Author: Purple Brolly

The role of the monarchy has changed radically over the ages and the public execution of King Charles I (1600-49) set a precedent that is credited with constricting any subsequent tendency towards tyranny. Oliver Cromwell (1599-1658) from Cambridgeshire was one of the parliamentarians who signed the King’s death warrant and it was he who led the country as its ‘Lord Protector’ in its first spell as a republic (1653-58).

However, the old ways lingered on and his son Richard (1626-1712) inherited the job, in true bloodline fashion. Having no training or fellow republican heads of state to emulate, he resigned in 1659 and the monarchy was restored in 1660. The new king, Charles II (1630-85), revengefully ordered the exhumation of Oliver Cromwell’s body from Westminster Abbey and the setting of his head on a spike for all to see. The Irish also hated Cromwell for massacres perpetrated at two of the 28 Irish towns he and his army overran in 1649-50.

The 1,200 laws Cromwell introduced were binned as not having received Royal Assent. Nevertheless, his legacy included a new religious tolerance which could not be suppressed even after his death. He was himself utterly driven by his Puritanical beliefs and was probably a man of ideals corrupted by power.

(Image: Dave Smethurst at geograph.org.uk / CC BY-SA 2.0)

During the Vikings‘ explorations spanning N.America to the Middle East, Britain did not go unnoticed and in fact proved quite a draw for some 250 years until the Norman Conquest of 1066. ‘Viking’ is a later name applied to these Scandinavian adventurers from across the North Sea. Their first incursions, in the 790s, were violent thefts and murders at soft targets ~ the monasteries of N.England, Scotland and Ireland.

The sight of the distinctive Viking longships powering their way towards shore became a regular portent of pillage and upheaval each summer, until they eventually decided to settle here in the 850s. They took control of various kingdoms in the upper part of Britain, roughly north of a line from London to Bedford. Wessex in the south stood firm and King Athelstan defeated them in 927, thereby uniting the country of England.

Eirik Bloodaxe (typical Viking nickname ~ others include Bluetooth, Ironside, Skullsplitter, Boneless, Red, Buttered-Bread) had briefly retaken Northumbria but was killed in 954. Back for more in 1013, the Vikings now tussled for total rule and for a while had the Danish King Cnut (or ‘Canute’) on the English throne, in 1016-35. Naturally, they left their mark culturally, linguistically and in the family trees of many Britons.

(Image [cropped]: alh1 at Flickr.com / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)