Why did oliver cromwell refuse when he was asked to be king?
In 1657, Cromwell was offered the crown by Parliament as part of a revised constitutional settlement, presenting him with a dilemma, since he had been instrumental in abolishing the monarchy. Cromwell agonized for six weeks over the offer. He was attracted by the prospect of stability it held out, but in a speech on 13 April 1657 he made clear that God’s providence had spoken against the office of king: “I would not seek to set up that which Providence hath destroyed and laid in the dust, and I would not build Jericho again”.The reference is to Joshua’s curse upon any man who would rebuild Jericho and to its fulfillment in Hiel the Bethelite, who according to 1st Kings 16:34 in the Bible, “laid the foundation thereof in Abiram his firstborn, and set up the gates thereof in his youngest son Segub.” Instead, Cromwell was ceremonially re-installed as Lord Protector (with greater powers than had previously been granted him under this title) at Westminster Hall, sitting upon King Edward’s C
