OLIVER CROMWELL AND TOMMASO ANIELLO (MASANIELLO)

ST URBAIN, Ferdinand de: England/Italy, 1658; struck ca.1700, Bronze, 45 mm
Obv: Bust of Cromwell (l) OLIVAR. D.G. R P. ANG. SCO. ET. HIB &c. PRO
Rev: Bust of Masaniello in fisherman's cap and jacket. Shirt collar tied with a string. THOMAS. ANIELLO. DE. AMALPHI. (Thomas Aniello of Amalphi)
Signed: S.V.
Rare
Ref: Forrer V, p. 312 # 88; MI i, 432/79; Eimer 47/199

The object of this medal was to record the remarkable coincidence of two persons from private walks of life being raised about the same time to the supreme government of their respective countries: Tommaso Aniello in Naples and Oliver Cromwell in England.

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. 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.

Tommaso Aniello, called Masaniello (1620?-1647), was a fisherman, turned Neapolitan revolutionist, who led a revolt of the lower classes, burdened by high taxes, against the Spanish rulers of Naples. Riots broke out in 1647 and soon became so serious that the Spanish viceroy came to terms with Masaniello, promised the reforms demanded, and recognized him as captain general. Demented by his sudden success, Masaniello was killed shortly afterward either by agents of the Spanish viceroy or by his own disillusioned supporters, thus ending the short-lived republic. (The Columbia Encyclopedia)