association. In 1645, the three largest Parliamentary armies were combined. Parliamentary leaders could not agree on who should lead the cavalry of the new army, so they appointed him as temporary commander for forty days. The temporary appointment was renewed many times over until finally becoming permanent in 1647. In the meantime, he led his cavalry in some of the most vital battles of the Civil War. His horsemen were responsible for major contribution to the victories at Marston Moor and Naseby. It was easy to regard him as a fire-breathing radical, but that assessment is not a fair one. To be truly, he roundly castigated Parliamentary leaders who advocated a negotiated settlement with the king. He wanted to settle for nothing less than total victory over the cavaliers. On the other hand, he opposed religious intolerance of the Presbyterians, and the political intolerance of the Levelers. He seems to have made a genuine effort to work within the existing forms of government and negotiate in good faith with King Charles for governmental and religious reforms. His resolve towards tolerance was tested in 1647 when Charles prompted a Scottish rising. He put down the royal allies at Preston, and Yorkshire. Though he felt betrayed by Charles, he held out against a trial, and when he agreed it was with the idea that Charles would abdicate in favor of one of his sons. But Charles was obstinate to the last, and refused to step aside. Once it became clear that the king would not be swayed, he became one of the most vocal supporters of regicide. After the death of Charles, further rebellions in favor of the future Charles II arose in Ireland and Scotland. He dealt with Ireland first, and his ferocious retribution for Irish actions earned him a reputation for cruelty. Scotland was next, and finally he defeated the younger Charles at the Battle of Worcester in 1651. He then participated in the debates of the “Rump Parliament”. He also tried to work with religious leaders to design a blueprint for a godly commonwealth, but once again his efforts were done in by the inability of the various parties to work together. With a sense of exasperation, he took up the reigns as Lord Protector, head of an executive council. Several efforts were made to have him name king, but he resisted firmly. His rule was a time of rigid social and religious laws on radical Protestant line. He was a highly religious man who believed that everybody should lead their lives according to what was written in the Bible. The word Puritan means that followers had a pure soul and lived a good life. He believed that everybody else in England should follow his example. One of the main beliefs of the Puritans was that if you worked hard, you would get to Heaven. Pointless enjoyment was frowned upon. He shut down many theatres and inns. Most sports were banned. Boys caught playing football on Sunday could be whipped as a punishment. Swearing was punished by a fine, and those who kept swearing could be sent to prison. Sunday became a very special day under the Puritans. Most forms of work were baned. Women caught doing unnecessary work on the Holy Day could be put in the stocks. He also believed that women and girls should dress in a proper manner. Despite all these rules, he himself was not restricted. He enjoyed music, hunting and playing bowls. He even allowed full-scale entertainment at his daughter’s wedding. He also had hatred for the Irish Catholics. He believed that they were all potential traitors willing to help any Catholic nation that wanted to attack England. During his time as head of Government, he made it his task to ‘tame’ the Irish. By the end of his life, both he and the eleven major generals who helped to run the country had become hated people. The population was tired of having strict rules on them. In September 1658, he died, and his coffin was escorted by thirty thousand soldiers as it was taken to Westminster Abbey where he was buried. He was given one of the most lavish funerals in English history. He was buried where kings and queens. After the monarchy was reinstated about two years later, his body was dragged to Tyburn on a sledge and hung until sundown. He was then executed. Bending his nose in the process, the executioner threw the Lord Protector onto the block and had to sing eight times before his head was cut off. The body was flung into a pit, and his head was impaled on a twenty-five foot wooden poll tipped with an iron spike. Tied to the roof of Westminster Hall, his head remained for twenty-four years until in 1685; a violent storm blew it off. A captain of the guard carried the head off and hid it in his chimney and the whole city of London search for the fellow who took it. On his deathbed, the captain left the head to his only daughter, and by 1710 it was valued at sixty guineas and could be seen in a traveling freak show. Actor Samuel Russell owned the head in 1775, and he offered it to Sydney Sussex College, where Cromwell had studied, but they refused it. In 1787, Russell sold it for one hundred eighteen pounds to a jeweler named James Fox, who later sold it for two hundred thirty pounds to three fellows who exhibited it on London’s Bond Street. In 1814, after the three had died, a surviving daughter who did not want the head sold it to Dr. Wilkinson. In 1960, the Wilkerson family again offered it to Sydney Sussex College, which accepted it and buried it secretly somewhere on the grounds of the college.

Worked Cited

Oliver Cromwell: Lord Protector of England (1599-1658) http://www.forerunner.com/champion/x00043.Oliver_Cromwell.html

http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/cromwell_england.htm