Oliver Cromwell Biography

Below is Oliver Cromwell biography. See also the life of Oliver Cromwell, Oliver Cromwell 's family and other facts on Oliver Cromwell.

When was Oliver Cromwell born?

Oliver Cromwell was born on April 25, 1599.

Where was Oliver Cromwell born?

Oliver Cromwell was born in Huntingdon, eastern England.

How many brothers and sisters did Oliver Cromwell have?

Oliver Cromwell was the fifth of ten children.

The early years of Oliver Cromwell 's marriage to Elizabeth Bourchier

During the early years of his marriage, Oliver Cromwell involved himself in the local affairs of his county and struggled with financial woes. Oliver Cromwell, like others in his time, had to manage with bad harvests and a variety of taxes imposed by the monarchy, not just to support the royal navy, but to pay for the lavish lifestyles at court.

When was Oliver Cromwell elected a member of Parliament?

Oliver Cromwell was elected a member of Parliament when he was 29, but the privilege was insignificant - the King dissolved Parliament a year later and didn't call for another for eleven more years.

Oliver Cromwell 's internal crisis in his life

Most of Oliver Cromwell's energy during this period was taken up, not by business and politics, but by an internal crisis that seemed both psychological and spiritual. Oliver Cromwell:

• wrestled with the increasing debts of his farms, a burden that wasn't resolved until an uncle left him a small fortune a few years later. And he
• seemed tormented by the indiscretions, minor as they seem by modern standards, that he had committed in his free wheeling college days.

Turning point in Oliver Cromwell 's life

Somewhere between the ages of 29 and 31 Oliver Cromwell underwent a conversion that was searing both mentally and physically. He read and re-read the Bible, memorized passages from the Old Testament, and suffered such agonies that he frequently called for the doctor in the middle of the night, convinced he was dying. In his notebook, this doctor remarked that his patient was "exceedingly melancholy," and that he administered a universal cure-all which had no effect.

Oliver Cromwell emerged from this crisis of body and soul, convinced he was one of God's chosen people and had been transformed from one of the world's worst sinners into a man who walked in the light of the Lord. From then on, everything he did he felt was divinely guided.

Meanwhile, hundreds of miles away in London, Oliver Cromwell's future adversary, King Charles I, sat on the throne of England and wondered what he could do to raise even more money for the royal treasury.