Oliver Cromwell
1599–1658 · English · English Civil War
Known for: Created the New Model Army, defeated King Charles I, and ruled as Lord Protector of England
Oliver Cromwell rose from minor rural gentry to become the most powerful man in England through sheer military talent and religious conviction. He created the New Model Army—the first truly professional English army—and defeated King Charles I's Royalists in the English Civil War. He signed the king's death warrant and ruled as Lord Protector from 1653 until his death.
He was a brilliant cavalry commander who won decisive battles at Marston Moor and Naseby. He was also a religious zealot who massacred Irish Catholics at Drogheda and Wexford. His legacy is permanently polarized: he's a hero of parliamentary democracy in England and a butcher in Ireland.
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