In 1653 Cromwell
became head of state, the Lord Protector. By then the republic Cromwell led
included England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland, as well as colonies in New
England and the Caribbean. During its brief life the Commonwealth became a
force in Europe. Culturally it inspired the great poetry of John Milton and
Andrew Marvell, and other radical and pacifist religious movements such the
Quakers, who are still with us today.
Oliver Cromwell
was succeeded by his son Richard, who was neither a politician nor a soldier.
Unable to reconcile republican generals with the demands of the rich merchants
and landowners to curb the influence of the New Model Army, Richard Cromwell
resigned the following year. The government collapsed. The monarchy was
restored in 1660 and the New Model Army was dissolved.
Marxist academics
have always recognised the historic role of Cromwell but most bourgeois
historians simply dismiss Cromwell as an upstart general who made himself
dictator, a “king in all but name,” through the might of his New Model Army.
Some Irish nationalists call him a brutal bigoted English invader. Some
Protestants, even now, regard Cromwell as a religious reformer who fought for
freedom of conscience for all faiths apart from Catholicism, and many in the
Jewish community still remember Cromwell as the leader who allowed Jews to
live, worship and work in England for the first time since the pogroms of 1290.
But for the
bourgeoisie Oliver is best forgotten, even though their ascendancy began when
their ancestors took up the gun in the 1640s.
The ruling class
abhor revolutionary change today because it threatens their own domination, so
they naturally deny that their class ever came to power through it in the first
place. For them the English republic is an aberration, a temporary blip in the
steady advance of bourgeois progress, which is the myth they teach us in
school. If they elevate anything at all it is the ‘glorious revolution’ of
1688, when the last of the Stuarts was deposed and replaced by a king of their
own choosing. Though not as bloodless as they claimed – plenty was shed in
Ireland – the establishment of a monarchy that was the gift of Parliament was
achieved without the involvement of the masses, which was precisely what was
intended.
These days there
are few public monuments to Cromwell or the republic that he led apart from a
handful of 19th century statues, the most famous standing outside
Parliament in Westminster.
In Huntingdon you
can visit Cromwell’s old school, which now houses the largest collection of
Cromwelliana on public display in Britain. The Cromwell Museum is on Grammar
School Walk and it’s open every day apart from Mondays.
Oliver Cromwell’s
House in Ely, the family home of the Lord Protector, has been refurbished to
show how it may have looked during Cromwell’s lifetime. It also houses a gift
shop that stocks an impressive range of souvenirs, including Cromwell mugs
depicting the great man and some of his most famous quotes. You can also buy
bottles of East Anglian ‘Toppled Crown’ beer and ‘Cromwell Cider’.
Oliver Cromwell’s
House, 29 St Mary’s Street, Ely was awarded the Hidden Gem accolade by the
Visit England national tourist agency in 2016 and it is open all year round.
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