Cumberland, Richard, 1732-1811

Though far more known as a playwright, Cumberland did author an occasional novel, including Arundel (1789) and Henry (1795). Two of his early plays are among his best: The Brothers, which debuted in 1769, and The West Indian, first staged in 1771. Other plays of his include The Jew (1794), First Love (1795), and The Wheel of Fortune (1795). Cumberland’s Memoirs were published in 1806 and 1807.

Cromwell, Oliver, 1599-1658

English soldier, general, and statesman who led the parliamentary armies against Charles I in the English Civil War and served as the Lord Protector of England, Ireland, and Scotland in the period of the republican commonwealth. While many prominent figures have denounced Cromwell as a dictator, he was a champion of liberty in the eyes of poet John Milton, his private secretary for the Council of State.

Crashaw, Richard, 1613?-1649

An English poet and lyricist with profoundly High Church beliefs, Crashaw was forced to flee to the continent after the rise of the seventeenth-century Puritan government, converting to Catholicism in 1645. He lived first in France, then Italy. He was best known for a collection of primarily mystical religious poems, Steps to the Temple. Sacred Poems, With other Delights of the Muses (1646) and the posthumously-published Carmen Deo Nostro (1652).