DOCSLIB.ORG

Oliver Cromwell Was Born at Huntingdon, on the 25Tli of April 1599

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Oliver Cromwell Was Born at Huntingdon, on the 25Tli of April 1599 CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY FROM _. , Cornell University Library DA 428.H31 1888 plver Cromwell 3 1924 027 977 200 oljn \^y Cornell University Library The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924027977200 Ciuelbe (^nglicift ^tatf^men «-' OLIVER CEOMWELL OLIVEE CROMWELL BY FREDERIC HARRISON HonUott MACMILLAN AND CO. AND NEW TORK . 1888 , All rights reserved CONTENTS CHAPTER I . PAGE BiETH —Parentage —Education 1 CHAPTER II — Marriage Family—Domestic Life . .17 CHAPTER III Preparation for Civil War 38 CHAPTER IV ' The First Civil War—Edgehill—The Eastern Associ- ation—Marston Moor 54 CHAPTER V The New Model—Naseby—End of the First Civil War 79 CHAPTER VI Between the Civil Wars . 100 vi CONTENTS CHAPTER VII PAOE Second Civil War—Trial of the King .... 120 CHAPTER VIII The Campaign in Ireland 130 CHAPTER IX The Campaign in Scotland—Worcester .... 150 CHAPTER X The Unofficial Dictatorship 168 CHAPTER XI The Protectorate 192 CHAPTER XII Home Policy of i^he Protectorate 212 CHAPTER XIII Foreign Policy of the Protectorate . 218 CHAPTER XIV " The Last Days : Sickness and Death . 223 ; CHAPTEE I BIRTH—PARENTAGE—EDUCATION A.D. 1599-1620. ^TAT. 1-21 Oliver Cromwell was born at Huntingdon, on the 25tli of April 1599. It was the dark year in Elizabeth's decline, which saw the fall of Essex and Tyrone's war. In the year preceding, Burleigh and Philip of Spain had both passed away; in the year following was born Charles the First. The sixteenth century, which had opened with such hopes, was closing in strife and gloom the Tudor dynasty was in its wane ; and the brilliant life of the Eenascence had already deepened into the long struggle for conscience and freedom. Oliver was the only surviving son of Eobert Cromwell, the second son of Sir Henry Cromwell and younger brother of Sir Oliver Cromwell, both knights of Hin- chinbrook, near Huntingdon. His mother was Elizabeth, the daughter of William Steward and sister of Sir Thomas Steward, both landowners of Ely. He came of a race well born and of good estate : as did Pym, Eliot, Hampden, Vane, St. John, Hutchinson, and Blake. "I was by birth a gentleman,"—so he told his first Parlia- ment— "living neither in any considerable height, nor & B 2 OLIVER CROMWELL chap. yet in obscurity." ^' Est Oliverius Cromivellus,^^ wrote Milton, ^^genere nohili atque illustri ortusJ' The gene- alogists of later times have discovered for him traces of historic descent, which are more or less inventions, and were wholly unrecognised by the Protector himself. There is no foundation for the supposed connection of the Steward family with the royal house of Stuart. The descent of the Cromwells from ^' Glothian, Lord of Powis, before the Norman Conquest," is doubtless as mythical as the descent of the Stewards from "Banquo, the common ancestor of the Stewards and the Stuarts." Both Cromwells and Stewards were families which had grown to wealth and importance at the dissolution of the monasteries. The Stewards had been planted at Ely, enriched with revenues of the Church, by the great-uncle of the Protector's mother, Robert Steward, D.D., who had the singular fortune to be for twenty years the last Catholic Prior, and then, for twenty years more, the first Protestant Dean, of Ely, The Cromwells of Huntingdon were descendants of Sir Richard Crom- well, otherwise called Williams, a kinsman of Thomas Cromwell, Earl of Essex, the Malleus Monachornm, or "Hammer of Monasteries," under Henry VHI. For generations the Cromwells were conspicuous for loyalty, chivalry, and public spirit. Sir Richard Crom- well, the founder of the house, the great-grandfather of the Protector, had been one of the p^eux chevaliers of Henry's Court, and was an ardent supporter of Thomas Cromwell, the Yicar-General. In letters to the Earl he signs himself "your boimden nephew"; he was, in fact, the son of Catherine, Cromwell's sister. Sir Richard's family was Williams of Glamorganshire, ; I BIRTH—PARENTAGE—EDUCATION 3 a name which he was authorised to change for that of his kinsman and patron; and in his will he describes himself as Sir Richard Williams, otherwise called Sir Eichard Cromwell. His descendants continued to use the family name of Williams concurrently with that of Cromwell; it appears in Oliver's marriage settlement, and even in the inscription over the Protector's bed when his e,^gy lay in state. Sir Eichard Cromwell retained the favour of Henry YIH. on the fall of his great kinsman. Honours, grants, offices, civil and military, came to him in profusion ; he married the daughter of Sir Thomas Martyn, Lord Mayor of London and, dying one year before his master, he left vast estates in five counties to his children. Hjs eldest son, Sir Henry Cromwell, the Protector's grandfather, was knighted by Elizabeth in 1563, and in the next year entertained the Queen at Hinchinbrook, a noble house which he built on his principal estate, and in which he incorporated the suppressed Benedictine nunnery. He represented the county of Huntingdon in the Parliament of 1563, was four times High Sheriff, and by his liberality and magnificence acquired the name of the Golden Knight. He married a daughter of Sir Ealph Warren, Lord Mayor of London. Sir Oliver, the eldest son of Sir Henry, uncle and godfather to the Protector, was even more sumptuous and more loyal than his father and grandfather. He too was knighted by Elizabeth, served as High Sheriff for the counties of Huntingdon and Cambridge, and sat in many Parliaments in the reigns of the Queen, of James I., and of Charles L He married first the daughter of Sir H. Bromley, Lord Chancellor, and afterwards the 4 OLIVER CROMWELL chap. widow of Sir Horatio Palavicini, the famous financier. When James of Scotland succeeded to the throne of England, Sir Oliver entertained him during two days at Hinchinbrook on his state progress to London, with a lavish magnificence which delighted the king, and which was said to have surpassed any feast ever ofi'ered to monarch by a subject. He was made Knight of the Bath at the Coronation, and continuing his royal entertainments, he ultimately ruined himself ; and lived in seclusion, a stubborn cavalier to the last, well into the Protectorate of his godson. The many sons of Sir Henry and those of Sir Oliver, all knights or country gentlemen in the eastern counties, served in public offices, in Parliament, or as soldiers; and, during the civil war, for the most part on the side of the king. The daughters of Sir Henry and those of Sir Oliver were married to men of good family and estate : the most illustrious of these being Oliver's aunt Elizabeth, the mother of John Hampden. E-obert Cromwell, the father of Oliver, was a cadet of this knightly house ; and his simple home at Huntingdon was in modest contrast with the splendour of Hinchin- brook. As one of the younger sons of Sir Henry, the Golden Knight, he inherited a small estate, in and near the town of Huntingdon, chiefly possessions which formerly belonged to the Austin Canons. This estate amounted, with the great tithes of Hartford, to about .£300 a year, a tolerable fortune in those times ; rather more than £1000 now. His wife had a jointure of £60 a year, or somewhat more than £200 in our day. He represented the borough in Parliament in 1593 ; was the bailiffs one of town in two successive years ; and I BIRTH—PARENTAGE—EDUCATION 5 was in the commission of the peace for the county. He lived in a stone house, at the northern extremity of the town, having extensive back premises and a fine garden, the Hinchin brook flowing through the court- yard. There Oliver was born. The room was to be seen until 1810; but the house has been twice rebuilt. It fronts the old Eoman road, still called Ermine Street ; and is now a solid manor-house with a fine old garden : some traces of the external walls and of the original oflfices remain. It is in the possession of Captain Isaac Bernard, and is known as Cromwell House : the footpath alongside its garden, leading to the water-meadows, is named CromwelVs TFalk Eobert Cromwell is described as a gentleman of good sense and competent learning; of a great spirit, but without any ambition; regular in his habits, reserved, and somewhat proud. He served in the local duties of his town and at quarter sessions, managed his estate, was on various commissions for draining the fens; a steadfast and worthy man, bringing up in honour a family of ten children, of whom Oliver was the only son that survived. From the civil troubles to the present day contro- versy has raged round the question if he or his family carried on the trade of a brewer. Tradition, lampoons, and biographies persistently assert that he did ; nor is there any real evidence to the contrary. The house at Huntingdon was occupied as a brewery before it belonged to Robert Cromwell ; lampoons published during Charles I.^s lifetime certainly call Oliver a brewer; but his earliest, and most hostile, biographer asserts that not he but his father was the brewer. We 6 OLIVER CROMWELL chap. are most circumstantially told that the brewing business was carefully managed by Mrs. Eobert Cromwell, and continued by her on her husband's death. There is no decisive evidence; and the matter has no importance.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Being a Thesis Submitted for the Degree Of
    The tJni'ers1ty of Sheffield Depaz'tient of Uistory YORKSRIRB POLITICS, 1658 - 1688 being a ThesIs submitted for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy by CIthJUL IARGARRT KKI August, 1990 For my parents N One of my greater refreshments is to reflect our friendship. "* * Sir Henry Goodricke to Sir Sohn Reresby, n.d., Kxbr. 1/99. COff TENTS Ackn owl edgements I Summary ii Abbreviations iii p Introduction 1 Chapter One : Richard Cromwell, Breakdown and the 21 Restoration of Monarchy: September 1658 - May 1660 Chapter Two : Towards Settlement: 1660 - 1667 63 Chapter Three Loyalty and Opposition: 1668 - 1678 119 Chapter Four : Crisis and Re-adjustment: 1679 - 1685 191 Chapter Five : James II and Breakdown: 1685 - 1688 301 Conclusion 382 Appendix: Yorkshire )fembers of the Coir,ons 393 1679-1681 lotes 396 Bibliography 469 -i- ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Research for this thesis was supported by a grant from the Department of Education and Science. I am grateful to the University of Sheffield, particularly the History Department, for the use of their facilities during my time as a post-graduate student there. Professor Anthony Fletcher has been constantly encouraging and supportive, as well as a great friend, since I began the research under his supervision. I am indebted to him for continuing to supervise my work even after he left Sheffield to take a Chair at Durham University. Following Anthony's departure from Sheffield, Professor Patrick Collinson and Dr Mark Greengrass kindly became my surrogate supervisors. Members of Sheffield History Department's Early Modern Seminar Group were a source of encouragement in the early days of my research.
    [Show full text]
  • I the Committee of Safety
    .· (~. ll II Ii ) ' THE COMMITTEE OF SAFETY. 11 "A thesis submitted to the ,, faculty of the Graduate School of the University of • Minnesota by Etheleen Frances ;emp in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Ii degree of Master of Arts, May 5, 1911. 1;1 I Ii II Ii 11 ' :S I:BLI OGRAPHY. l. Source Material 1. Journals of the House of Lords, vol. V and VI. Journals of the House of Commons, vol. II and III. These contain the greater portion of the material on the Committee of Safety. 2. Royal Commission on Historical Manuscripts. London, 1874 etc. These volumes contain here and there a com­ munication to or from the Committee of Safety but have much less material that might be expected. References found:- 4th Report p 262. 5th Report pp. 48, 54, 56, 63, 65, 69, 80, 107, 114. 7th Report pp. 550-588. 10th Report App. 6 pp. 87-88. 13th Report App. 1 p. 104. 3. Calendar of State Papers. Domestic 1641-1644 London, 1887-8 lla.ny order for military supplies are given in the State Papers but not in full. 4. Rushworth,John, Historical collections, 8 vol. London, 1682-1701. Compilation of declarations and proclamations. Vol. 3 and 7 contain material on the Committee. They contain valuable proclamations of the King which cannot be found elsewhere. 5. Somers, Lord. Tracts, 13 vol. London, 1809-1815. Has several remonstrances of value. ){) 1 ~ ( ' ,.... 6. Whitacre. Diary Add. M S S 31, 116, fol. Had notes from first six months of the Committee period especially.
    [Show full text]
  • English Radicalism and the Struggle for Reform
    English Radicalism and the Struggle for Reform The Library of Sir Geoffrey Bindman, QC. Part I. BERNARD QUARITCH LTD MMXX BERNARD QUARITCH LTD 36 Bedford Row, London, WC1R 4JH tel.: +44 (0)20 7297 4888 fax: +44 (0)20 7297 4866 email: [email protected] / [email protected] web: www.quaritch.com Bankers: Barclays Bank PLC 1 Churchill Place London E14 5HP Sort code: 20-65-90 Account number: 10511722 Swift code: BUKBGB22 Sterling account: IBAN: GB71 BUKB 2065 9010 5117 22 Euro account: IBAN: GB03 BUKB 2065 9045 4470 11 U.S. Dollar account: IBAN: GB19 BUKB 2065 9063 9924 44 VAT number: GB 322 4543 31 Front cover: from item 106 (Gillray) Rear cover: from item 281 (Peterloo Massacre) Opposite: from item 276 (‘Martial’) List 2020/1 Introduction My father qualified in medicine at Durham University in 1926 and practised in Gateshead on Tyne for the next 43 years – excluding 6 years absence on war service from 1939 to 1945. From his student days he had been an avid book collector. He formed relationships with antiquarian booksellers throughout the north of England. His interests were eclectic but focused on English literature of the 17th and 18th centuries. Several of my father’s books have survived in the present collection. During childhood I paid little attention to his books but in later years I too became a collector. During the war I was evacuated to the Lake District and my school in Keswick incorporated Greta Hall, where Coleridge lived with Robert Southey and his family. So from an early age the Lake Poets were a significant part of my life and a focus of my book collecting.
    [Show full text]
  • The Claypoles of Northborough in America
    121 THE CLAYPOLES OF NORTHBOROUGH IN AMERICA In a previous issue of NORTHAMPTONSHIRE PAST AND PRESENT (Vol. I, No. 4, page 23), Mr. Urwick Smith gave an account ofJohn Claypole, son-in-law of Oliver Cromwell and his Master of the Horse. He also described other members of the family of the Claypoles of N orthborough. Originally, a yeoman family from Kings Cliffe, the Claypoles increased in prosperity and status in the reign of Elizabeth I, acquiring the Manor of Northborough and a coat of arms shortly afterwards. A brief period of national prominence followed the marriage of John Claypole, son of the Puritan John Claypole, who sat as member for Northamptonshire in one of Cromwell's Parliaments. Naturally this came to an end at the Restoration of Charles II, but John Claypole was not deprived of his estates and was enabled to give his mother-in-law, Oliver Cromwell's widow, asylum at Northborough, where she died. As mentioned by Mr. Urwick Smith, James Claypole, who turned Quaker, and Norton Claypole (brothers of Cromwell's son-in-law), both went to America and in this article Mrs. Marion Balderston traces in some detail what happened to them there. WHAT happened to the prolific Claypole family of Northborough which, during the days of the Commonwealth, rose to be one of the most important families of Northamptonshire? John Claypole, who was Cromwell's son-in-law, carried it to the peak of its political importance, spent its revenues, mortgaged and finally sold its property; his twelve brothers and sisters scattered, some even as far as the New World.
    [Show full text]
  • Pennsylvania Magazine of HISTORY and BIOGRAPHY
    THE Pennsylvania Magazine OF HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY Governor John Blackwell: His Life in England and Ireland OHN BLACKWELL is best known to American readers as an early governor of Pennsylvania, the most recent account of his J governorship having been published in this Magazine in 1950. Little, however, has been written about his services to the Common- wealth government, first as one of Oliver Cromwell's trusted cavalry officers and, subsequently, as his Treasurer at War, a position of considerable importance and responsibility.1 John Blackwell was born in 1624,2 the eldest son of John Black- well, Sr., who exercised considerable influence on his son's upbringing and activities. John Blackwell, Sr., Grocer to King Charles I, was a wealthy London merchant who lived in the City and had a country house at Mortlake, on the outskirts of London.3 In 1640, when the 1 Nicholas B. Wainwright, "Governor John Blackwell," The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography (PMHB), LXXIV (1950), 457-472.I am indebted to Professor Wallace Notestein for advice and suggestions. 2 John Blackwell, Jr., was born Mar. 8, 1624. Miscellanea Heraldica et Genealogica, New Series, I (London, 1874), 177. 3 John Blackwell, Sr., was born at Watford, Herts., Aug. 25, 1594. He married his first wife Juliana (Gillian) in 1621; she died in 1640, and was buried at St. Thomas the Apostle, London, having borne him ten children. On Mar. 9, 1642, he married Martha Smithsby, by whom he had eight children. Ibid.y 177-178. For Blackwell arms, see J. Foster, ed., Grantees 121 122, W.
    [Show full text]
  • The First Green Jackets? by Roy Bailey
    The First Green Jackets? by Roy Bailey All the histories of the former regiments which make up the Royal Green Jackets tell us that they were formed in the middle to later years of the 18th century. As a new recruit to the 1st Bn. the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry (43rd & 52nd) in late 1954, I was not only trained to march at 140 paces to the minute and to carry my rifle at the trail, but I was also instilled with a pride in the regiment’s long and illustrious history. Indeed, I still have my copy of Col. Crosse’s A Short History… for the Young Soldiers of the Regiment, which was issued to all recruits, together with the programme of the Ceremonial Parade held at Osnabrück in October 1955 to mark the bicentenary of the 52nd. If my memory serves me correctly at a distance of nearly half a century, I was a member of the No. 1 (Escort) Company under Major Dennis Fox that day. But over the past few years I have often wondered if the spiritual and territorial origins of the Oxford and Bucks don’t go back a lot further - to the time of the English Civil War. As a boy I was proud of the fact that I was born and brought up in Buckinghamshire, and learned to cherish the history and traditions of that county. Listening to an episode of ‘Children’s Hour’ at the age of 9, I learned of a fellow countryman from the 17th century whom I have studied and admired ever since.
    [Show full text]
  • Year 8 History Homework
    History at Turton We study History to know where we come from, create our identity and share the collective memory that defines us. No (wo) man is an island and everyone is shaped by the world around them. History is over 2000 years of mistakes and progress, lessons learned and forgotten. Through the acquisition of historical knowledge we gain emancipation, and thus endeavour to avoid repeating mistakes, so the world can flourish. Name: Form: Teacher: In this booklet you will find all of your homework for Year 8 History. 1 Week 1 Due date: The Battle of Bosworth The Battle of Bosworth was fought on August 22nd 1485. Henry Tudor had marched with his force from Milford Haven in Wales where he had landed with about 2000 men. The Battle of Bosworth is one of England’s defining battles as it ended the reign of Richard III and led to Henry Tudor becoming Henry VII, the first of the Tudor monarchs, a dynasty that lasted to 1603 and included the reign of two of England’s most famous monarchs – Henry VIII and his daughter Elizabeth I. To launch his campaign against Richard III, Henry needed money. This he got from Charles VIII of France who hoped that a conflict in England would suitably distract any attention away from his wish to take Brittany. Henry sailed from Harfleur on August 1st with a force of between 400 and 500 loyal followers and about 1500 French soldiers. The force landed at Milford Haven on August 7th and marched north along the Cardigan coastline before turning inland towards the Cambrian Mountains and then the River Severn which he followed to the English border.
    [Show full text]
  • OLIVER CROMWELL: CHANGE and CONTINUITY a Master's Thesis Presented to the School of Graduate Studies Department Ofhistory Indian
    OLIVER CROMWELL: CHANGE AND CONTINUITY A Master's Thesis Presented to The School of Graduate Studies Department ofHistory Indiana State University Terre Haute, Indiana In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Master of Arts Degree by Kari L. Ellis May2002 INDIANA STATE UM!VERSITY UBRARY ll APPROVAL SHEET The thesis ofKari L. Ellis, Contribution to the School of Graduate Studies, Indiana State University, Series I, Number 2166, under the title Oliver Cromwell: Change and Continuity is approved as partial fulfillment of the Master of Arts Degree in the amount of six semester hours of graduate credit. Committee Chairperson r 111 ABSTRACT This study looks at the life of Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector ofEngland, in an effort to clarify the diverse and conflicting interpretations resulting from a lack of agreement between those who are biased for and against the Lord Protector. The purpose of the study of this conflicting information is not to settle whether Cromwell was a good figure or bad, but to define more clearly his time. Cromwell, clarified, creates a broader understanding of the seventeenth century Englishman. An introduction develops a brief summarization of Pre-Reformation Europe, the forces which brought changes, Reformation Europe and the Post-Reformation era in which Cromwell lived. The non-Cromwellian periods were included to develop a broader picture for the reader of the atmosphere into which Cromwell emerged. The study concentrates on six key points of conflict within the lifetime of Cromwell and discussion ofthose conflicts through use of periods or roles within his life. Cromwell's changeable nature does not lend itselfto a static, one-dimensional interpretation, but rather to one that attempts to incorporate the normal fluctuations of human nature and the continuity of change.
    [Show full text]
  • Oliver Cromwell
    Oliver Cromwell By Samuel Rawson Gardiner OLIVER CROMWELL. CHAPTER I. KING AND PARLIAMENT. Oliver Cromwell, the future Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, was born at Huntingdon on April 25, 1599, receiving his baptismal name from his uncle, Sir Oliver Cromwell of Hinchingbrooke, a mansion hard by the little town. It was at Huntingdon that the father of the infant, Robert Cromwell, had established himself, farming lands and perhaps also adding to his income by the profits of a brewhouse managed by his wife, Elizabeth—a descendant of a middle-class Norfolk family of Steward—originally Styward—which, whatever writers of authority may say, was not in any way connected with the Royal House of Scotland. "I was," said Cromwell in one of his later speeches, "by birth a gentleman, living neither in any considerable height nor yet in obscurity. I have been called to several employments in the nation, and—not to be overtedious—I did endeavour to discharge the duty of an honest man in those services to God and His people's interest, and to the Commonwealth." The open secret of Cromwell's public life is set forth in these words:—his aim being: first, to be himself an honest man; secondly, to serve God and the people of God; and thirdly, to fulfil his duty to the Commonwealth. In this order, and in no other, did his obligations to his fellow-creatures present themselves to his eyes. For the work before him it could not be otherwise than helpful that his position in life brought him into contact with all classes of society.
    [Show full text]
  • The Copmanthorpe Story -So Here It Is
    The Copmanthorpe Story INDEX 1 General information 2 The Danes 3 Changes in name 4 - 12 Lords of the Manor 13 - 14 John Wood 15 - 16 Extract from Court Rolls 17 - 19 Knights Templars 20 - Old land measures 21 - 26 St Giles 27 Gibbet 27 - 28 Methodist Chapel 29 - 32 The Old School 32 - 34 Copmanthorpe Station 34 - 36 The Youth Club 36 - 37 The Recreation Centre 37 - 38 The Womens Institute 38 The Parish Council 39 - 40 The Conservation Area 40 - 49 Houses and People 49 Trades and Population 50 Census Returns 51 - 52 Poorhouses 52 - 53 Population 53 - 54 Roads 54 - 57 Drome Road - 57 Squadron RFC 57 - 59 Change 59 - 60 Library 60 Yorkshire Pudding The Coat of Arms on the cover of this book is reproduced from the original bookplate used by John Wood, Lord of the Manor of Copmanthorpe from 1709 to 1757. The bookplate was donated by Mr. Anthony Boynton Wood, the present Lord of the Manor of Copmanthorpe who has very kindly given his permission to use the bookplate in this manner. First printed 1983 Second Extended-version 1995 I originally wrote this little book for the benefit of the Copmanthorpe Village Trust, sadly now defunct. There have been many requests since then for the Copmanthorpe Story -so here it is. More information has been found so this book is now in an extended form. I am particularly grateful to Mr. Anthony Boynton Wood, Lord of the Manor of Copmanthorpe for his original research which has provided such invaluable information about his family and the Lords of the Manor of Copmanthorpe much of which was hitherto unknown.
    [Show full text]
  • Part I the ENGLISH COMMONWEALTHMEN
    Cambridge University Press 0521851874 - Machiavelli’s Liberal Republican Legacy Edited by Paul A. Rahe Excerpt More information part i THE ENGLISH COMMONWEALTHMEN or more than a century subsequent to his death in 1527, Niccolo` Machiavelli F was known to the larger world as a counselor of princes, as an enemy to morality and the Christian religion, and as an inspiration to the advocates of raison d’etat´ . It was not until after the execution of Charles I in January 1649 that he would become almost equally famous also as an advocate for republican rule. There is no great mystery in this. Machiavelli’s Prince is, at least on the surface, a much more accessible book than his Discourses on Livy. It is shorter, pithier, and more vigorous, and it enjoyed a grand succes` de scandale from the very first. In contrast, the Discourses on Livy is long, subtle, complex, and difficult to decipher. In short, the work in which republicanism looms large is as unattractive to the casual reader as The Prince is alluring. Even now, the longer book is much more rarely read. Of course, from the outset, there were those who argued that Machiavelli revealed his true opinions only in his Discourses on Livy. Within six years of the appearance of the Florentine’s two great masterpieces in printed form, an inquisitive and well-connected English visitor to Florence named Reginald Pole was told by one or more of Machiavelli’s compatriots that the author of the Discourses on Livy had written The Prince solely in order to trip up the Medici and bring about their demise.
    [Show full text]
  • Cromwelliana
    CROMWELLIANA Published by The Cromwell Association, a registered charity, this Cromwelliana annual journal of Civil War and Cromwellian studies contains articles, book reviews, a bibliography and other comments, contributions and III Series papers. Details of availability and prices of both this edition and previous editions of Cromwelliana are available on our website: The Journal of www.olivercromwell.org. The 2018 Cromwelliana Cromwell Association The Cr The omwell Association omwell No 1 ‘promoting our understanding of the 17th century’ 2018 The Cromwell Association The Cromwell Museum 01480 708008 Grammar School Walk President: Professor PETER GAUNT, PhD, FRHistS Huntingdon www.cromwellmuseum.org PE29 3LF Vice Presidents: PAT BARNES Rt Hon FRANK DOBSON, PC Rt Hon STEPHEN DORRELL, PC The Cromwell Museum is in the former Huntingdon Grammar School Dr PATRICK LITTLE, PhD, FRHistS where Cromwell received his early education. The Cromwell Trust and Professor JOHN MORRILL, DPhil, FBA, FRHistS Museum are dedicated to preserving and communicating the assets, legacy Rt Hon the LORD NASEBY, PC and times of Oliver Cromwell. In addition to the permanent collection the Dr STEPHEN K. ROBERTS, PhD, FSA, FRHistS museum has a programme of changing temporary exhibitions and activities. Professor BLAIR WORDEN, FBA Opening times Chairman: JOHN GOLDSMITH Honorary Secretary: JOHN NEWLAND April – October Honorary Treasurer: GEOFFREY BUSH Membership Officer PAUL ROBBINS 11.00am – 3.30pm, Tuesday – Sunday The Cromwell Association was formed in 1937 and is a registered charity (reg no. November – March 1132954). The purpose of the Association is to advance the education of the public 1.30pm – 3.30pm, Tuesday – Sunday (11.00am – 3.30pm Saturday) in both the life and legacy of Oliver Cromwell (1599–1658), politician, soldier and statesman, and the wider history of the seventeenth century.
    [Show full text]