Talk:Oliver Cromwell's head/Archive 1

catalogue
"it entered into the property of a catalogue of private collectors" If I could parse it, I could perhaps improve this.--Wetman (talk) 04:18, 8 May 2009 (UTC)


 * It just means that it entered the hands of a number of private collectors in its "lifetime", as it were. Peter Symonds ( talk ) 08:39, 8 May 2009 (UTC)


 * Is catalogue the collective noun for collectors? —Tamfang (talk) 20:01, 12 May 2009 (UTC)
 * Sentence clarified. Peter Symonds ( talk ) 22:00, 12 May 2009 (UTC)

Proper fame is your head having its own Wikipedia page Omar77 (talk) —Preceding undated comment added 22:06, 16 May 2009 (UTC).
 * lol. :) Peter Symonds ( talk ) 22:10, 16 May 2009 (UTC)

Language
I think the language needs a cleanup, I'll make some changes - if there is disagreement please discuss. Hekerui (talk) 10:42, 8 June 2009 (UTC)
 * I did the lead and background sections. Hekerui (talk) 11:09, 8 June 2009 (UTC)

Body
Another tradition regarding his body is that his daughter Mary carried it to Newburgh Priory, where it was interred above the porch. some sources and books. Possibly worth mentioning. Gwinva (talk) 22:36, 11 October 2009 (UTC)

Large brain
There's a belief that Oliver Cromwell's brain was twice the average size, but I can't find a good reference for it. There's a tourist website -- http://www.cambridgetimetraveller.com/live/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=285:the-strange-tale-of-oliver-cromwells-head&catid=2:cambridge-history&Itemid=3 -- and there's the 1999 British Genus edition of Trivial Pursuit (the History question on card 146 asks, "Which part of Oliver Cromwell's body was found to be twice the size of that of an average man?" and the answer is "The brain"). Before this information goes on the Wikipedia page, it would be nice to find a more authoritative reference - anybody know one? Mebden (talk) 09:45, 3 August 2010 (UTC)

How could his brain have been twice average size unless his head was also twice average size -- which, I think it is clear, it was not. Can anyone help us out here? (71.22.47.232 (talk) 07:50, 17 January 2011 (UTC))
 * It was 12 ounces above the European mean, apparently: http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=F50A14FE3F59117B93C6A81789D85F418784F9 Karmos (talk) 18:30, 30 January 2011 (UTC)

"The Dragons of Eden" by Carl Sagan. Pg. 33 Sagan mentions Oliver Cromwell is among the largest brains on record.

Executing King Charles I
I think it is quite wrong to describe Cromwell as "executing" Charles. Charles was tried in a "High Court of Justice" set up by Parliament, unanimously found guilty, and his death warrant was signed by 59 of the Commisioners. The identity of the actual executioner is apparently not known (it was not Cromwell). No doubt Cromwell was a motivating force in all of this, but by the standards of the time it was a very democratic process.

I suggest the second sentence be changed to "After the defeat and execution of King Charles I after the English Civil War, Cromwell ..." Baska436 (talk) 05:46, 30 January 2014 (UTC)


 * I'd like it even better if execution were changed to beheading. To a pedant, what's executed is the sentence, not the victim. —Tamfang (talk) 19:32, 30 January 2014 (UTC)


 * Done! Pleasure to do business with you! (But a number of dictionaries do seem quite happy with "execution" having the meaning "the act of killing someone especially as punishment for a crime")  Baska436 (talk) 05:56, 1 February 2014 (UTC)


 * Yes, execution has acquired the specialized sense execution of a death sentence. I don't have to love it.  Someday there will be software minds to whom the ultimate sentence is non-execution! —Tamfang (talk) 19:15, 2 February 2014 (UTC)

The Engraving
The engraving entitled "Contemporary scene outside Westminster Hall . . ." is clearly of the Banqueting House - a much more symbolic location that Westminster Hall, being the site of the beheading of Charles I.

86.187.229.247 (talk) 20:14, 15 May 2020 (UTC)