I assume we all know more or less who Oliver Cromwell was:

“Oliver Cromwell (25 April 1599 – 3 September 1658) was an English military and political leader best known in England for his overthrow of the monarchy and temporarily turning England into a republican Commonwealth, and for his rule as Lord Protector of England, Scotland and Ireland.” ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_Cromwell )

I never knew that they posthumously desecrated his body:

“On 30 January 1661, (symbolically the 12th anniversary of the execution of Charles I), Oliver Cromwell’s body was exhumed from Westminster Abbey, and was subjected to the ritual of a posthumous execution, as were the remains of John Bradshaw and Henry Ireton. (The body of Cromwell’s daughter was allowed to remain buried in the Abbey.) His body was hanged in chains at Tyburn. Finally, his disinterred body was thrown into a pit, while his severed head was displayed on a pole outside Westminster Hall until 1685.”

And this guy took over and restored the monarchy:

What a creepy history that is.

The question remains open how big of a role a religious understanding plays a role in upholding monarchy and aristocratic entitlements as a “natural” yet god given hierarchical societal order, or if it’s the plain interest of a conglomerated group to hold their interests in power in one hand, with one center of power.