1 00:00:00,200 --> 00:00:27,600 Speaker 1: Ridiculous History is a production of I Heart Radio. Hello 2 00:00:27,680 --> 00:00:30,560 Speaker 1: and welcome to the show. Have you ever dreamed of 3 00:00:30,600 --> 00:00:34,400 Speaker 1: toppling the status quo in your neck of the global woods? 4 00:00:34,600 --> 00:00:37,560 Speaker 1: Have you ever thought of maybe starting a food fight 5 00:00:37,760 --> 00:00:42,519 Speaker 1: in school, or you know, orchestrating a coup in another country? 6 00:00:43,080 --> 00:00:46,000 Speaker 1: I feel like all of us have had these, um, 7 00:00:46,159 --> 00:00:50,279 Speaker 1: revolutionary or rebellious thoughts at some point. But how far 8 00:00:50,360 --> 00:00:53,120 Speaker 1: does it go? You know, I've gone pretty far. My 9 00:00:53,240 --> 00:00:56,040 Speaker 1: name is Ben. We have come a long way, just 10 00:00:56,080 --> 00:00:57,320 Speaker 1: the two of us, if we want to look at 11 00:00:57,320 --> 00:01:00,640 Speaker 1: it on like a micro level, but on a macro level. Um, yeah, 12 00:01:00,680 --> 00:01:02,600 Speaker 1: I think that the human species has come a long way. 13 00:01:02,840 --> 00:01:04,959 Speaker 1: We certainly still I'm an old by the way, we 14 00:01:05,040 --> 00:01:08,840 Speaker 1: certainly still you know, have room to grow. Um. But 15 00:01:09,560 --> 00:01:12,280 Speaker 1: it's certainly not quite running up on the kind of 16 00:01:12,319 --> 00:01:14,840 Speaker 1: insurgency that, let's say, like a reign of terror like 17 00:01:14,880 --> 00:01:18,800 Speaker 1: a Robespierre situation during the French Revolution, or maybe more 18 00:01:18,840 --> 00:01:24,400 Speaker 1: of a Oliver Cromwell kind of situation like in the UH, 19 00:01:24,480 --> 00:01:28,399 Speaker 1: the Old UK. Yes, yes it's true. Uh. And by 20 00:01:28,400 --> 00:01:31,880 Speaker 1: the way, shout out to our own personal Cromwell, UH 21 00:01:31,880 --> 00:01:37,280 Speaker 1: super producer Casey Pegrom Ben he deserves better than that 22 00:01:37,400 --> 00:01:39,640 Speaker 1: he does. He does, he's uh, you know what you 23 00:01:39,720 --> 00:01:44,560 Speaker 1: deserve to be, Casey pegrom with no comparisons, no equivocations. 24 00:01:44,720 --> 00:01:47,960 Speaker 1: You okay with that, Casey, I'm great with that because 25 00:01:47,960 --> 00:01:51,240 Speaker 1: it's because, as it turns out, Cromwell, who was kind 26 00:01:51,240 --> 00:01:54,960 Speaker 1: of like a Protestant Robespierre in many ways, was kind 27 00:01:54,960 --> 00:01:58,320 Speaker 1: of a monster. Well. His legacy is still a matter 28 00:01:58,520 --> 00:02:03,840 Speaker 1: of hot takes and controversy here today. In Some people 29 00:02:03,880 --> 00:02:07,320 Speaker 1: will say he is the father of British democracy, he 30 00:02:07,440 --> 00:02:10,079 Speaker 1: got rid of the monarchy, albeit brief lee, And then 31 00:02:10,160 --> 00:02:14,000 Speaker 1: others will say, no way, he's a war criminal. He 32 00:02:14,160 --> 00:02:19,560 Speaker 1: hated the Catholics and he led vicious military campaigns. But 33 00:02:20,080 --> 00:02:23,480 Speaker 1: regardless of whether you are pro or anti Cromwell, there 34 00:02:23,639 --> 00:02:27,360 Speaker 1: is no denying that he changed the course of history 35 00:02:27,840 --> 00:02:33,280 Speaker 1: in England, Scotland and Ireland. Let's let's learn a little 36 00:02:33,320 --> 00:02:35,760 Speaker 1: bit about his life. What do you say before we 37 00:02:35,840 --> 00:02:40,600 Speaker 1: get to before we get to his death spoiler, he's dead, 38 00:02:40,360 --> 00:02:43,320 Speaker 1: Dead is a darnail, Dead's disco. I was wondering where 39 00:02:43,360 --> 00:02:47,119 Speaker 1: dead as a doornail comes from? Isn't it from Dickens? Yeah? 40 00:02:47,160 --> 00:02:50,280 Speaker 1: But what what made someone say? You know what I 41 00:02:50,320 --> 00:02:52,839 Speaker 1: think of what I think of death doornails. I guess 42 00:02:52,840 --> 00:02:55,280 Speaker 1: it's just because it's an inanimate object. Yeah, but then 43 00:02:55,280 --> 00:02:57,840 Speaker 1: because it dead is a table, but the alliteration is 44 00:02:57,960 --> 00:03:03,480 Speaker 1: key oh uh dead as uh see, Yeah, that is 45 00:03:03,520 --> 00:03:06,520 Speaker 1: a dumbbell that works. But door nails were much more 46 00:03:06,560 --> 00:03:11,840 Speaker 1: prevalent in the days of Dickens, perhaps so uh yeah. 47 00:03:11,919 --> 00:03:15,560 Speaker 1: Originally all of the titles that Dickens used in his 48 00:03:15,639 --> 00:03:18,520 Speaker 1: stories had had the phrase door nail in them. It's 49 00:03:18,560 --> 00:03:25,120 Speaker 1: also true so after fomenting the Parliamentarian uprising over the 50 00:03:25,240 --> 00:03:30,800 Speaker 1: Royalists in the English Civil War, UM Cromwell became the 51 00:03:30,919 --> 00:03:34,920 Speaker 1: Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England in sixteen fifty three. 52 00:03:35,040 --> 00:03:39,000 Speaker 1: That's also, of course, after executing Charles the First who 53 00:03:39,040 --> 00:03:42,160 Speaker 1: was the king at the time. Um, and he ruled 54 00:03:42,240 --> 00:03:47,480 Speaker 1: over England, Scotland and Ireland just for the grand scale 55 00:03:47,480 --> 00:03:50,560 Speaker 1: of things, time being what it is, blip of time 56 00:03:50,800 --> 00:03:54,640 Speaker 1: right right, because he assumed he assumed this status is 57 00:03:54,680 --> 00:03:58,760 Speaker 1: Lord Protector in sixteen fifty three. The monarchy itself was 58 00:03:58,800 --> 00:04:04,280 Speaker 1: restored in sixteen sixty, so this is what maybe seven 59 00:04:04,440 --> 00:04:08,160 Speaker 1: years Why did Cromwell have such a beef with the Catholics. 60 00:04:08,200 --> 00:04:11,640 Speaker 1: Ben what a great question, Noll. You see, Oliver Cromwell 61 00:04:11,760 --> 00:04:14,600 Speaker 1: was born at the turn of the seventeenth century, and 62 00:04:14,680 --> 00:04:18,000 Speaker 1: when he came into the world, England was a Protestant 63 00:04:18,000 --> 00:04:20,960 Speaker 1: country ruled by a king who believed that he had 64 00:04:21,000 --> 00:04:24,960 Speaker 1: divine rights, meaning he was king because God had purposely 65 00:04:25,040 --> 00:04:27,040 Speaker 1: made him king. This was kind of a thing with 66 00:04:27,160 --> 00:04:29,360 Speaker 1: monarchs in those days, like the Sun King or you know, 67 00:04:29,400 --> 00:04:32,159 Speaker 1: I mean, like a lot of divine belief in that 68 00:04:32,240 --> 00:04:34,599 Speaker 1: they were like the extension of God's power on earth. 69 00:04:34,839 --> 00:04:37,000 Speaker 1: It still is, I mean, how how well, it's a 70 00:04:37,080 --> 00:04:42,280 Speaker 1: very effective way to um bully people into thinking that 71 00:04:42,320 --> 00:04:45,040 Speaker 1: they have some sort of obligation to serve you. Right. 72 00:04:45,520 --> 00:04:51,600 Speaker 1: So Cromwell converted to Puritanism in his late twenties, and 73 00:04:51,760 --> 00:04:57,040 Speaker 1: he thought that King Charles the First was just too Catholic. 74 00:04:57,440 --> 00:05:00,240 Speaker 1: He said, he's this king is far too Catholic for me. 75 00:05:00,320 --> 00:05:03,320 Speaker 1: He's a papist, which was a smear word at the time. Uh. 76 00:05:03,440 --> 00:05:06,919 Speaker 1: Many of Charles First policies he see, such as levying 77 00:05:06,960 --> 00:05:12,279 Speaker 1: taxes without the consent of parliament. Uh, they made his 78 00:05:12,400 --> 00:05:15,680 Speaker 1: subjects mistrust him and they said, hey, you're not the 79 00:05:15,760 --> 00:05:18,359 Speaker 1: kind of cultured monarch we like. You're one of those 80 00:05:18,520 --> 00:05:22,119 Speaker 1: tyrannical absolute monarchs. So let's not forget this is post 81 00:05:22,120 --> 00:05:26,080 Speaker 1: Protestant Reformation, where the country was very much split. It 82 00:05:26,120 --> 00:05:29,880 Speaker 1: became largely a Protestant country, and then the kings that 83 00:05:29,920 --> 00:05:34,839 Speaker 1: would come into power they would either be heavily Protestant 84 00:05:35,360 --> 00:05:37,839 Speaker 1: or maybe not quite Protestant enough for some people. But 85 00:05:37,920 --> 00:05:41,800 Speaker 1: it certainly wasn't as popular in general to be super Catholic. 86 00:05:41,839 --> 00:05:44,320 Speaker 1: There was kind of like a divide between the Church 87 00:05:44,400 --> 00:05:48,000 Speaker 1: of Rome and the Church of England. Absolutely, so the 88 00:05:48,080 --> 00:05:52,239 Speaker 1: stage was set for a civil war series of conflicts occur. 89 00:05:52,760 --> 00:05:56,120 Speaker 1: King Charles is on the losing end of history. He's overthrown, 90 00:05:56,520 --> 00:06:00,679 Speaker 1: he is executed. Fifty nine people signed the death warrant 91 00:06:00,680 --> 00:06:03,240 Speaker 1: for the king, and one of them is Oliver Cromwell. 92 00:06:04,080 --> 00:06:08,280 Speaker 1: And then they introduce the Commonwealth of England to replace 93 00:06:08,360 --> 00:06:14,520 Speaker 1: the monarchy. I mean, quote unquote replace replace because Cromwell 94 00:06:14,560 --> 00:06:18,800 Speaker 1: becomes Lord Protector, as we said, but Lord Protector is 95 00:06:18,920 --> 00:06:22,080 Speaker 1: pretty much still a king. It's a monarch, you know. 96 00:06:22,680 --> 00:06:26,720 Speaker 1: The best evidence for that is that when Cromwell has 97 00:06:26,760 --> 00:06:30,520 Speaker 1: done being Lord Protector, his son takes up the job. 98 00:06:30,920 --> 00:06:32,720 Speaker 1: Just to jump in here real quick, I was being 99 00:06:33,240 --> 00:06:35,600 Speaker 1: a little bit purposefully hyperbolic at the beginning of the 100 00:06:35,600 --> 00:06:39,680 Speaker 1: show when I compared Oliver Cromwell to Rosepierre, who was 101 00:06:39,720 --> 00:06:43,719 Speaker 1: known for decapitating human people in the streets with the 102 00:06:43,800 --> 00:06:47,720 Speaker 1: famous guillotine. Cromwell was a bit more known for his authoritarian, 103 00:06:47,839 --> 00:06:51,520 Speaker 1: heavy handed rule than he was for bloody executions. But 104 00:06:51,560 --> 00:06:54,360 Speaker 1: we will be getting some bloody executions in this story 105 00:06:54,480 --> 00:06:58,240 Speaker 1: either way. So between sixteen fifty three sixteen fifty eight 106 00:06:58,320 --> 00:07:01,360 Speaker 1: or so, he's ruling the UK. He has the same 107 00:07:01,400 --> 00:07:04,479 Speaker 1: powers as a monarch, but he's called Lord Protector and 108 00:07:04,600 --> 00:07:07,760 Speaker 1: he technically doesn't have a crown. I don't mean this 109 00:07:07,839 --> 00:07:11,480 Speaker 1: in some figurative sense. I don't mean that he lost 110 00:07:11,560 --> 00:07:14,400 Speaker 1: any power you would get with autonomy or whatever. I 111 00:07:14,440 --> 00:07:20,239 Speaker 1: mean that he didn't have the jewelry. And here he's 112 00:07:20,560 --> 00:07:23,520 Speaker 1: risen to the apex of his life. In the beginning, 113 00:07:23,600 --> 00:07:26,880 Speaker 1: he was just a member of Parliament for Cambridge, but 114 00:07:27,320 --> 00:07:31,360 Speaker 1: he became a Puritan, and then later he becomes Lord Protector, 115 00:07:31,880 --> 00:07:36,240 Speaker 1: helped in no small part by his brilliant military career. 116 00:07:36,600 --> 00:07:41,560 Speaker 1: You know, he was a tactician. He had fought decisive battles, 117 00:07:41,560 --> 00:07:44,960 Speaker 1: so he wasn't out there, you know, doing mass executions, 118 00:07:44,960 --> 00:07:49,520 Speaker 1: but war has no small measure of violence. And while 119 00:07:49,560 --> 00:07:54,720 Speaker 1: he was Lord Protector, he was in a controversial, unsustainable place. 120 00:07:55,520 --> 00:08:00,320 Speaker 1: Royalist hated him. The Royalist were a faction of people 121 00:08:00,320 --> 00:08:04,840 Speaker 1: who believed in the divine right of the king. So 122 00:08:05,000 --> 00:08:09,240 Speaker 1: if you believe that God has decreed a certain person 123 00:08:09,320 --> 00:08:12,040 Speaker 1: to be the absolute ruler of the land, then you're 124 00:08:12,080 --> 00:08:15,520 Speaker 1: going to equate the actions of anybody opposing that king 125 00:08:15,680 --> 00:08:21,320 Speaker 1: to the actions of un Christian, nearly demonic forces, you 126 00:08:21,360 --> 00:08:23,480 Speaker 1: know what I mean. So Cromwell was like a demon 127 00:08:23,520 --> 00:08:26,160 Speaker 1: made flesh to these guys totally. And even though Charles 128 00:08:26,160 --> 00:08:29,160 Speaker 1: the First was not popular because he had chosen to 129 00:08:29,320 --> 00:08:33,079 Speaker 1: marry a French Catholic princess, he was still to those 130 00:08:33,200 --> 00:08:38,360 Speaker 1: Royalists the rightful monarch of the realm. So in a 131 00:08:38,520 --> 00:08:45,240 Speaker 1: sense he replaces this monarchical regime with a puritanical republic. 132 00:08:45,600 --> 00:08:50,320 Speaker 1: But he puts in some ideas that seemed very forward 133 00:08:50,600 --> 00:08:54,160 Speaker 1: facing today and did not go over well at the time, 134 00:08:54,520 --> 00:08:58,240 Speaker 1: which was he had this concept of being religiously tolerant, 135 00:08:58,800 --> 00:09:04,160 Speaker 1: and his contemporary he's viewed that with suspicion, especially residents 136 00:09:04,240 --> 00:09:08,920 Speaker 1: of Ireland and Scotland's what what we're saying here, folks, 137 00:09:09,400 --> 00:09:13,280 Speaker 1: is that even when he was alive, he was a 138 00:09:13,480 --> 00:09:21,480 Speaker 1: controversial figure. And today's story really really starts when he dies, 139 00:09:22,040 --> 00:09:24,920 Speaker 1: because the last few weeks of his life before he 140 00:09:25,000 --> 00:09:29,960 Speaker 1: passes away in what was the third of September, right, 141 00:09:30,559 --> 00:09:33,960 Speaker 1: So right before he passes away, he is having a 142 00:09:34,160 --> 00:09:38,040 Speaker 1: terrible time. He's getting sharp bowel and back pains, he 143 00:09:38,080 --> 00:09:42,720 Speaker 1: has insomnia, he's freezing cold sometimes and then just sweating 144 00:09:42,760 --> 00:09:46,920 Speaker 1: hot other times. His throat hurts, he's coughing, he's getting confused, 145 00:09:46,960 --> 00:09:50,920 Speaker 1: he's vomiting left and right. He would get worse and 146 00:09:50,960 --> 00:09:53,319 Speaker 1: then he would get better. So he kind of ebbed 147 00:09:53,360 --> 00:09:58,120 Speaker 1: and flowed, you know. And his doctors we're trying to 148 00:09:58,160 --> 00:10:00,160 Speaker 1: figure out what was going on with him. They they 149 00:10:00,200 --> 00:10:03,880 Speaker 1: had no idea. When we have one quote where his 150 00:10:03,920 --> 00:10:09,480 Speaker 1: attendants have the sad apprehension of danger fairly vague, it 151 00:10:09,600 --> 00:10:13,400 Speaker 1: really is that is the foreboding quality. Yeah, they had 152 00:10:13,440 --> 00:10:15,920 Speaker 1: the shining about it. They said that he might not 153 00:10:16,000 --> 00:10:19,280 Speaker 1: get better at this point. This starts happening when he 154 00:10:19,440 --> 00:10:22,760 Speaker 1: is when he is almost sixty fifty nine years old, 155 00:10:23,080 --> 00:10:30,959 Speaker 1: and he dies suddenly on September three. So he's died, right, 156 00:10:31,000 --> 00:10:34,920 Speaker 1: Cromwell has died and his son inherits the position of 157 00:10:35,000 --> 00:10:38,719 Speaker 1: Lord Protector for a very very brief amount of time. Yes, 158 00:10:39,240 --> 00:10:41,920 Speaker 1: a year later, his son is overthrown by the army. 159 00:10:42,160 --> 00:10:45,040 Speaker 1: The monarchy is restored. So chalk line up for the 160 00:10:45,120 --> 00:10:48,840 Speaker 1: Royalist and Charles the second becomes the new king. What 161 00:10:48,880 --> 00:10:51,360 Speaker 1: does he do after he becomes king? Is it like 162 00:10:51,400 --> 00:10:55,040 Speaker 1: a bygones, be bygone situation? I think that would have 163 00:10:55,040 --> 00:10:56,959 Speaker 1: been about our real lapdown if that was the cause. 164 00:10:57,040 --> 00:10:59,640 Speaker 1: Now we wanted some blood, band We came here for blood, 165 00:10:59,640 --> 00:11:02,240 Speaker 1: and boy, will there ever be some blood now? He 166 00:11:02,679 --> 00:11:07,920 Speaker 1: declared everyone involved with overthrowing and executing the previous king 167 00:11:08,400 --> 00:11:10,240 Speaker 1: enemies of this day, whatever you want to call it, 168 00:11:10,280 --> 00:11:15,040 Speaker 1: and called for their immediate rounding up and execution, especially 169 00:11:15,679 --> 00:11:18,920 Speaker 1: those fifty nine people who signed the death warrant. Yeah, 170 00:11:18,920 --> 00:11:20,560 Speaker 1: because I mean, you know, their names are on a 171 00:11:20,559 --> 00:11:24,240 Speaker 1: piece of paper, their identities are out there, so it 172 00:11:24,320 --> 00:11:26,800 Speaker 1: wasn't too too hard to get to ramming them up. 173 00:11:27,040 --> 00:11:29,839 Speaker 1: This makes me think of so off Air. Before we 174 00:11:29,880 --> 00:11:34,400 Speaker 1: started this episode, we were talking about a strange moment 175 00:11:34,640 --> 00:11:39,000 Speaker 1: in a lot of people's financial history checks. We we 176 00:11:39,080 --> 00:11:40,840 Speaker 1: used to do that too. We put our names on 177 00:11:40,880 --> 00:11:44,760 Speaker 1: pieces of paper. It's still so bizarre to think about it, Like, 178 00:11:44,840 --> 00:11:49,120 Speaker 1: you don't even have checks. I have emergency checks hidden 179 00:11:49,160 --> 00:11:53,040 Speaker 1: away in my layer, and Casey, you have some checks 180 00:11:53,080 --> 00:11:55,120 Speaker 1: on the off chance you might ever need one, right, 181 00:11:55,520 --> 00:12:00,000 Speaker 1: that is correct? Yes, that's Casey on the case right there. Yeah, 182 00:12:00,840 --> 00:12:03,520 Speaker 1: Casey on the checks. I would you know what, I 183 00:12:03,520 --> 00:12:07,160 Speaker 1: would get some vanity uh you know, vanity check. I did. 184 00:12:07,200 --> 00:12:09,760 Speaker 1: I had Superman ones, Yeah, I had. I had a 185 00:12:09,760 --> 00:12:12,559 Speaker 1: couple of I had Space ones. I believe was very 186 00:12:12,600 --> 00:12:18,040 Speaker 1: into space. And speaking of fantastic segues back to the point. Yes, 187 00:12:18,200 --> 00:12:23,079 Speaker 1: King Charles the Second once once especially to find and 188 00:12:23,200 --> 00:12:26,440 Speaker 1: punish these fifty nine people who have signed the death 189 00:12:26,480 --> 00:12:30,520 Speaker 1: warrant for Charles the First. He catches many, several are hanged, 190 00:12:30,880 --> 00:12:35,000 Speaker 1: some are put in jail for life. Let's backtrack just slightly. 191 00:12:35,040 --> 00:12:37,400 Speaker 1: He did just call for their trial. But I would 192 00:12:37,440 --> 00:12:39,640 Speaker 1: imagine this is something along the lines of a kangaroo 193 00:12:39,720 --> 00:12:42,400 Speaker 1: court situation where I wasn't like they were gonna, you know, 194 00:12:42,520 --> 00:12:46,560 Speaker 1: walk away Scott free, right right. And the thing is that, 195 00:12:46,760 --> 00:12:49,679 Speaker 1: as as we mentioned, not all fifty nine people on 196 00:12:49,720 --> 00:12:53,120 Speaker 1: that list were still alive when Charles two came into power. 197 00:12:53,720 --> 00:12:57,720 Speaker 1: So he had this weird pickle, you know, do we 198 00:12:57,840 --> 00:13:02,640 Speaker 1: prosecute the dead? Do we let bygones be bygones? No? 199 00:13:03,000 --> 00:13:08,000 Speaker 1: He says, no, we do not, and so he orders 200 00:13:08,600 --> 00:13:11,199 Speaker 1: the bodies of several of the people have sudden these 201 00:13:11,200 --> 00:13:16,600 Speaker 1: death warrants to be exhumed. So on the twelfth anniversary 202 00:13:16,640 --> 00:13:20,080 Speaker 1: of the death of King Charles the First, our buddy 203 00:13:20,120 --> 00:13:23,800 Speaker 1: Oliver Cromwell, Master Protector, whatever you call it, Master and 204 00:13:23,840 --> 00:13:29,120 Speaker 1: Commander Lord protected whatever uh was dug up exhumed for 205 00:13:29,160 --> 00:13:33,120 Speaker 1: the purposes of uh, you know, making a show out 206 00:13:33,120 --> 00:13:35,760 Speaker 1: of kind of re executing him. It reminds me of 207 00:13:35,800 --> 00:13:37,640 Speaker 1: that there was a pope story we did where they 208 00:13:37,720 --> 00:13:40,360 Speaker 1: dug up a pope and propped him up with his 209 00:13:40,400 --> 00:13:44,600 Speaker 1: bones in the papal robes exactly exactly h the cadaver 210 00:13:44,880 --> 00:13:49,880 Speaker 1: synod right after the death of John eight formosis. That's right, 211 00:13:50,200 --> 00:13:53,800 Speaker 1: so yes, So Charles the Second has a lot of 212 00:13:53,800 --> 00:13:56,920 Speaker 1: these people dug up and their bodies are exhumed, and 213 00:13:57,040 --> 00:14:03,360 Speaker 1: for the less egregious offenders, they're just buried in communal 214 00:14:03,400 --> 00:14:07,160 Speaker 1: burial pits, so they lose the honor of being buried 215 00:14:07,200 --> 00:14:11,840 Speaker 1: on their lonesome right. But Oliver Cromwell, along with three 216 00:14:11,840 --> 00:14:16,960 Speaker 1: other people, get awarded death sentences, despite the fact that 217 00:14:17,000 --> 00:14:22,360 Speaker 1: Oliver Cromwell, John Bradshaw, Henry Ireton and Robert Blake are 218 00:14:22,400 --> 00:14:25,680 Speaker 1: all dead. They're dead men given death sentences. So as 219 00:14:25,680 --> 00:14:29,080 Speaker 1: you said, no thing, they chained the guy up. They 220 00:14:29,120 --> 00:14:32,640 Speaker 1: hang them and chains at Tyburn and in the afternoon 221 00:14:33,120 --> 00:14:35,400 Speaker 1: they hang him there for like a day, and then 222 00:14:35,440 --> 00:14:40,040 Speaker 1: as the afternoon winds on they take him down. They 223 00:14:40,080 --> 00:14:42,240 Speaker 1: cut off his head and they put it on a 224 00:14:42,240 --> 00:14:46,320 Speaker 1: spiked on a spike. It's just it's such a statement piece, 225 00:14:46,400 --> 00:14:49,080 Speaker 1: you know. Yeah, it's real, it's real. Power move very much. 226 00:14:49,120 --> 00:14:53,040 Speaker 1: So they put this head on a twenty foot tall 227 00:14:53,120 --> 00:14:55,720 Speaker 1: wooden spike. Question, there are difference between a spike and 228 00:14:55,760 --> 00:14:58,160 Speaker 1: a pike. That is a good question. A spike and 229 00:14:58,240 --> 00:15:02,680 Speaker 1: a pike. Let's do it a little quick Internet search here. Uh, 230 00:15:02,880 --> 00:15:05,960 Speaker 1: pike is to attack, proud or injure someone with a pike, 231 00:15:06,280 --> 00:15:08,840 Speaker 1: while spike is to fix on a spike. Oh, because 232 00:15:08,840 --> 00:15:11,520 Speaker 1: pike and spike are both verbs as well. So I'm 233 00:15:11,520 --> 00:15:14,720 Speaker 1: thinking a pike would be part of some sort of turret, 234 00:15:14,760 --> 00:15:16,480 Speaker 1: like a fence or something like that, and a spike 235 00:15:16,600 --> 00:15:18,560 Speaker 1: is just more like a like a hole, like a 236 00:15:18,600 --> 00:15:20,960 Speaker 1: stick in the ground. I don't know. Yeah, a pike 237 00:15:21,000 --> 00:15:24,360 Speaker 1: can also be a pole, like a long pole that 238 00:15:24,440 --> 00:15:29,440 Speaker 1: you use an infantry, right, and then there turnpikes and 239 00:15:29,480 --> 00:15:32,440 Speaker 1: turnpike comes from my car knowledge is coming down her 240 00:15:32,520 --> 00:15:36,760 Speaker 1: turnpike comes from the days of private roads when a 241 00:15:36,960 --> 00:15:39,920 Speaker 1: log would be physically placed across the road and you 242 00:15:40,000 --> 00:15:43,440 Speaker 1: had to pay someone to turn the pike or the 243 00:15:43,640 --> 00:15:46,160 Speaker 1: long pole. Interesting, And I think spike is maybe just 244 00:15:46,200 --> 00:15:48,520 Speaker 1: a little more of a generic term. And also as 245 00:15:48,560 --> 00:15:50,560 Speaker 1: we're going down this Google rabbit hole, which may or 246 00:15:50,600 --> 00:15:53,760 Speaker 1: may not be interesting to you. Uh. A spike was 247 00:15:53,840 --> 00:15:57,040 Speaker 1: also an Old English term for an ear of corn. Oh, 248 00:15:57,120 --> 00:16:02,240 Speaker 1: and corned beef is just salted, because they would describe 249 00:16:02,240 --> 00:16:04,560 Speaker 1: the units of salt used as corns. I thought that 250 00:16:04,640 --> 00:16:08,600 Speaker 1: was peppercorns corned beef. Pretty sure, of course you can 251 00:16:08,640 --> 00:16:11,680 Speaker 1: put pepper on it if you want. Well, Ben, through 252 00:16:11,720 --> 00:16:15,040 Speaker 1: the magic of editing and time travel podcasting, you have 253 00:16:15,160 --> 00:16:17,720 Speaker 1: once again proven me wrong. I'm not I'm not out 254 00:16:17,760 --> 00:16:20,560 Speaker 1: trained out, you're not out to you just do it 255 00:16:20,560 --> 00:16:23,200 Speaker 1: continuously because you're better than me. No, no, no, no, 256 00:16:23,240 --> 00:16:25,520 Speaker 1: one's better. We are both. We're both on the quest 257 00:16:25,680 --> 00:16:30,480 Speaker 1: for the truth. It's true, and uh no one is perfect. 258 00:16:30,600 --> 00:16:34,440 Speaker 1: But you know, one huge statement in favor of our 259 00:16:34,520 --> 00:16:38,000 Speaker 1: character or collective character, is that we've never dug someone up, 260 00:16:38,520 --> 00:16:41,840 Speaker 1: knocked off their head and hung it on on a 261 00:16:41,880 --> 00:16:44,480 Speaker 1: spike or pike. How long did they leave it up there? 262 00:16:44,920 --> 00:16:48,000 Speaker 1: Way longer than seemed humane than any of this and 263 00:16:48,200 --> 00:16:50,800 Speaker 1: is particularly humane in the first place. But this one 264 00:16:50,840 --> 00:16:55,960 Speaker 1: stuck around as a tourist trap for like decades. Yeah yeah, 265 00:16:56,080 --> 00:16:58,360 Speaker 1: and people had passed the head around. This thing was 266 00:16:58,400 --> 00:17:01,800 Speaker 1: around for twenty five years on that on that spike. 267 00:17:02,120 --> 00:17:04,920 Speaker 1: Eventually it's taken down and for the next two hundred years, 268 00:17:05,640 --> 00:17:08,600 Speaker 1: many different people take possession of this head. When I 269 00:17:08,600 --> 00:17:11,760 Speaker 1: first read got passed around, I pictured people passing around 270 00:17:11,760 --> 00:17:14,640 Speaker 1: in a circle like a hot potato. It was much 271 00:17:14,760 --> 00:17:17,200 Speaker 1: It was a much larger scale version of hot potato 272 00:17:17,240 --> 00:17:20,119 Speaker 1: like that, where it kind of changed hands a lot um. 273 00:17:20,160 --> 00:17:23,240 Speaker 1: I believe for a time it was in the possession 274 00:17:23,280 --> 00:17:26,760 Speaker 1: of a failed actor who was also a kind of 275 00:17:26,600 --> 00:17:30,000 Speaker 1: the town drunk um and was rumored to have been 276 00:17:30,400 --> 00:17:33,960 Speaker 1: a relative of Cromwell himself. This man's name was Samuel Russell. 277 00:17:34,800 --> 00:17:37,400 Speaker 1: This comes from a Fantastic A V Club article about 278 00:17:37,440 --> 00:17:40,919 Speaker 1: the subject that you can look up. And Russell was 279 00:17:40,960 --> 00:17:44,639 Speaker 1: not a particularly good steward of this artifact. Let's call 280 00:17:44,720 --> 00:17:46,920 Speaker 1: it yeah. Right. You can see some of the blow 281 00:17:46,960 --> 00:17:49,119 Speaker 1: by blowers, should we say passed by pass of this 282 00:17:49,640 --> 00:17:53,800 Speaker 1: uh in article on Atlas Obscura the Morbid Journey of 283 00:17:53,880 --> 00:17:58,159 Speaker 1: Cromwell's Traveling Head. As as you were saying, Noel, the 284 00:17:58,200 --> 00:18:02,480 Speaker 1: guy who possessed the head, Amuel Russell not the best guy. 285 00:18:03,040 --> 00:18:06,400 Speaker 1: He was poor, he was considerably in debt. He had 286 00:18:06,440 --> 00:18:10,360 Speaker 1: a serious drinking problem. He would literally pass the head 287 00:18:10,359 --> 00:18:16,960 Speaker 1: around at parties, Sam bring out the head and uh. 288 00:18:17,160 --> 00:18:20,760 Speaker 1: He refused to part with the head. People would offer 289 00:18:20,960 --> 00:18:23,919 Speaker 1: money for it, but instead of that, he would just 290 00:18:23,960 --> 00:18:29,040 Speaker 1: borrow money from people, and multiple folks for one reason 291 00:18:29,080 --> 00:18:31,040 Speaker 1: or another, said we've got to get this head away 292 00:18:31,119 --> 00:18:37,920 Speaker 1: from this drunk guy, so they continued offering him money. Eventually, 293 00:18:38,560 --> 00:18:42,840 Speaker 1: prominent goldsmith and clockmaker named James Cox enters the story. 294 00:18:42,960 --> 00:18:44,320 Speaker 1: He was a smart fellow because he was playing the 295 00:18:44,359 --> 00:18:46,240 Speaker 1: long game, because he kept trying to buy the head 296 00:18:46,640 --> 00:18:50,520 Speaker 1: off of him, off of our Russell, knowing that even 297 00:18:50,520 --> 00:18:54,840 Speaker 1: though he was turned down um and exchanged for loans, 298 00:18:55,600 --> 00:18:57,240 Speaker 1: he was eventually going to come to the point where 299 00:18:57,359 --> 00:18:59,439 Speaker 1: Russell could not pay him back the loans, and then 300 00:18:59,480 --> 00:19:01,560 Speaker 1: he would have the uper hand to say, hey, I'll 301 00:19:01,560 --> 00:19:05,160 Speaker 1: absolve your debt. Uh, you poor unfortunate bastard, if you 302 00:19:05,400 --> 00:19:07,840 Speaker 1: just give me the head. And that's exactly what happened. Yeah, 303 00:19:07,960 --> 00:19:09,560 Speaker 1: give me the head. He's he was able to flip 304 00:19:09,600 --> 00:19:12,320 Speaker 1: it for like three times when he'd invested it, was 305 00:19:12,320 --> 00:19:15,440 Speaker 1: it twice? I think it was quite a nice profit. Yeah. Yeah. 306 00:19:15,560 --> 00:19:18,760 Speaker 1: He sold Cox that has sold the head in sev 307 00:19:20,040 --> 00:19:24,440 Speaker 1: for thirty British pounds to three brothers with the last 308 00:19:24,520 --> 00:19:29,080 Speaker 1: name of Hughes. They wanted to start their own public display, 309 00:19:29,280 --> 00:19:31,720 Speaker 1: so they got the head as part of other Chromwell 310 00:19:31,800 --> 00:19:35,240 Speaker 1: related items. They made a bunch of posters for the event. 311 00:19:35,640 --> 00:19:38,679 Speaker 1: But then they found themselves in a bit of a 312 00:19:38,720 --> 00:19:43,000 Speaker 1: pickle because they wondered whether the head was actually the 313 00:19:43,080 --> 00:19:46,600 Speaker 1: head of Cromwell. And when they wrote to Cox to 314 00:19:46,640 --> 00:19:48,840 Speaker 1: ask for I guess the chain of custody, you know 315 00:19:48,880 --> 00:19:51,919 Speaker 1: what I mean? Uh, Cox was kind of evasive, and 316 00:19:51,960 --> 00:19:55,480 Speaker 1: so they thought, is this guy selling us a counterfeit head? 317 00:19:55,800 --> 00:19:57,879 Speaker 1: I mean, we've all been there, right, case Casey was 318 00:19:57,920 --> 00:20:00,720 Speaker 1: just telling me about something like this there other Yeah, 319 00:20:00,760 --> 00:20:03,520 Speaker 1: I'm I'm not at liberty to discuss that matter. It's 320 00:20:03,560 --> 00:20:10,640 Speaker 1: an ongoing situation, investigation, you know yourself. Yeah, I gotta 321 00:20:10,680 --> 00:20:13,600 Speaker 1: reuse You've been You've been advised by your legal team. Okay, 322 00:20:13,680 --> 00:20:15,879 Speaker 1: this has not been Casey on the KIG. So this 323 00:20:15,880 --> 00:20:18,840 Speaker 1: this is yeah, this is officially the cases pending. So 324 00:20:18,840 --> 00:20:22,119 Speaker 1: that's fair. That's that's a different sound. Casey is a 325 00:20:22,160 --> 00:20:24,120 Speaker 1: man of many side hustles. Let's put it that way. 326 00:20:24,160 --> 00:20:25,879 Speaker 1: That's true, that's true. I mean, we live in the 327 00:20:25,920 --> 00:20:34,880 Speaker 1: KIG economy. So what happens to Cromwell's head. Well, here's 328 00:20:34,880 --> 00:20:38,480 Speaker 1: the thing. There's a lot of conflicting tales as to 329 00:20:38,520 --> 00:20:41,880 Speaker 1: what happened. There's some versions of the story that say 330 00:20:42,040 --> 00:20:47,600 Speaker 1: the head itself was given a proper burial by loyalists 331 00:20:47,840 --> 00:20:51,800 Speaker 1: to Cromwell, or at least those that sympathize with his cause. Uh. 332 00:20:51,840 --> 00:20:56,480 Speaker 1: There's another version that says the head kind of disappear, right. Uh. 333 00:20:56,880 --> 00:20:59,520 Speaker 1: It's commonly accepted that the head was given a dignified 334 00:20:59,560 --> 00:21:03,800 Speaker 1: burial in a secret place, secret location, Sydney Sussex College 335 00:21:04,200 --> 00:21:09,680 Speaker 1: in Cambridge in nineteen sixty. But the story is too 336 00:21:09,680 --> 00:21:14,560 Speaker 1: good to let the facts distract from the possibilities, right, because, 337 00:21:14,600 --> 00:21:17,040 Speaker 1: as you said, there are people who are argue multiple 338 00:21:17,040 --> 00:21:19,879 Speaker 1: other things about it. One of the craziest, uh, the 339 00:21:19,880 --> 00:21:22,840 Speaker 1: craziest stories I heard was that it was secretly taken 340 00:21:22,840 --> 00:21:25,480 Speaker 1: by a fraternal society. I have a question too, man, 341 00:21:25,480 --> 00:21:27,800 Speaker 1: at this time, where there wasn't any obviously DNA or 342 00:21:27,840 --> 00:21:32,040 Speaker 1: any lab science at all, how could you confirm the 343 00:21:32,760 --> 00:21:38,320 Speaker 1: veracity of a rotted, shrunken head leathered up like beef turkey? 344 00:21:38,440 --> 00:21:40,760 Speaker 1: Would you know? You know, you know, you just feel 345 00:21:40,800 --> 00:21:45,240 Speaker 1: it in your heart. Have you ever been in that situation? Well, 346 00:21:46,160 --> 00:21:48,440 Speaker 1: we are about to have an amazing weekend. I'm excited. 347 00:21:49,320 --> 00:21:53,080 Speaker 1: So what an ignoble end? This is not what the 348 00:21:53,119 --> 00:21:57,359 Speaker 1: Lord Protector thought was in store for him. He was 349 00:21:57,440 --> 00:22:01,800 Speaker 1: separated from his grave first, then he was separated from 350 00:22:01,920 --> 00:22:07,280 Speaker 1: his body, and hopefully finally Cromwell, divisive character that he is, 351 00:22:07,680 --> 00:22:14,199 Speaker 1: has come to some sort of rest. According to the 352 00:22:14,240 --> 00:22:18,480 Speaker 1: head's latest owner, one Horace Wilkinson, he's the one who 353 00:22:18,520 --> 00:22:22,000 Speaker 1: talked about the secret burial in nineteen sixty Uh. The 354 00:22:22,080 --> 00:22:24,879 Speaker 1: head is still there today, and he announced that he 355 00:22:24,880 --> 00:22:28,320 Speaker 1: had buried it in this location in nineteen sixty two. Yes, 356 00:22:28,320 --> 00:22:33,359 Speaker 1: secret burial, my rear end. Yeah right. What about the 357 00:22:33,400 --> 00:22:35,199 Speaker 1: rest of his body? Though? Man? Whatever? What what of that? 358 00:22:35,560 --> 00:22:38,840 Speaker 1: No one knows, not for sure. There's some good ideas 359 00:22:38,840 --> 00:22:41,240 Speaker 1: out there. Yeah, it's true. H No one is entirely 360 00:22:41,240 --> 00:22:43,640 Speaker 1: sure about what happened. But the most likely story, according 361 00:22:43,640 --> 00:22:47,480 Speaker 1: to John Morris, who is a Cromwell biographer, is the 362 00:22:47,480 --> 00:22:49,080 Speaker 1: same thing that would have happened to the bodies of 363 00:22:49,119 --> 00:22:52,680 Speaker 1: a lot of folks who were executed um on mass 364 00:22:52,720 --> 00:22:54,800 Speaker 1: like this, and that they were just thrown into a 365 00:22:54,800 --> 00:22:58,320 Speaker 1: pit head on a pike body and a pit tales 366 00:22:58,320 --> 00:23:01,520 Speaker 1: all the time song is a run that to uh. 367 00:23:01,600 --> 00:23:06,400 Speaker 1: Some other versions of the story um include the idea 368 00:23:06,520 --> 00:23:09,640 Speaker 1: that it was chucked into the Thames. And then there's 369 00:23:09,680 --> 00:23:11,680 Speaker 1: a bonker story that comes from a man with the 370 00:23:11,720 --> 00:23:16,200 Speaker 1: name of Samuel Peppis in sixteen sixty four. Pepe Pep Peppis, 371 00:23:16,480 --> 00:23:18,080 Speaker 1: p e p y s. I just thought it was 372 00:23:18,119 --> 00:23:21,159 Speaker 1: fun to say. I will say it again, Pepis. What 373 00:23:21,240 --> 00:23:22,680 Speaker 1: did he say, Ben? This is? I love the story. 374 00:23:22,720 --> 00:23:23,920 Speaker 1: I want to hear I want to hear it from 375 00:23:23,960 --> 00:23:27,280 Speaker 1: from the mouth of Ben very Well. Samuel Peppe's in 376 00:23:27,400 --> 00:23:31,679 Speaker 1: sixteen sixty four claimed that Cromwell had swapped bodies of 377 00:23:31,800 --> 00:23:36,080 Speaker 1: various dead kings from one grave to another, with another story, 378 00:23:36,160 --> 00:23:39,240 Speaker 1: raising the possibility that it wasn't his corpse that was 379 00:23:39,320 --> 00:23:45,320 Speaker 1: decapitated after all, but that of Charles the First. But 380 00:23:45,520 --> 00:23:48,560 Speaker 1: Charles the First already lost his head the first time around. Man, 381 00:23:48,600 --> 00:23:51,639 Speaker 1: I want to believe this base. Let's not let the 382 00:23:51,640 --> 00:23:53,320 Speaker 1: facts get in the way of a good story. We 383 00:23:53,359 --> 00:23:57,040 Speaker 1: never do. This is a situation wherein the fact is 384 00:23:57,119 --> 00:24:00,400 Speaker 1: stranger than the fiction. It's a bit morbid, But we 385 00:24:00,480 --> 00:24:06,320 Speaker 1: hope that you found the story of Cromwell's posthumous execution 386 00:24:06,520 --> 00:24:10,720 Speaker 1: as strange as we found it. Stay tuned for our 387 00:24:10,920 --> 00:24:15,000 Speaker 1: upcoming episode where we get even more morbid and grizzly 388 00:24:15,080 --> 00:24:18,800 Speaker 1: morbidter morbidter. Yeah, Oh it's bad. It's peak morbidity. We're 389 00:24:18,800 --> 00:24:20,479 Speaker 1: going to have to do a trigger warning on that one. 390 00:24:20,520 --> 00:24:24,440 Speaker 1: It's probably the grossest ridiculous history we have ever done 391 00:24:24,720 --> 00:24:27,760 Speaker 1: so far. So far, let's just say this. It involves 392 00:24:28,040 --> 00:24:33,080 Speaker 1: very crude surgery during a very very specific period. Which 393 00:24:33,080 --> 00:24:36,680 Speaker 1: one was it? Again, Ben, it was the disco era, yes, 394 00:24:36,720 --> 00:24:40,840 Speaker 1: a k a. The late seventeen d early the first 395 00:24:40,840 --> 00:24:43,000 Speaker 1: disco era. That's right. It was across a lot of 396 00:24:43,000 --> 00:24:46,520 Speaker 1: people think of the disco eras like the nineteen seventies, 397 00:24:46,560 --> 00:24:50,200 Speaker 1: but that is actually the fifth disco era. These are facts. 398 00:24:50,560 --> 00:24:53,960 Speaker 1: Thanks so much to our super producer gaycy begram Always, 399 00:24:54,000 --> 00:24:57,280 Speaker 1: and thanks to our research associate Gabe Lucier for a 400 00:24:57,359 --> 00:25:00,919 Speaker 1: job well done as per usual. Thanks to Christopher Haciotis, 401 00:25:00,960 --> 00:25:02,680 Speaker 1: who's just we like him. He's a pal. We're gonna 402 00:25:02,720 --> 00:25:05,280 Speaker 1: have him back very soon. Um. Thanks to Alex Williams 403 00:25:05,280 --> 00:25:08,960 Speaker 1: who composed our theme, and thanks to you Noal. Thanks 404 00:25:09,000 --> 00:25:13,240 Speaker 1: to thanks to everyone who took decent care of Oliver 405 00:25:13,320 --> 00:25:25,920 Speaker 1: Cromwell's head. Yep, we'll see next time. For more podcasts 406 00:25:25,960 --> 00:25:27,920 Speaker 1: for my heart Radio, visit the I Heart Radio app, 407 00:25:27,960 --> 00:25:31,040 Speaker 1: Apple podcast, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows