Oliver Cromwell Photos

Ruled England 16 December 1653 - 3 September 1658 during English Civil War. Followed by his son Richard Cromwell until 7 May 1659. Oliver Cromwell, a Puritan Member of Parliament supported Parliament in its years-long quarrel with King Charles I. Upon the beginning of the English Civil War (1642-51), Cromwell trained the Parliamentary army to fight effectively against the more powerful Royalist forces, resulting in the eventual victory of Parliamentary forces. Even after the Civil War, Cromwell enjoyed the support of his army and in 1653 asserted his absolute authority as self-named Lord Protector of England and dissolved Parliament. He persecuted Catholics and placed England as head of European Protestant countries. He invaded Ireland to force Irish Catholics to move from eastern Ireland to the northwest, and used massacres, starvation & threats of execution to accomplish his goal. Cromwell died in 1658 and the subsequent chaos led to the restoration of the monarchy.