In today's #PMQs@DavidDavisMP invoked Leo Amery MP's quote of Cromwell's dismissal of the Rump Parliament in 1653 against Chamberlain in 1940: "You have sat too long here for any good you have been doing. Depart, I say, and let us have done with you. In the name of God, go!" 1/8
Amery was in turn probably misquoting Cromwell - what exactly he said is unknown, but a more likely (and fiery) version is (over several tweets): "It is high time for me to put an end to your sitting in this place, which you have dishonored by your contempt of all virtue..." 2/8
"...and defiled by your practice of every vice.
Ye are a factious crew, and enemies to all good government. Ye are a pack of mercenary wretches, and would like Esau sell your country for a mess of pottage, and like Judas betray your God for a few pieces of money..." 3/8
"...Is there a single virtue now remaining amongst you? Is there one vice you do not possess? Ye have no more religion than my horse. Gold is your God. Which of you have not bartered your conscience for bribes...?" 4/8
"Is there a man amongst you that has the least care for the good of the Commonwealth? Ye sordid prostitutes, have you not defiled this sacred place, and turned the Lord's temple into a den of thieves, by your immoral principles and wicked practices...?" 5/8
"Ye are grown intolerably odious to the whole nation. You were deputed here by the people to get grievances redressed, are yourselves become the greatest grievance. Your country therefore calls upon me to cleanse this Augean stable..." 6/8
"...by putting a final period to your iniquitous proceedings in this House; and which by God's help, and the strength he has given me, I am now come to do. I command ye therefore, upon the peril of your lives, to depart immediately out of this place..." 7/8
"...Go, get you out! Make haste! Ye venal slaves be gone! So! Take away that shining bauble there, and lock up the doors. In the name of God, go!"
Not as pithy as the later version, but it's more likely what Cromwell said dismissing the Rump Parliament... 🙂 8/8
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We're delighted to now have tickets on sale for our Winter Lecture Series, which this year will be held online. We're very grateful to have a great range of speakers and subjects talk on different aspects of #17thCentury history! 😀Thread 1/6
On Wednesday 13 January historian @_paullay will be talking about 'Providence Lost: Cromwell's Western Design', the story of Cromwell's disastrous attempt to seize Spain's Caribbean territories and its impacts - more details at: eventbrite.co.uk/e/providence-l… Thread 2/6
On Wednesday 20 January historian @17thCenturyLady will be talking about 'Sex and Sexuality in Stuart England', providing a peek beneath the bedsheets of 17th century folk and saucy secrets of the Royal Stuarts. More details at: eventbrite.co.uk/e/sex-and-sexu… Thread 3/6
Oliver #Cromwell is popularly believed to have been the leader of the Parliamentary cause, the 'Roundheads', during the #EnglishCivilWar. But was this really the case - has his importance for much of this period been exaggerated? Follow this thread to find out! #17thCentury 1/8
At the start of the Civil War #Cromwell was in modern terms a 'backbench MP', a very minor figure in the House of Commons. The leaders there for the Parliamentary cause were the likes of John Pym and John Hampden; the Earls of Essex & Manchester led in the House of Lords. 2/8
Likewise militarily #Cromwell was a very minor figure at the start of the Civil War in 1642, a junior cavalry officer with no military experience. Others such as the Earls of Essex, the Earl of Manchester and Sir William Waller commanded Parliament's armies at this time. 3/8
We're often asked if there was any connection between Thomas #Cromwell and Oliver Cromwell (many people even confuse the confuse the two). The answer is yes - the two men were related. This thread will explain how with a quick guide to the #CromwellFamily#Tudors#17thCentury 1/7
Thomas Cromwell was chief minister to #HenryVIII 1532-40. His sister Katherine Cromwell had married Morgan Williams, a Welsh lawyer. Their son Richard (c.1502-44) became a protege of Thomas, serving as a commissioner in the Dissolution of the Monasteries and as a soldier. 2/7
Richard Williams prospered, given property in Huntingdon by Henry VIII, as High Sheriff & an MP. By his death he called himself Richard Cromwell - as there was no formal way to change names for generations after the Cromwells signed legal documents 'Cromwell, alias Williams' 3/7