Oliver Cromwell

Oliver Cromwell was an English soldier and statesman who led parliamentary forces in the English Civil Wars. He was lord protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland from 1653 to 1658 during the republican Commonwealth. As a general on the parliamentary side of the English Civil War vs. Charles I, Cromwell helped bring about the overthrow of the Stuart monarchy, and he raised his country's status to that of a leading European power since the death of Queen …

…secretly interred in Westminster Abbey on November 10, 13 days before his state funeral. In 1661, after the restoration of King Charles II, Cromwell's embalmed remains were dug out of the Westminster tomb and hung up at Tyburn where criminals were executed. His body was then buried beneath the gallows. But his head was stuck on a pole on top of Westminster Hall, where it is known to have remained until the end of Charles II's reign. (Kathe, 1984)