THE CURSE OF CROMWELL

In the history of Britain’s rulers, there is an uncomfortable 11-year gap between the reigns of Charles I, which ended in 1649, and Charles II, which began in 1660. The reason for that gap – and for the discomfort – is that Charles I remains the only English king to have been executed for high treason, a controversial event at the time, and ever since. The man responsible was the Parliamentarian general Oliver Cromwell, who later founded the first (and, to date, last) English republic and established himself as Lord Protector of England.

Today, Cromwell remains the most polarising of figures in British history. His defenders applaud him as a just and righteous man, who attempted to rebuild his country on moral and egalitarian lines. His detractors, meanwhile, condemn him as a sadistic and power-crazed totalitarian who created an aggressive political fundamentalist group in 17th-century England. But is either of these an accurate account of the country’s sole non-regal ruler, or is the truth more complex?

By the