what happened to sir thomas cromwell?
Decapitation
contradiction
 The Earl of Essex returned to Ireland in July 1576 . At Dublin , he died of dysentery on 22 September during an epidemic , bemoaning the " frailness of women " in his last words . Rumours of poison , administered by Leicester , immediately sprung up and continued notwithstanding an official investigation which concluded that Essex had died of natural causes . His body was carried over to Carmarthen , where his widow attended the funeral . 

contradiction
 Cromwell 's body lay undisturbed at Westminster until the restoration of the Stuart monarchy under Charles 's son , King Charles II , in 1660 . After their trial , conviction and sentencing , twelve surviving regicides ( those who had participated in the trial and execution of Charles I ) were hanged , drawn and quartered — that is , dragged through the streets on an unwheeled sledge or hurdle , hanged by the neck and cut down live , disembowelled while alive , beheaded and dismembered ( cut into four quarters ) . In addition , the recalled parliament ordered the posthumous execution of the deceased regicides Oliver Cromwell , John Bradshaw and Henry Ireton . The laws of treason placed a traitor 's remains at the King 's disposal . Traitors ' heads were often displayed on bridges , the Tower of London and other conspicuous points in London , while the quarters were sometimes distributed for similar display in leading provincial cities . 

contradiction
 Oliver Cromwell ( born in April 1599 ) led England into a republic , abolishing the monarchy and the House of Lords , after the execution of King Charles I in January 1649 . However , Cromwell 's rule as Lord Protector ( beginning in December 1653 ) was not dissimilar to the Personal Rule of his royal predecessors . He maintained sole , unrestricted power , and lived in the many royal palaces . In 1657 he was formally offered the title of King , but after an “ agony of mind and conscience ” turned it down . Throughout 1658 , Cromwell suffered illness and family tragedy , and died on the afternoon of 3 September 1658 ( Old Style ) . 

contradiction
 He set out for England from Scheveningen , arrived in Dover on 25 May 1660 and reached London on 29 May , his 30th birthday . Although Charles and Parliament granted amnesty to Cromwell 's supporters in the Act of Indemnity and Oblivion , 50 people were specifically excluded . In the end nine of the regicides were executed : they were hanged , drawn and quartered ; others were given life imprisonment or simply excluded from office for life . The bodies of Oliver Cromwell , Henry Ireton , and John Bradshaw were subjected to the indignity of posthumous decapitations . 

contradiction
 Following the death of Oliver Cromwell on 2 September 1658 , he was given a public funeral at Westminster Abbey , equal to those of monarchs before him . After the defeat of King Charles I in the English Civil War and Charles ' subsequent beheading , Cromwell had become Lord Protector and ruler of the English Commonwealth . His legacy passed to his son Richard , who was overthrown by the army in 1659 , after which monarchy was re @-@ established and King Charles II , who was living in exile , was recalled . Charles ' new parliament ordered the disinterment of Cromwell 's body from Westminster Abbey and the disinterment of other regicides John Bradshaw and Henry Ireton , for a posthumous execution at Tyburn . After hanging " from morning till four in the afternoon " , the bodies were cut down and the heads placed on a 20 @-@ foot ( 6 @.@ 1 m ) spike above Westminster Hall ( the location of the trial of Charles I ) . In 1685 a storm broke the pole upon which Cromwell 's head stood , throwing it to the ground ( although other sources put the date anywhere between 1672 and 1703 ) , after which it was in the hands of private collectors and museum owners until 25 March 1960 , when it was buried at Sidney Sussex College in Cambridge . 
