Explained: The strange journey of Oliver Cromwell's Head

Weird title and subject, but bear with me. This is going to need some explaining...
(Oh and sorry for the 14+ day wait, am currently doing my exams and put more effort into this than any other video ever. Hurray for progression!)
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[@TheMilitantHorse]

"What about Oliver?" "EXECUTE HIM!!" "He's already dead!" "EXECUTE HIM!!!!"

[@hexazalea1793]

Hey its not like he didn't deserve it. Round three?

[@nick4506]

DID I STUDDER

[@stayfrosty6290]

nick 450 Key and Peele Reference? From the Substitute Teacher 2 video.

[@navelriver]

Sounds reasonable

[@iamdbatatnight5600]

One of the most evil men in history ... on a par with hitler

[@GKHKonrad]

"He banned a lot of fun stuff" ... The Irish

[@p.a.tp.a.t9547]

Pissing off the Irish and burning their crops was part of the fun for Oliver...

[@darraghwalsh7262]

I like how the irish are last on the list of things Cromwell banned

[@stonewalljackson6168]

GKH Konrad Irish people are entertaining to piss off.

[@josephcarrick5334]

"because it was considered sinful." Tfw your nationality is the embodiment for sin itself

[@Ryan-by8fv]

fuck off mate

[@davidtiganila27]

Fun fact about Charles the first, he was 5 foot 6 at the start of his realm, but only 4 foot 8 by the end of it.

[@Zepherus]

Eheh, I got it after a while.

[@oRitchinal]

ouch

[@fritzcolburn]

So you're saying he couldn't get a head up in the world?

[@Mousy677]

on account of.........OLIVER CROMWELL, LORD PROTECTOR OF ENGLAND (P u r i t a n)

[@Guiness787]

fun fact my last name is wilkinson

[@the_rover1]

Good Lord. I just made a horrible discovery: all people that once owned that freaking skull eventually passed away some day! D: it is cursed!!1!

[@arthas640]

You should become a writer for History Channel or Discovery

[@WilTheNyanCharmander]

@@arthas640 "Look at this skull. Seems ordinary, right? But looks...can be deceiving" [screen flashes with dramatic whoosh sound] "This is the skull of Oliver Cromwell, former ruler of England. But that's not all. This skull...is cursed" [screen flashes again with another dramatic whoosh sound] "Every previous owner of this skull...has died" [screen fades to black, commercial break begins]

[@candle_eatist]

Woah

[@Edwardx]

Spent all night binge watching your videos lol, 1 million subs incoming! thats what you deserve anyway

[@MaxC_1]

and when the world needed him most, he disappeared

[@cancercrew4419]

@@MaxC_1 and when they needed him more, he came back

[@entity1566]

@@cancercrew4419 and for now he is gone again

[@beareggers]

It's interesting to think that future historians when researching the 21st century won't be troubled by not finding photographs of a person but instead will face the daunting task of sorting through thousands of selfies.

[@stoutyyyy]

That bastard Cromwell didn't deserve the honour

[@sharkymcshark3392]

+Big Guy He was pure evil, just google any of the atrocities he committed to the Irish.

[@stoutyyyy]

***** look up all the shit he did in ireland. Also, he was a power-hungry bastard.

[@DIEGhostfish]

Well I mean if his head is somewhere accessible it can be stolen and used as a toilet.

[@hexazalea1793]

I take it you want a third exucution? how do puritans feel about cremation? Or maybe we should ask some neo pagans to add more weight. Atleast to hold people over until we find an actual part of hitler's body. the Skull fragment was apperently a woman's

[@granddukeofmecklenburg]

@@hexazalea1793 We can just execute modern Puritans?

[@jakelownds8878]

"This isn't what they look like" 10 Seconds Later "Look at that face. You know what you did"

[@therealoldnosey8689]

holy fuck that intro obliterated my ears

[@_wayward_494]

I am a Lion Surround sound headphones does wonders for evaporating ear canals

[@crowsbaneful]

There's a barn not far from my home where Cromwell's men slept while he of course used the cottage. The people who owned the farm would tell us of nights where they would hear men cheering and talking and the horses that were stabled next to the barn would get stressed whenever this was heard

[@navelriver]

These things happen.

[@amjadkhan-jv6xj]

Saints dont die.

[@Dom-fx4kt]

Ghostly activity?

[@Lomhow]

1:53 "Things he banned: The Irish" I felt that in my American Irish bones

[@S2Tubes]

Most people were perfectly fine with that ban.

[@SeraphinaPZ]

That Charles II rap video you linked is truly amazing. I never knew Charles II could rock the mic.

[@Zepherus]

It's CBBC's Horrible Histories. Very good quality stuff for children's TV.

[@FlourishPorridge]

it is really good isn't it

[@derptank3308]

I never even knew that there was footage back then!

[@tomg5187]

Zepherus can just hear the theme track, remember the books well - “horrible his-toriesssss”! Hehe

[@WM3636-d1c]

@@Zepherus The Monarchs song is also really good, you can even try to memorize them all if you feel like you need to for some reason.

[@whitneyreed2684]

"look at that smug face, he knows what he did" hahaha

[@oro7114]

What a terrible man...

[@chickenman77]

SCARSSURVIVED he ruined our land he did

[@oro7114]

Eireann Go Bragh Aontaím leat

[@ruairimasun1073]

tá sé in ifreann anois

[@ernest747]

nah

[@ashdew4660]

SCARSSURVIVED not really

[@Kaiser_Kenny]

This channel is just what I wanted.

[@SnipesMcFinley]

And the narrator doesn't have an annoying voice either. Double points.

[@Mr_Fancypants]

everyone wins!

[@wlve_]

today's episode we invest in a pop filter

[@nikhilsnook]

You're going places Zepherus. Mark my words.

[@NyanLama459]

I just found your channel and watched four 10 minute videos without a break. You deserve more subs man.

[@Zepherus]

I've had 2k subs in the past 12 hours - I'm certainly heading that way. Everything's a bit out of control at the moment.

[@raymond141516]

I was one of those 2k I love these videos. I can see this channel hitting 100k soon honestly.

[@ikryytt919]

Zepherus You where on the front page of YT with the titanic video

[@christophercromwell9467]

William Glen My last names Cromwell, I'm also a strong descendant of Oliver. Good to see his fucking head was handled well

[@Zepherus]

Ike Hurford Oh shit, really?

[@laurakirwan999]

He is important in Irish history too.... **spits on the ground**

[@patmccoy8758]

Interesting! I just recently discovered that Oliver Cromwell is related to my Dad via a marriage between one of his descendants and a distant cousin. I found the descendant's burial site in Maryland.

[@adamclark1972uk]

1:48 "Cromwell became ... ruler of the UK" At the risk of being pedantic, the UK didn't exist until 1801. The Kingdom of Great Britain didn't exist until the Acts of Union in 1707. Nice video, all the same.

[@dsnodgrass4843]

(*sped up Caitlin Doughty voice*) "Cromwell's Head..."

[@jackhempenstall900]

He banned the Irish haha

[@DanaTheInsane]

Some of us Americans know who he was, we are not all out beating each other with blunt instruments.

[@asserius9058]

well I mean some of us do that

[@crowsbaneful]

Tak Wolf I'm English and living in a part of the US that mentally hasn't climbed off The Mayflower yet and have antique shops that sell items that go back no further than the sixties!

[@codykillir10]

you're right, I use sharp instruments.

[@k.d.connlan125]

should be. and yes, I'm American.

[@robconstant797]

crowsbaneful wel if it isn't a 100 years old it realy isn't antique so most antique shops will sell stuf that is older than the sixties

[@Altherix]

"Have an irrational fear of their face." You're going to steal my soul! It's just a painting m'lord. You're a demon! Out! Out!

[@mossyourlocalbleachbottle2098]

Banned the Irish haha

[@vilstef6988]

The Crypt under the US Capitol was never used. It was offered to Mary Lincoln, but she returned her husband's body to Springfield.

[@152drake164]

I'm on a roll! I love your videos! They're funny and informative. Keep it up!

[@Zepherus]

Will try!

[@yogibeer9319]

Ah ha! So that’s where the phrase “Get your head out your chimney and listen!” comes from! 🤔

[@gabrielsturdevant9700]

he banned the irish, and DONT YOU DARE TELL ME NOT TO BUY FANCY WINDOWS OLLIE

[@tjexplore8059]

Congratulations on your growth I mean 2000 subs in 6 hours

[@nigelfarage6964]

If anyone is curious, his death mask is on showcase at Warwick Castle.

[@HairyStuntWaffle]

bonus points for spelling gaol correctly.

[@WBFXisXaXboss]

thanks for murdering my ears with that into.

[@teoarrk]

Charles the First should have been blue and Oliver Cromwell should have been red. The colours are the wrong way around.

[@QuintonMurdock]

England is so weird

[@Т1000-м1и]

Just realized this video comes from the same channel as the Vulcan video, and also that this was made when the channel has less then 500 subscribers

[@jmlshorrock1548]

Santa must've shat himself when he went down that solider's chimney. "Ho,ho HOLY SHIT!!"

[@felixc543]

Anyone interested in this topic of people moving around and profiting off the display of dead bodies should check out Ask A Mortician's series 'iconic corpses'

[@x0Reflex0x]

You spoke of gaining subs, im not sure why but suddenly your videos have showed up in my recommended feed. Im happy they have, but naybe thats the cause of the gain

[@PlutoniumDioxide]

Morse code in the intro says "CQ D". This was cut off from "CQ DX", which is the general call used in amateur radio for seeking contact with "DX" or long-distance stations.

[@Zepherus]

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CQD

[@PlutoniumDioxide]

Zepherus Ah, yep, that's it. Now I remember reading about CQD and I remember that it was used by the Titanic. I've just spent so much time on the radio that CQ DX immediately came to mind...the sound of it in Morse is extremely recognizable to me. Thanks for the reply.

[@Zepherus]

KV3D No problem!

[@Jacob-ABCXYZ]

XD

[@Whidmarke]

WHY IS THE START SO LOUD THAT REALLY SUCKED

[@orkavorn]

That's Beethoven's life mask, not his death mask.

[@ianrenberger7441]

Could have done without the music and high pitch intro but good analysis

[@WisdomShark]

If you want to see this story from the head's perspective, check out "The Embalmed Head of Oliver Cromwell: A Memoir" by Marc Hartzman. It explains this story in more depth and it's also hilarious.

[@maxnoerenberg6370]

Dont forget Charlie Chaplin's body, which was stolen but later recovered and properly buried

[@ye3473]

These videos are so damn entertaining

[@Zepherus]

Sounds like I'm doing my job right then. Glad you like them.

[@ye3473]

+Zepherus keep making great videos. Thanks for being entertaining

[@HenrythePaleoGuy]

*Cromwell looking down from wherever he is* What the hell is wrong with all of you?

[@thebee8415]

He’s definitely looking up.

[@andyk1620]

This channel was so damn good fuck 🤘😔🤘

[@juneijoseph9669]

Wow George Washington,Abrahan Lincoln and William Shakespear all died with their eyes open

[@raymondvanwyk8615]

Love your videos and your voice! Just subscribed, Looking forward to some more great videos :D

[@constipatedinsincity4424]

Parliament and Funkadelic!

[@tosspot9244]

I live in Cambridge, might go for a dig

[@poliestotico]

those are spanish soldiers when you say "the english civil war" JUST SAYIN

[@theswaff699]

poliestotico lols

[@FireurchinProductionsByzantium]

*Francisco Franco wants to know your location*

[@tongliu4614]

Deborah Meltrozo Yeah, it’s a painting depicting a Spanish tercio at the battle of Rocroi. Not directly related to the English Civil War at all

[@Aim4sixmeals]

Its just a painting you dumb fuck.

[@daringhardox245]

I find it interesting how well liked Cromwell is in the UK, considering he massacred everyone in the town I'm from (Drogheda)

[@krashd]

Liked? Maybe in England and possibly Wales but across Ireland and Scotland he was a genocidal prick.

[@Minam0]

Is he? I lived there a bit but it’s not like I asked around. I went on one museum tour that brought up that he was a genocidal piece of shit and banned dancing and drinking.

[@grenville64]

Not liked in England. Puritanical knob head.

[@briansheehan3430]

The people in Drogheda shouldn't have been harbouring rebel guerrillas, and those who defend walled cities in a siege should expect no quarter.

[@nickjung7394]

The real problem was James 1 (James VI of Scotland) who claimed sovereignty over Ireland by virtue of his Irish ancestry. Having oppressed the English, being Protestant he effectively declared war on the Irish/Catholic state.

[@claytonfeeney2566]

dig your stuff get subbed XD

[@childeater7327]

Let’s go get the head boys

[@foxnfrill]

When you said "three centuries or four centuries", towards the end, i mistook "four centuries" as "forced entries".

[@natepace2173]

No comments in a year 👀

[@Sammy1234568910]

Most modern historians prefer the name Wars of the Three Kingdoms to describe the civil wars as it was more than one war and it engulfed the entire British Isles not just England overspilling into separate wars/rebellions in Scotland and Ireland and gets really complicated so I think I'll stop.

[@Zepherus]

I've never heard it called that, even among historians. Well, the more you know.

[@iagoouteiral2038]

1:25 those are spanish soldiers not english

[@Laotzu.Goldbug]

Swedish actually

[@aureliocolom8177]

Spanish tercios with the Spanish cross of burgundy flag.

[@kagenlim5271]

So this guy is responsible for the IRA

[@chickenman77]

no Engalnd in general caused the Irish people to create the freedom fighters we know today as Badasses- I mean the IRA

[@LipdidStudios]

Fuck the IRA, fucking murders and thugs.

[@chickenman77]

aww, brit get butthurt

[@Wanderer628]

Eireann Go Bragh yeah, tell thay to yourself if it makes murdering women and children a little bit more guilt free.

[@VintageLJ]

My great grandfather was in the IRA. Of course, I'm talking about the original IRA, under Michael Collins, a true freedom fighting organisation. Eamon came and fucked everything up, and all version of the IRA past the 1930's are horrible murderers, thugs and pikeys who kill innocent people to further their political agenda. Your support of the IRA is like supporting ISIS, (of course, ISIS are far more organised and do their job, even though it is horrible, much better). Fuck you, and fuck the IRA. Ireland is run by corrupt powermongers no better than the people you claim to hate.

[@jeremygibbins5086]

I would have put his head in an outhouse, perfect company for Cromwell.

[@voivodadracula1936]

_the Cromwell seal_

[@Tubekeny1]

who was Oliver Cromwell....nah sod that......WHO IS ZEPHERUS???

[@Zepherus]

I'll never tell.

[@madameghostie]

It’s all because of what he did to Elinor Penvellyn. She was a just a nice spooky rich lady, not a changeling! Any Nancy Drew fans here? No, just me? Okay.

[@DavidHernandez-kl1jl]

Someone give this man more subs!!!!

[@constipatedinsincity4424]

4:00 Mel Brooks

[@biblereadingoutreach2284]

John 19:15 But they cried out, Away with him, away with him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Shall I crucify your King? The chief priests answered, We have no king but Cæsar.

[@ciannolan1547]

What a horrible human

[@jakefuentes5543]

Shakespeare’s death mask looks like Vladimir Lenin

[@Minx5892]

Oliver Cromwell. That guy who wasn't fun at parties. And pretty much most people on the daily mail. Negative, bland, grumpy, whinge about stuff all the time and ban anything fun or anything he didn't like really. Yep. Sounds like the people on that wretched site. Well if they were our prime minister.

[@simbaonsteroids8836]

I know who Cromwell was and I'm American, I even know how badly he treated the Irish, but what I don't know is WHAT THE FUCK YOU GET A UNIQUE MONOPOLY BOARD

[@tonyjones7372]

1.53 Cromwell Did NOT ban Christmas!!!! He just changed the name to 'Yule tide' as the word Christ'mass' had Catholic connotations. Everything else about the period was unchanged.

[@Nitidus]

Hitler's body was not stolen by the KGB. It was burnt by his assistant and other people during the so-called "Siege of Berlin". He announced his suicide and gave a direct order to drag him out of the bunker and burn him in the courtyard. We know the guy who did it. Also, another example when talking about heads is Goethe, who stole the skull of his buddy, Schiller, right after his death from the university where it was kept.

[@whynotjustmyusername]

Actually, Hitler's body was soaked in gasoline and burned in the Reichskanzlei. The Soviets got hold of what was left of him. His skull (allegedly...) today rests in a floppy disk container in the former KGB headquarters, while the rest has been relocated several times and (as far as is known) later cremated properly.

[@joshuaplotkin8826]

amazing that it lasted this long

[@hexazalea1793]

The things he banned include Fun, Christmas, and the Irish. As an american i know about all of those for different reasons. 1 puritans founded massachussets and went on to have witch hunts because they hated fun that fucking much. 2. their hatred of fun i mean Christmas led to Christmas eventually not being popular in america allowing for washington to win the battle of Trenton and the creation of the song "world turned upside down" which Cornwallis' troops played after Yorktown because Washington repaid Cornwallis' massive disrespect with his own. which is referenced without context in Hamilton. 3. i read about the Irish often enough given there are more Irish in america then there are actual Irish people in Ireland.(thank the famine... i think) Also they're a fun loving people and we already established how much puritans hate fun. Fucking puritans. Oh by the way got any good english civilwar documentaries or movies? It's mentioned a bit in american education but i want to know more. Plus i mean Its English history which is like american Prehistory only with better record keeping then actual prehistory.

[@Andrew-yo6kh]

Your ignorance of the English Civil Wars and Oliver Cromwell is astounding. Thank God that we still have books. At school we were fed the usual restorationist propaganda and lies about Oliver Cromwell and the Puritans, filtered through a Marxist interpretation of history. Oliver Cromwell was the product of a time in history that will always leave him somewhat of an enigma, but those who take the time to find out the truth about him as I did (instead of believing everything I was told) might actually end up appreciating the man warts and all.

[@fadillangston9797]

Dislike for assuming Americans weren't taught about 17th Century U.K.

[@patronsaintofpoison]

There are no pictures of them because cameras didn't exist and portraits had to be physically painted, requiring the subject to sit still for many hours... It's not because they were afraid of their faces...

[@white-dragon4424]

Actually, part of the old Parliament still exists. Westminster Hall was a part of the original Westminster Parliament. The rest of it was built in the Victorian period.

[@xXinsaneXxification]

really great videos... keep up the good work man :)

[@RacinZilla003]

To catch up on who Oliver Cromwell was, he was the idiot who said that the Monarchy is stupid and we should overthrow it and when he did he became a Monarch himself in all but name and did a bunch of stupid shit during his rule. You can now skip to 2:20... though the video itself is pretty good, so just watch it all ;P

[@OGAndizzo]

Cromwell 'banned the Irish' LOL

[@freerad101]

Sorry about the mis post. The establishment of Parliament's superiority in the affairs of state are the basis of the current democratic nature of today's Parliament and Congress.

[@mistahsusan2650]

civil war? it wasn't very civil; no no, it was quite beastly actually: but you won't find many people calling it the English beastly war will you now?

[@MIKE-TYTHON]

Why did this guy ever stop he’s great at editing and his video ideas are on point

[@connordonigian5911]

'Get-out-of-GAOL-free' card 2:00

[@I8DH]

Didn't the KGB actually took a woman's body rather than Hitler's by mistake? I pretty sure they debunked that somewhere.

[@gjheintzman]

We Americans share in this history. The rights secured by the Magna Carta and the English civil war were the basis of the grievances which led to the Revolutionary War.

[@PeenWienerstien]

The guy invented kidnapping and white slavery in the Americas. Hell isn't a fitting punishment for such evil.

[@Psyadin2]

Richard wasn't buried under a car park, he was buried somewhere where someone much later decided to build a car park, its a small, but important difference.

[@nathankeane7615]

I was one of the original 2000 subscribers

[@battlec43]

So much is wrong with this video. There was no UK or Britain in the 17th century. Countless historical inaccuracies.

[@marilissh]

I know where the Cromwells settled in Norty America. They are here and still rich and powerful in the good old US of A.

[@tlv1117]

CQD? Are you in distress? Is someone forcing you to make these videos against your will?

[@creme12194]

Believe it or not, some Americans are intelligent and care about history and know about Cromwell.

[@richarddismore7499]

I wonder what ever happened to Oliver Cromwell's Nutsack?

[@tomg5187]

Weird how you get so many views from Alaska unless it’s connected to US views lol