Character Catalog

Cromwell was the chief architect of this professional, disciplined, and meritocratic army, recruited on the basis of ability rather than birth. It revolutionized English military practice and won every decisive battle of the Civil War.

The first written constitution in English history, drawn up under Cromwell's impetus. It established the Lord Protectorate and sought to balance power between the executive and Parliament.

A major piece of economic legislation requiring that goods imported into England be carried on English ships. It aimed to break the Dutch commercial monopoly and laid the foundations of British maritime power.

Cromwell led military campaigns that brought Ireland and Scotland under the authority of the English Commonwealth, laying the groundwork for the unification of the three kingdoms under English administration.

The collected writings and speeches of Cromwell, assembled in the nineteenth century by the historian Carlyle, provide an exceptional record of his political and religious thinking and his providential vision of history.

Under his Protectorate, Cromwell pursued a policy of relative religious toleration toward non-conformist Protestants and permitted the return of Jews to England, who had been expelled since 1290.

I am ready to serve not as a king, but as a servant of the Parliament and people of this nation, according to the laws and statutes of the land.

You are no longer a Parliament. I say you are no Parliament. You have sat too long here for any good you have been doing. Depart, I say, and let us have done with you!

Gentlemen, this is the victory of the Lord. The enemy has fled before us. Be humble before this divine mercy and attribute nothing to the flesh.

Let your faith be firm in God. We have not sought these things for ourselves, but the Providence of God has led us to them.

The government of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland shall be vested in a single person together with Parliament.

Cromwell's birthplace, where he was born on 25 April 1599. He spent his childhood and youth there before entering politics as a local Member of Parliament.

Site of the decisive battle of 14 June 1645, where Cromwell's New Model Army crushed the Royalist forces of Charles I. This victory marked an irreversible turning point in the Civil War.

The royal palace converted into Cromwell's official residence as Lord Protector. It was here that he governed England from 1653 until his death in 1658, and where he held his Councils of State.

The Irish town where Cromwell ordered the massacre of the Royalist garrison and part of the civilian population in 1649. This episode remains one of the most controversial and traumatic events in Irish history.

The site of King Charles I's trial in January 1649. Cromwell was one of the driving forces behind this unprecedented judgment of a sovereign by his own subjects.