In 1642, the King attempted to arrest several members of Parliament on a charge of treason. But rather than hand the men over, many members of Parliament took up arms. Sensing that his support in London was weak, the King fled to the north and communities around the country began to choose sides. By the end of the year, the English Civil War was raging. Under Thomas Fairfax and his second-in-command Oliver Cromwell, the Parliamentary forces eventually gained the upper hand. By 1646, the Royalist forces were exhausted and King Charles fell into Parliamentary custody.
The issue of what to do with the King led to a debate between those who wanted to reinstate the monarch with checks on his power and those who wished to try him for treason. The second camp eventually won out and in 1649, the king was found guilty and beheaded. This course of action was opposed by Fairfax, who resigned as head of the army and was replaced by Cromwell. Now, in charge of the army and with the King dead, Cromwell found himself in charge of the English Government. But royalist sympathy remained strong in much of the country and the violence continued.
From 1659 to 1651, Cromwell led his army to stamp out resistance against his authority in Scotland and Ireland. These campaigns were extremely bloody. Through a combination of warfare, starvation, and disease, historians have estimated that up to six percent of the Scottish population died and an astonishing forty-one percent of the Irish population perished. This figures, along with the undeniable brutality that Cromwell’s forces practiced left a deep sense of hatred among much of the population in Ireland and Scotland towards Cromwell. Even today, Cromwell is a much-reviled figure in the Irish imagination, who see him as a genocidal maniac.
Cromwell’s rule was also widely unpopular in England, where he established something like a military dictatorship under the title of “Lord Protector.” A deeply religious man, Cromwell pushed for social reforms that would spread Christian morality across the nation. Theaters were shuttered, sports were banned, and anyone who swore in public was subject to fines. Colorful clothing was also banned and anyone caught doing unnecessary work on a Sunday could be fined or even put into stocks. Even Christmas celebrations were banned as being too festive, and Cromwell pushed to re-establish the holiday as a solemn religious ritual.
These reforms left many in England pining for the return of the Monarchy, now represented by Charles I’s son, Charles II, who had escaped to France during the war. After Cromwell’s death, power passed to his son Richard, who struggled through a short period of ineffective rule before resigning. Shortly afterward, Charles II was recalled to England and restored to power. Charles pardoned everyone except those who had played a direct role in the execution of his father, which is how Cromwell’s skull came to be separated from his body and placed on a pike. But it wouldn’t stay there forever.