Cromwell, the Commonwealth and the execution of Charles I

Study note

The king's army was defeated at the Battles of Marston Moor and Naseby, and by 1646 Parliament had won. Charles I refused to reach agreement and was executed in 1649. England became a republic called the Commonwealth, with no monarch. Oliver Cromwell, an army general, crushed a revolt in Ireland with great violence and defeated Charles II's Scottish army at the Battles of Dunbar and Worcester. Cromwell was made Lord Protector and ruled until his death in 1658.

Memory tip: Marston Moor and Naseby; Charles I executed 1649; Cromwell = Lord Protector until 1658.