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Oliver Cromwell (1599-1658).
Soldier and statesman, hero of the English Civil Wars (1642-48) and head of government during the Commonwealth and Protectorate (1649-58). Leader of the Parliamentarians before the outbreak of war, he later distinguished himself as a military commander (eventually second in command of the New Model Army) at such battles as Marston Moor (1644), Naseby (1645), Preston (1648), and Worcester (1651). He ordered the execution of Charles I (1649), and on formation of the Commonwealth (1649) became its leader. He invaded and subdued Ireland (1649) and Scotland (1650-51). He dissolved (1653) the Rump Parliament and others in following years. After the failure of his Barebones Parliament, he was made Lord Protector (1653), thus establishing the English Protectorate, but was unable in his last years to form a stable parliamentary government. He failed in his attempts to form an international Protestant league, concluded the first of the Dutch Wars, and added Jamaica and Dunkirk to the English possessions. Two years after his death the Convention Parliament restored (1660) the English monarchy.
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