Oliver Cromwell

Oliver Cromwell (1599–1658) was the Parliamentarian commander who defeated Charles I, ended the English monarchy and ruled the British Isles as Lord Protector. After years of failure he joined the Parliamentarian army, leading the New Model Army's cavalry from 1645, earning the nickname Old Ironsides. He pressed for Charles I's execution in 1649, then conquered Ireland with a brutality that still divides opinion, and invaded Scotland in 1650–1651.

In April 1653 he forcibly dissolved the Rump Parliament, becoming Lord Protector that December. In 1657, after six weeks' deliberation, he refused Parliament's offer of the crown, saying he would not rebuild Jericho. He died at Whitehall on 3 September 1658.

His son Richard resigned in 1659, and Charles II returned in 1660. On 30 January 1661, anniversary of Charles I's execution, Cromwell's corpse was dug up and hanged at Tyburn; his displayed head was buried at Cambridge in 1960.