Historical
and Commemorative Medals
Collection of Benjamin Weiss
OLIVER CROMWELL DASSIER, Jean: England, 1731,
Silver, 38 mm Oliver Cromwell (1599-1658), the only son of Robert
Cromwell and Elizabeth Steward, was born into a landed, though by no means
very wealthy, family. He studied at the recently founded University of
Cambridge where he developed a strong Puritan ideology. In 1628 Cromwell
entered Parliament during a period in which there were serious antagonisms
between King Charles I (the second of a line of Stuart kings, the first
being James Stuart) and the members of parliament. Despite these disputes
between the monarch and Parliament, Cromwell initially supported a
settlement with Charles I, although this settlement required the crown to
accept Cromwell's political allies as the king's ministers and guarantee
religious liberty to Protestants. This brought Cromwell into conflict with
those who wanted a more democratic form of government and with those who
advocated replacing the old Church of England with a new Presbyterian church
base on the teachings of John Calvin. Because of the duplicity of the king,
however, Cromwell began to support actions against Charles. Besides being the leader of the rebels in parliament,
Cromwell became an outstanding military leader against the crown. The Civil
War which erupted pitted the Crown (The Cavaliers) against the rebels in
Parliament (the Roundheads), ultimately leading to a parliamentary victory
for Oliver Cromwell and to the beheading of Charles I in 1649. Charles I was
succeeded on the throne by his eldest surviving son Charles II, but like his
father, Charles II was roundly defeated militarily and was forced into
exile. In 1653 a Protectorate was established with Oliver
Cromwell given the title of Lord Protector of England Scotland and Ireland
in the newly formed Commonwealth, becoming the first commoner to rule
England. Cromwell's rule was that of a virtual military dictator although he
resisted the temptation to take the title of King. He was rather inept
politically, and with the Dutch Wars and the war against Spain financially
weakening the government, parliament became increasingly disillusioned with
the Commonwealth. His policy was both anti-Stuart and pro-Protestant, his
most notable achievement being his championing a degree of unprecedented
religious freedom. This religious freedom should be viewed as relative,
however, because while Quakers, Catholics and Jews were now allowed to
worship as they wished, they were still subject to regulation, and worship
had to be done privately. Further there was still a recognized State Church
under Cromwell. Indeed, unlike the policies that existed before 1649 and
from 1660 (after the Restoration) until the nineteenth century, it was only
during this brief period from 1649-1660 that membership in the State Church
was not a qualification for entry into universities, the professions and
public office. (Although in the intervening periods, anti-discriminatory
laws were enacted from time to time, Jews still weren't permitted to enter
the British Parliament until the late 1800s). Oliver Cromwell died in 1658, and although he was
succeeded for a brief period as Lord Protector of England by his son Richard
Cromwell, a further series of mismanagements of government opened the way in
1660 for parliament to invite the exiled Charles II back to the throne,
ushering in the Restoration and, thereby, ending the period in which a
commoner ruled England. LINK to Medallic History of Oliver Cromwell (from google.books) |
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