He was given a public funeral at Westminster Abbey equal to those of the monarchs who came before him. His position passed to his son Richard , who was overthrown shortly afterwards, leading to the re-establishment of the monarchy.
When King Charles II was recalled from exile, his new parliament, in January , ordered the disinterment of the elder Cromwell's body from Westminster Abbey, as well as those of John Bradshaw and Henry Ireton , for a posthumous execution at Tyburn. The three bodies were left hanging "from morning till four in the afternoon" [ 1 ] before being cut down and beheaded. The heads were then placed on foot 6. Cromwell's head remained there until at least The symbolic value of the head changed over time.
Originally, it was displayed on a pole as an act of revenge by the monarchy and a warning to all who saw it, but by the 18th century it had become a historical curiosity and a relic. The head has long been admired, reviled and dismissed as a fake.
Thomas Carlyle dismissed it as "fraudulent moonshine", [ 6 ] and scientific and archaeological analysis was carried out to test the identity after the emergence of a rival claimant to be the true head of Oliver Cromwell. Inconclusive tests culminated in a detailed scientific study by Karl Pearson and Geoffrey Morant, which concluded that there was a " moral certainty " [ 7 ] that the head was Oliver Cromwell's, based on a study of the head and other evidence.
Upon his army's victory, he oversaw the conversion of England into a republic , abolishing the monarchy and the House of Lords after the execution of King Charles I in January Cromwell's rule as Lord Protector beginning in December was not dissimilar to the Personal Rule of his royal predecessors. He maintained sole, unrestricted power, and lived in the many royal palaces. In he was formally offered the title of King, but after an "agony of mind and conscience" turned it down.
