Oliver Cromwell

[RedRalph]

It's worth remembering that around one fifth of the civilian casualties in the war were protestants, a number roughly consistent with the overall population; most casualties were the result of famine, disease and other disruptions of war, rather than direct violence.

them being protestant or Catholic didnt have the same connotations in them days as it might now

 

[BCLG100]

them being protestant or Catholic didnt have the same connotations in them days as it might now

Do you mean there that it was less important then? Many historians can see it as the culmination of religious turmoil in Britain begun by Henry VIII over a century earlier and only ended with the Glorious Revolution. There was still an 'us' and 'them' attitutde even if the name behind it wasn't fixed.

 

[RedRalph]

Do you mean there that it was less important then? Many historians can see it as the culmination of religious turmoil in Britain begun by Henry VIII over a century earlier and only ended with the Glorious Revolution. There was still an 'us' and 'them' attitutde even if the name behind it wasn't fixed.

I just mean it didn't neccesarily mean the Catholics were inherently more anti-England, as would be the case now.

 

[BCLG100]

Well it sort of did. The whole reason Cromwell went to Ireland was because an agreement had been struck with the Irish Catholics, especially in Ireland when Catholiscm had bedded down, almost ignoring the religious turmoil in England.

 

[lovett]

The sad part is that what I said is not an exagguration. He really did kill 2/3 of the population of Ireland.

EDIT: Looked it up because I didn't think I had the number right. I didn't. It was more like 1/4.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cromwellian_conquest_of_Ireland

You might also be well served by looking up when Cromwell was in charge of the campaign. Around a year. The campaign was four years long. Is he responsible for those other three years?

 

[Cheezy the Wiz]

Stalin is held responsible for Yezhovshchina!

 

[Traitorfish]

them being protestant or Catholic didnt have the same connotations in them days as it might now

Perhaps not as such, no, but it's certainly true that most Protestant settlers aligned themselves with the Protectorate, if only for the sake of self-defence. If nothing else, their deaths were unlikely to benefit Cromwell, given that his somewhat fiendish plans for the restructuring of Ireland relied upon such settlers rather heavily.

It should probably be noted that I'm mostly playing devil's advocate here; unlike Quackers, I do not hold the view that Cromwell was a champion of liberty to be lionised at every opportunity. I just tend to be sceptical of the rather contrary view that Cromwell was actually His Infernal Majesty Mega Therion, Lord of the End Times, which is one you encounter rather frequently when raised in an Irish Catholic family.