The legend of Oliver Cromwell is shrouded in mystery; however, there is some certainty in the story. He made his mark during the turbulent English Civil War– the bloody conflict between Parliamentarians and Monarchists in the seventeenth century that started after the execution of King Charles I. Soon thereafter, Cromwell took the lead on the side of the Parliament, and help secure victory. He assumed the title “Lord Protector of England, Scotland and Ireland” and became the new monarch of England. Oliver Cromwell ruled from then until his death in 1658 of natural causes, which was celebrated with a Grand funeral. However, after after his death and his son’s quick abdication, Charles’s son, Charles II became king of the Realm, and bore a burning
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The legend goes even further that suggests that, sometime after 1684, the wind blew the head from its display at Westminster Abbey and it was picked up and taken by an English soldier. Beyond that, it is claimed that it was passed down, generation-to-generation, until it was laid to rest at Sidney Sussex College in Cambridge (The Economist). This suggestion could very well be true. Jonathan Fitzgibbons addresses it, and confirms that the head that ended up in Cambridge was actually Cromwell’s, thanks to the forensic science of the recent decades. According to The Economist, the embalming and examining of the head before the burial of the head that should be Cromwell’s is almost exactly matches the measurements of the head found in the college. The tale of the skull from then until now is a long and winding road, and one could even go as far as to call it a wild goose
The legend goes even further that suggests that, sometime after 1684, the wind blew the head from its display at Westminster Abbey and it was picked up and taken by an English soldier. Beyond that, it is claimed that it was passed down, generation-to-generation, until it was laid to rest at Sidney Sussex College in Cambridge (The Economist). This suggestion could very well be true. Jonathan Fitzgibbons addresses it, and confirms that the head that ended up in Cambridge was actually Cromwell’s, thanks to the forensic science of the recent decades. According to The Economist, the embalming and examining of the head before the burial of the head that should be Cromwell’s is almost exactly matches the measurements of the head found in the college. The tale of the skull from then until now is a long and winding road, and one could even go as far as to call it a wild goose