What were Oliver Cromwell

1
What were Oliver Cromwells motivations?
2
Based on your previous work, create a timeline of
the life of Oliver Cromwell. You will need to
include events from the Civil War, the
Commonwealth and the Protectorate.

1599 Born Huntingdon - 25th April
1616 Enters Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge
1628 MP for Huntingdon
1640 MP for Cambridge
1642 Raises troops for Parliament
1643 Colonel in the Eastern Association
1644 Lieutenant-General of the Eastern Association Army Battle of Marston Moor - 2nd July Battle of Newbury - 27th October
1645 Lieutenant-General of the New Model Army Battle of Naseby - 14th June
1647 Supports Parliamentary army in clashes with Parliament
1648 Crushes royalist rising in South Wales Battle of Preston - 18th August
1649 Supports trial and execution of the King - January Commands army sent to crush Ireland - August
1650 Commands army sent to crush Scotland - July
1650 Battle of Dunbar - 3rd September
1651 Battle of Worcester - 3rd September
1653 Dissolves Parliament - 20th April Becomes Lord Protector - 16th December
1654 Meets first Protectorate Parliament - September
1655 System of the Major- Generals established- October
1656 Meets second Protectorate Parliament - September
1657 Rejects Parliament's offer of the crown and remains Lord Protector, March - June
1658 Dies at Whitehall - 3rd September
1661 Exhumed and posthumously 'executed'- 30th January
What do these events suggest about Cromwells
motivations?
Do you think he was driven by contemporary
circumstances or his own personal beliefs?
3

• Have a look at the letters and portraits. As you
  study each one, you need to do the following
• Add it to your timeline of Cromwells life (in a
  different colour).
• What does it tell us about Cromwells
  motivations? Try to add a quote or a description
  to support your point.

4
Having looked at the portraits and letters of
Cromwell, what do they tell us about his
motivations?
Colour-code your timeline to show the different
motivations e.g. religion, reliance on the army,
personal interest

• Consider the following questions ready for
  discussion
• Do the motivations highlighted in the portraits
  and letters correspond with the events of
  Cromwells life?
• Do Cromwells motivations change over time?
• To what extent was Cromwell driven by
  contemporary events rather than his own personal
  beliefs?

Write a paragraph to answer the last question
5
What other sources of evidence could we use to
discover the motivations behind Cromwells
actions? Make sure you explain why you would
consult each particular source.
Next steps Your next step should be to visit the
Cromwell Museum and Archives. Can you find any
more evidence of Cromwells motivations?