I despair, sometimes, really I do.
My aunt spent all her adult life in the property, and when she died, she left it to me, and my four sisters.
Now I am buying it outright, but it presents me with a real moral dilemma.
No, it doesn’t. It’s a name, nothing more, and that name is linked to English history. The absurd idea that Cromwell was a war criminal is to apply 21st Century sensibilities onto a 17th Century figure who lived in a time when such notions were meaningless.
As, indeed Howse was told by Sarah Mortimer.
She feels the tag of war criminal is undeserved, and Cromwell’s conduct in Ireland should not be judged through modern eyes.
“What happened in Ireland was in line with contemporary laws of war. By the standards of the time, if you hold out against a besieging army and refuse their terms of surrender, you deserve what you get when you are finally defeated.”
Quite. Horrific to modern sensibilities, but perfectly normal at the time.
Clearly Patrick Howse doesn’t have enough to worry about. In the end, he decided not to change the name of the house, so an article about nothing, really…
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Update:
Howse has responded via email. He claims that as he has experienced religious conflict first hand – something mentioned in his article – he feels that it gives him pause to think about a house named after a religious bigot. The problem is again the same one – projecting 21st century sensibilities onto a 17th Century man. Cromwell was not a religious bigot. He was a devoutly religious man living in a time when most people were deeply religious. If we accuse him of religious bigotry, we are going to have to apply it to just about everyone else alive at the time. There is no moral dilemma, only historical revisionism. That is what I was objecting to.
As often said, the Irish learn nothing and forget nothing 😈
They still bang on about the Battle of the Boyne…
The SNP’s idea to have their independence referendum on the 700th anniversary of the the battle of Bannockburn comes to mind here. Now, I know it was a famous victory for Jockshire, but what relevance does that have to Scotland’s interests in the 21st century? The whole thing seems predicated on righting some perceived ancient wrong or sleight. There’s holding a grudge, and then there’s holding a grudge…
One could say the same about racist tossers
I wondered how long it would take for someone to cry “racist!” and you didn’t disappoint. Since the Irish are Caucasian and so are the English, there is no racism.
The cry of racism, is, frankly, the new Godwin and further commentary from the fool who cries it may be safely dismissed out of hand..
Wow – talk about first-world problems!
It’s not just the 21st century view of Cromwell’s action, it’s the way that society in general has begun to imbue everything with symbolism on a scale not seen since the Renaissance – from wristbands ad lapel pins to mass silences, the cult of secular representation is on the increase as the established religion declines.
Thus, as Howse himself observes, a name that was probably initially a simple description – the house Cromwell stayed in – is seen as a commemoration and thence an endorsement.
Indeed. While I might be interested in the history of the name, so would be inclined to do the research, it would be for curiosity’s sake, not because I would have any qualms about the name or its association. But, then, despite his faults, and they were plenty, I tend to look upon Cromwell kindly. The beginning of the end of the divine right of kings was a good thing, not a bad one. For that I can forgive Cromwell.
Your approach – being rational and intelligent – is completely out of step with the politically correct Zeitgeist which demands that everyone is either wholly ‘good’ or entirely ‘bad’; look at the media outcry when Tariq Jahan was found to have feet of clay in the form of an assault conviction, as if committing a violent act somehow negated the value of his call to avoid retaliation for the murder of his son during the riots.
It’s one of those things that makes me look around and wonder where the grown-ups went – and makes me profoundly grateful for the rational bloggers keeping the flame alight.
Ah, yes, where did the grown ups go?
Absolutely. Personally, I’d be delighted to have a home with a Cromwell connection. Whatever his faults, whenever I pass his statue outside Parliament I find myself giving a nod of appreciation.
Or:
A man before his time…
Your first quote is still alive and well at my son’s school, where it can frequently be heard when the Head of History reaches the end of his patience with a class.
Agree with Curmudgeon here.
There’s no chance of the prat moving into my neighbourhood then, thank goodness! There is a Cromwell Road a few hundred yards away from my house, and all the other roads round here are named after Roundhead Generals. Why? Well just where my house stands is where Cromwell sited his cannons while beseiging the Royal Fort across the valley.
Cromwell was of Welsh extraction by the way, real name Edwards I believe. He took the name Cromwell from his mother’s side cos he fancied the association with Thomas Cromwell.
I have no patience with either side in the great civil wars – possibly excepting Thomas Fairfax.
Charles I was totally untrustworthy, and Cromwell was really ruthless, even by the standards of the time …
And, as a good christian (euw) he banned “christmas” (Because it was a pagan mid-winter celebration) & closed the theatres, and some of the pubs.
NOT a nice man.
I have always favoured parliament. The war brought about an end to the divine right of kings even though that didn’t really happen until the Glorious revolution forty-odd years later. Besides, what choice did they have when Charles effectively declared war on his own people?
As for Cromwell’s religious beliefs; well they weren’t so unusual. Everyone pretty much was religious at the time. Indeed, he was a moderate when compared to his Leveller allies north of the border.
Whether he was nice or not isn’t really the issue – he was a lynch-pin in our history and on balance, the effect was better rather than worse. So, yeah, I can forgive an awful lot.