Just as visitors to museums may develop an attachment to certain objects, so too do curators. Museum of Australian Democracy at Old Parliament House curator Corinne Perkins loves the Cromwell coin, which dates back to the period of the English Civil Wars (1642-52).
The English Civil Wars were a series of armed conflicts and political clashes within and between the kingdoms of England, Ireland and Scotland, and concerned the nature and limits of royal power, the nature and extent of religious liberty for Protestants and Catholics, and the relationship between the peoples of Britain and Ireland. At the heart was a fundamental debate about the accountability of the ruler to their people and the nature of liberty itself.
Oliver Cromwell (1599–1658) played a leading role, as army commander and Member of Parliament, in the English Civil Wars and in the execution of King Charles I in 1649.
In 1653 Cromwell became frustrated by the lack of progress in creating a free state and he used force to dissolve the Parliament. Later in the year he agreed to serve as head of state, taking the title of Lord Protector. It was in that same tumultuous year that this coin was minted. The word ‘commonwealth’, seen on the coin, refers to the time from the execution of the King in 1649 to the dissolution of Parliament in 1653. One can only imagine the thoughts, fears, hopes and concerns of those individuals who crafted and handled this coin throughout its period of circulation.
Although the Cromwellian experiment collapsed with Cromwell’s death in 1658, the period helped to establish the primacy of parliament over the King. The Cromwellian Revolutions influenced later revolutions in Europe and America, and the development of constitutional monarchies. Unfortunately for Cromwell, when King Charles II returned to the throne in 1660 Cromwell was posthumously charged with treason. His corpse was dug up and his head was displayed on a spike outside Westminster Abbey for nearly 20 years.
Whilst vastly different to our understanding of and hopes for democracy in Australia in 2010, the English Civil Wars and the ‘commonwealth’ period were a major milestone in the ongoing development of democracy and parliamentary systems which we continue to contribute to today. The Cromwell coin is a physical link with this turbulent, revolutionary and often violent period in history, and the people and events from around the world which forms our democratic past.
The Cromwell coin is on display as part of the Australian Democracy: more than 2000 years in the making exhibition at the Museum of Australian Democracy at Old Parliament House.
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