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How weird was Oliver Cromwell?

The pious people’s champion was not only a sadist and ruthless self-promoter; he could also indulge in infantile horseplay during the pressurised period leading up to the regicide

24 August 2024

9:00 AM

24 August 2024

9:00 AM

Oliver Cromwell: Commander in Chief Ronald Hutton

Yale, pp.480, 25

One of the most notorious episodes in the siege of Drogheda, when more than 3,000 Irish people were killed by an English army headed by Oliver Cromwell, came when Cromwell and his troops chased a renegade band of the enemy up into the steeple of St Peter’s church. When the fleeing detachment of soldiers refused to surrender, Cromwell ordered that the steeple be burned.

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