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| Oliver Cromwell: Is my house's name controversial? | Oliver Cromwell: Is my house's name controversial? |
| (about 11 hours later) | |
| By Patrick Howse BBC News | By Patrick Howse BBC News |
| If you inherit a house named after a controversial figure from history, should you consider renaming it? | If you inherit a house named after a controversial figure from history, should you consider renaming it? |
| Cromwell House has unobtrusively graced the Oxfordshire village of Bampton since about 1600. | Cromwell House has unobtrusively graced the Oxfordshire village of Bampton since about 1600. |
| By the time my much-loved aunt Margaret moved there during World War II, the cottage had carried its name for almost 300 years. | By the time my much-loved aunt Margaret moved there during World War II, the cottage had carried its name for almost 300 years. |
| The story goes that during the English Civil War Oliver Cromwell beat a small detachment of Royalist troops, at a skirmish known to a few specialist historians as "Bampton-in-the-Bush". | The story goes that during the English Civil War Oliver Cromwell beat a small detachment of Royalist troops, at a skirmish known to a few specialist historians as "Bampton-in-the-Bush". |
| On that night in April 1645, he slept in rooms above the blacksmith's forge. | On that night in April 1645, he slept in rooms above the blacksmith's forge. |
| My aunt spent all her adult life in the property, and when she died, she left it to me, and my four sisters. | 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. For some, particularly in Ireland, Oliver Cromwell is a war criminal, an ethnic cleanser. He has even been accused of genocide. | Now I am buying it outright, but it presents me with a real moral dilemma. For some, particularly in Ireland, Oliver Cromwell is a war criminal, an ethnic cleanser. He has even been accused of genocide. |
| I have spent 10 years covering wars where ethnic cleansing and the terrorising of civilian populations have happened on a huge scale. | |
| In Iraq and elsewhere I have seen firsthand the misery inflicted by people who use killing and intimidation to try to achieve political goals, and I have been traumatised by what I have witnessed. | In Iraq and elsewhere I have seen firsthand the misery inflicted by people who use killing and intimidation to try to achieve political goals, and I have been traumatised by what I have witnessed. |
| Seeing blood running in the street and hearing the screams of the dying and bereaved are memories that will stay with me forever. | Seeing blood running in the street and hearing the screams of the dying and bereaved are memories that will stay with me forever. |
| Many of the people responsible for those cruel acts believed that they were enacting God's will - a motivation Cromwell shared. | Many of the people responsible for those cruel acts believed that they were enacting God's will - a motivation Cromwell shared. |
| Irish historian Micheal O Siochru wrote what has been described as "the definitive account" of Cromwell's war in Ireland. The book's title is God's Executioner. | Irish historian Micheal O Siochru wrote what has been described as "the definitive account" of Cromwell's war in Ireland. The book's title is God's Executioner. |
| "I think it would be a good idea to change the name," he told me. | "I think it would be a good idea to change the name," he told me. |
| "Hold up a picture of Cromwell and everyone in Ireland knows him - they might not know the exact details, but they know this man was responsible for some terrible crimes." | "Hold up a picture of Cromwell and everyone in Ireland knows him - they might not know the exact details, but they know this man was responsible for some terrible crimes." |
| Cromwell's acts included the massacre of the garrisons - and hundreds of civilians - at Drogheda and Wexford in 1649. | Cromwell's acts included the massacre of the garrisons - and hundreds of civilians - at Drogheda and Wexford in 1649. |
| In the four years following Cromwell's departure from Ireland, while he was still commander-in-chief, one fifth of Ireland's population died as a result of violence, starvation or disease. | In the four years following Cromwell's departure from Ireland, while he was still commander-in-chief, one fifth of Ireland's population died as a result of violence, starvation or disease. |
| And tens of thousands of civilians were transported to the Americas as "indentured servants" - virtual slaves. | And tens of thousands of civilians were transported to the Americas as "indentured servants" - virtual slaves. |
| "This was total war, a systematic destruction of infrastructure, agriculture and people, and this was an act of deliberate policy", O Siochru says. | "This was total war, a systematic destruction of infrastructure, agriculture and people, and this was an act of deliberate policy", O Siochru says. |
| "This was ethnic and religious hatred. Cromwell's legacy was to set England and Ireland on a path of bitterness and violence for three hundred years". | "This was ethnic and religious hatred. Cromwell's legacy was to set England and Ireland on a path of bitterness and violence for three hundred years". |
| My Irish friends all have a very similar reaction - horror. | My Irish friends all have a very similar reaction - horror. |
| "Cromwell's name is spoken and spat on here," one told me from Dublin, adding - in a failed attempt to soften the blow - "in a metaphorical sense". | "Cromwell's name is spoken and spat on here," one told me from Dublin, adding - in a failed attempt to soften the blow - "in a metaphorical sense". |
| Another suggested that it would be like living in a house named after Radovan Karadzic, the Bosnian Serb leader currently being tried for war crimes in the Hague. | Another suggested that it would be like living in a house named after Radovan Karadzic, the Bosnian Serb leader currently being tried for war crimes in the Hague. |
| But there is another side to Cromwell. | But there is another side to Cromwell. |
| He defeated Charles I in the English Civil War, and in the process established parliamentary pre-eminence over the monarchy. | He defeated Charles I in the English Civil War, and in the process established parliamentary pre-eminence over the monarchy. |
| Cromwell put that king on trial, establishing that a monarch is not above the law. He eventually earned himself a statue outside the Houses of Parliament. | Cromwell put that king on trial, establishing that a monarch is not above the law. He eventually earned himself a statue outside the Houses of Parliament. |
| His request to a portrait painter to depict him "warts and all" has taken on proverbial status. | His request to a portrait painter to depict him "warts and all" has taken on proverbial status. |
| From just up the road from Bampton, the Oxford historian Sarah Mortimer tells me her students at Christ Church "often admire Cromwell". | From just up the road from Bampton, the Oxford historian Sarah Mortimer tells me her students at Christ Church "often admire Cromwell". |
| "He was a charismatic leader who played a key role in building English military greatness, and liberty of conscience for Protestants." | "He was a charismatic leader who played a key role in building English military greatness, and liberty of conscience for Protestants." |
| She feels the tag of war criminal is undeserved, and Cromwell's conduct in Ireland should not be judged through modern eyes. | 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." | "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." |
| She also doubts that Cromwell was motivated by religious or ethnic hatred, feeling that he actually pitied Ireland's Catholic people, believing they were deluded and misled by their priests. | She also doubts that Cromwell was motivated by religious or ethnic hatred, feeling that he actually pitied Ireland's Catholic people, believing they were deluded and misled by their priests. |
| "Cromwell wasn't any more anti-Irish than many of his contemporaries. But his speeches were so long and rambling that even at the time people struggled to understand what his motives really were." | "Cromwell wasn't any more anti-Irish than many of his contemporaries. But his speeches were so long and rambling that even at the time people struggled to understand what his motives really were." |
| And so far as the English Civil War is concerned, my own view is quite clear. Given a choice between parliament - however imperfect - and a king who believed he had a divine right to rule, I know which side I would have been on. | And so far as the English Civil War is concerned, my own view is quite clear. Given a choice between parliament - however imperfect - and a king who believed he had a divine right to rule, I know which side I would have been on. |
| So, will I change the name? | So, will I change the name? |
| The more I think about it, the less I believe I have the right to. | The more I think about it, the less I believe I have the right to. |
| It is likely that the house took on the name organically rather than as a conscious decision by a previous owner. It was the Cromwell house, the house in the village that Cromwell stayed in, and so its name is a description, not an endorsement. | It is likely that the house took on the name organically rather than as a conscious decision by a previous owner. It was the Cromwell house, the house in the village that Cromwell stayed in, and so its name is a description, not an endorsement. |
| Ownership of the house is a temporary state - like Cromwell, I am just passing through. | Ownership of the house is a temporary state - like Cromwell, I am just passing through. |
| In the end, Cromwell House has been a part of Bampton's long history for three and a half centuries. | In the end, Cromwell House has been a part of Bampton's long history for three and a half centuries. |
| And history should be history - warts and all. | And history should be history - warts and all. |
| Have you had a house with a controversial name? Send us your comments using the form below. | Have you had a house with a controversial name? Send us your comments using the form below. |