There was a war, started by King Charles I, against Scotland, in which he tried to force Catholicism upon the Scottish Puritans. Presumably, since it was a war, many innocent Scottish people were killed for the crime of not being Roman Catholic.
To blame Cromwell for leading the Puritans in fighting back is hardly fair. This does not mean I don’t feel sorry for any innocent Roman Catholics who may have died.
‘In 1630-42, when he governed without calling a parliament, King Charles I multiplied his enemies by imposing irritating financial exactions upon various classes of the community, using prerogative powers exercised by the king in centuries past. He demanded “ship money” from the towns, fined country gentlemen (including Cromwell) for refusing to accept knighthood, raised “forced loans,” and increased customs duties. He did all this because he had no right to levy fresh taxes without the consent of Parliament; indeed, his broad aim was to secure the financial independence of the monarchy, and to fasten uniformity upon the Church. Thus the king antagonized the Puritan reformers as well as many of the country gentry and townspeople. In 1638 he became involved in a war against his Scottish subjects (he was hereditary king of Scotland as well as of England) when he tried to force upon them a prayer book similar to that in use in the English Church. They rebelled, and he was compelled to call a parliament at Westminster to ask for money to pursue the war. The accumulation of grievances against the king over eleven years made the leaders of the House of Commons aggressive and uncooperative. Cromwell at once showed himself to be a staunch Puritan, and as such gave steady support to the critics of church and government.’
It would seem Charles I started it. Whether Cromwell’s response was perfect in every respect is hardly likely. But who’s response to hostilities is always perfect in every respect. War is awful for all involved.
Anyone who set forth to force Catholicism on people, Puritans included, deserved to be killed.
The Catholic church is the esteemed Head of the still socially backwards Latin American culture and its heir countries throughout the Americas.
Fighting back? The bastard should have stayed the hell out of Ireland.
You are entitled to your own faith and own opinion, but not your own history or facts. Charles I never tried to impose Catholicism on anyone including the Scottish Puritans. His crimes against the Puritans was in not more forcefully imposing the Reformation on the Catholic Scots. He was executed because he lost a civil war in which nearly 5% of the English population was killed.