The Life & Times of Oliver Cromwell... Without Cromwell

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You know I had high hopes for Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell, I really did. In my head I always sort of lumped him in with Maximilian Robespierre. I thought they were each a forward-thinking guy who leapt into action and spearheaded the revolution against the king for the sake of liberty and democracy but then became corrupted, a hypocrite who fashions himself into a king in all but name and becomes a fanatical tyrant with weird religious ideas like banning fun and love and Christmas! But actually… no. You might have noticed, last time we talked about King Charles I, the king who went to war against the parliament and got his head cut off, and Mr. Lord Protector here only had his name come up once in passing. That’s because… well, he wasn’t that important to the story.

Now that puts me in an awkward spot, because I think England’s experiment with getting rid of the monarchy is really interesting, but I don’t want to talk about the guy who was in charge. So you know what? I’m not gonna. Because he’s overrated and I think I can get away with it. As a matter of fact, I've said his name once in this video and that's the last time you're gonna hear it! Ladies and gentlemen, the life’s work of you-know-who, as told by eight people I think are more interesting.

Music (in order of appearance):

Ralph Vaughan Williams - English Folk Song Suite

Handel - Zadok the Priest

Henry Purcell - Sonata no. 1 in G Minor

Rafael Krux & David Krulic - Dramatic Baroque Classical Strings

Jordi Saval - Pavane pour la Petite Guerre

Brandon Fiechter - Conspiracy

Verne Langdon - Carnival of Souls

Charles Gounod - Funeral March of a Marionette