stories and histories CROMWELL'S POSTHUMOUS EXECUTION - 30TH JANUARY 1661

Cromwell's Posthumous Execution - 30th January 1661

Oliver Cromwell was born in Huntingdon, a small town near Cambridge, on 25 April 1599.
Although not a direct descendent of Henry VIII's chief minister Thomas Cromwell, Oliver's great-great-grandfather, Morgan Williams, married Thomas sister Katherine in 1497.

Following King Charles execution in 1649, The Commonwealth of England was introduced and lead by a Council of State, to replace the monarchy.
In December 1653, Cromwell became Lord Protector, a role in which he remained until his death five years later.

It is thought that Cromwell suffered from kidney stones or similar urinary/kidney complaints, and in 1658 in the aftermath of malarial fever, Cromwell was once again struck down with a urinary infection.
This saw his health decline and his eventual death at the age of 59, on Friday 3 September.
Cromwell received an elaborate funeral ceremony, and buried in a newly-created vault in Henry VIIs chapel at Westminster Abbey.
But........

On 30th January 1661, Oliver Cromwells body was removed from Westminster Abbey, to be posthumously tried for high treason and 'executed'.
This symbolic date was chosen to coincide with the execution of Charles I, twelve years previously.
His body was hung from the Tyburn gallows in chains, before being beheaded at sunset.
The body was then thrown in a common grave and the head displayed on a twenty foot spike at Westminster Hall.
The head remained there until 1685, when a storm caused the spike to break, tossing the head to the ground below.

:O Cromwells head was found by a soldier, who hid it in his chimney.
On his deathbed, he bequeathed the relic to his daughter.
In 1710 the head appeared in a Freak Show, described as The Monsters Head.

For many years the head passed through numerous hands, the value increasing with each transaction, until a Dr. Wilkinson bought it.
The head was offered by the Wilkinson family to Sydney Sussex College in 1960.
It was given a dignified burial, in a secret place in the college grounds.

Despite his death over 350 years ago - Cromwell continues to provoke a strong reaction following his significant role in a dramatic and troubled period of British history.....

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