Why was Cromwell a bad person?

Answer 1

Was he?

He's certainly unpopular in Ireland, for understandable reasons. I imagine the Scots aren't too enamoured of him either. But in England he's held in remarkably high esteem for a killjoy and regicide who ended up on a spike.

Cromwell waged war sometimes brutally, as was the fashion of his time . He ruled autocratically, but that was no more than Charles I had tried to do, and Cromwell refused the throne that was contrary to his values. He provided a decade of mostly peaceful government after the trauma of a civil war not of his making, and the Parliament that he sometimes treated with contempt mostly deserved little better. And remarkably he left England stronger than it had been.

A bad person? A bit dull, probably, and too much the warrior of God for the liking of most today. But he was faithful to his principles, even if he wasn't much of a party animal.

Answer 2

Cromwell is often criticized for his role in the English Civil War and his subsequent establishment of a republic. He ruled with authoritarian tendencies and suppressed religious freedom and dissent. Additionally, his campaign in Ireland was brutal and resulted in the deaths of thousands. Overall, his actions and policies are seen by some as oppressive and detrimental to the liberties of the people.