Oliver Cromwell

Oliver Cromwell was a country gentleman from Huntingdon who, after a religious conversion in his thirties, became a fervent Puritan. He was elected to Parliament, and when civil war broke out between King Charles I and Parliament in 1642, he raised a troop of cavalry. Though he had no military training, he proved a gifted commander, and his disciplined horsemen, called Ironsides, helped win the battles of Marston Moor and Naseby. He was a leader of the New Model Army. After Charles was defeated and tried, Cromwell was among those who signed his death warrant, and the king was beheaded in 1649. Cromwell then led a campaign in Ireland where his troops massacred garrisons and civilians at Drogheda and Wexford, and defeated the Scots. In 1653 he dissolved Parliament by force and became Lord Protector of England, Scotland and Ireland. He allowed wider religious toleration for Protestants and readmitted Jews to England. He refused the crown in 1657 and died in 1658. Two years later the monarchy was restored.

Faith: A Puritan who spoke in Parliament for the free preaching of Puritan doctrine. Source: Dictionary of National Biography (1885–1900) (via Wikisource)