Sunday, April 16, 2006

Richard Cromwell

One person who often showed up on the Early Modern Europe exam was Richard Cromwell; he logically was cited by people who were writing on the Declaration of Breda. Richard. was the son and successor of Oliver Cromwell as Lord Protector of England. He had no particular qualifications for the job and was soon forced out and/or quit. I always thought he was just realistic enough to know when to go, but this BBC site rather emphasizes that he tried holding onto power for quite a while against serious opposition.

I always wondered what an ex-Lord Protector did with himself. The answer: he ran off to Paris dodging his debtors and any further political trouble. He lived there and in Geneva until 1680 and then returned to England to "live quietly" for another 32 years.

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