Life under Cromwell
This picture was published in London in 1647, during the period of the English Civil Wars. It was
the front cover of a pamphlet called The World Turned Upside Down and it shows that people at
the time were aware that there was an enormous amount of change happening all around them.
Title page / Credit: British Library / Universal Images Group / Copyright © The British Library / For Education Use Only. This and millions of
other educational images are available through Britannica Image Quest. For a free trial, please visit www.britannica.co.uk/trial

Look carefully at the picture. How many ways can you see that the artist showed the
world was upside down?
Once King Charles had been executed, the Parliamentarian and army general, Oliver Cromwell
took control of England. First of all, he governed through Parliament and then later, he was
given the title ‘Protector’ which made him rather like a King. Cromwell felt that he had a duty
to make England into a better country. He thought that it would be better if it was more
religious and so he created lots of rules that told people what they could (or could not) do. He
wanted to make England into a ‘Godly Society’. The cards below are some of Cromwell’s rules.
Tasks:
1. Use the cards and sort them into three groups: religious, political and social changes.
Which type of change would have affected the most people?
2. Looking at the cards in the ‘religious’ pile. Which of the changes would we, with our
modern ideas, think of as being tolerant and which as intolerant? Was England a tolerant
society in the 1650s?
3. Design a poster supporting or protesting against Cromwell’s rules.
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Life under Cromwell
Card sort
By order of Oliver Cromwell
By order of Oliver Cromwell
The House of Lords is abolished.
Parliament will still exist but only
elected Members will be given the
power to make decisions.
Protestants can worship in any way
that they choose as long as they do
not use King Charles’ old prayer book
words.
By order of Oliver Cromwell
By order of Oliver Cromwell
Sunday is a strict day of rest. People
are only allowed out of their homes to
walk to and from church. No
household chores or sports on
Sundays.
Theatres are abolished! They are
ungodly because men dress up as
women and there are rude jokes and
bad behaviour in the audience.
By order of Oliver Cromwell
By order of Oliver Cromwell
Christmas Day is abolished.
Traditionally it has been an excuse for
riotous and unruly behaviour.
Christmas also means “Christ’s Mass”
and the mass is a Catholic service.
The Pope, who leads the Catholic
church, is evil. So no Christmas!
May Day dancing is banned! May Day
is a pre-Christian festival and has
nothing to do with godly behaviour
and a lot to do with immoral and
wicked behaviour.
By order of Oliver Cromwell
By order of Oliver Cromwell
Bear-baiting and fighting with
cockerels is abolished. People bet on
these animal fights. Betting is bad
because it is not a godly use of
money.
Crosses must be taken down from
towns and villages. Charing Cross in
London must lose its cross. Crosses
are used by Catholics, and Catholics
are heretics who twist God’s truth.
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Life under Cromwell
By order of Oliver Cromwell
By order of Oliver Cromwell
Jews, who were sent out of England
in 1290, can now return and should be
made welcome. The Jews were God’s
people before Christianity began and
God intends them all to become
Christians too. How can this be, if
they are not allowed to experience
godly society?
Prisons need to be improved so that
they do not cause men to live in
misery and die of cold, starvation and
disease. God intends every sinner to
have the opportunity to become a
better person.
By order of Oliver Cromwell
By order of Oliver Cromwell
To preserve and dignify life, births
and deaths must now be recorded.
How else will we know whether a
baby has been destroyed or left to
starve?
Marriage is good and a serious
commitment. Both bride and groom
should wear plain clothes,
concentrating on their vows and not
on thoughts of their wedding night.
By order of Oliver Cromwell
By order of Oliver Cromwell
Pubs should be managed closely by
the local community to ensure that
there is no drunken disorder. Pubs
with names that celebrate the king,
such as “The Crown” should be
renamed.
Churches which are finely decorated,
with silver, gold and coloured
windows should be changed so that
they are plain and serious.
Note: the cards above overstate Cromwell’s sole authority but the decisions are accurate.
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