Cromwell¹, Oliver (1599-1658), English general and statesman, Lord Protector of the Commonwealth (1653-8). Cromwell was the leader of the victorious Parliamentary forces (or Roundheads) in the English Civil War. As head of state he styled himself Lord Protector, and refused Parliament's offer of the Crown in 1657. His rule was notable for its puritan reforms in the Church of England. He was briefly succeeded by his son Richard (1626-1712), who was forced into exile in 1659.

Cromwell², Thomas (c.1485-1540), English statesman, chief minister to Henry Ⅷ 1531-40. He presided over the king's divorce from Catherine of Aragon (1533) and his break with the Roman Catholic Church as well as the dissolution of the monasteries and the 1534 Act of Supremacy. He fell from favour over Henry's marriage to Anne of Cleves and was executed on a charge of treason.