Editing John Lilburne (section)

=="Freeborn John"==
On his return from Holland, Lilburne was arrested (11 December 1637) for printing and circulating books, {{sfn|Firth|1893|p=243}} particularly [[William Prynne]]'s ''News from Ipswich'', that were not licensed by the [[Worshipful Company of Stationers and Newspaper Makers|Stationers' Company]]. At that time all printing presses and publications were required to be licensed, and publishers were liable to the [[Court of High Commission]].<ref name=av>[http://americanvision.org/12219/understanding-judicial-tyranny-groundwork-for-going-forward/ americanvision.org: "Understanding judicial tyranny: groundwork for going forward"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150724175449/http://americanvision.org/12219/understanding-judicial-tyranny-groundwork-for-going-forward/ |date=24 July 2015 }}, americanvision.org.
21 July 2015.</ref>

Upon his arrest on information from a Stationers' Company informant, Lilburne was brought before the [[Court of Star Chamber]]. Instead of being charged with a specific offence, he was asked how he pleaded. In his examinations he refused to take the oath known as the [[ex officio oath|''ex officio'' oath]] (on the grounds that he was not bound to incriminate himself), and thus called into question the court's usual procedure.<ref>{{harvnb|Firth|1893|p=243}} see Gardiner, ''History of England'', viii. 248; Stephens, ''History of the Criminal Law'', i. 343.</ref> As he persisted in his contumacy, he was sentenced on 13 February 1638 to be fined £500, whipped, [[Pillory|pilloried]], and imprisoned till he obeyed.<ref>{{harvnb|Firth|1893|p=243}} cites Rushworth, ii. 463–66; State Trials, iii. 1315–67.</ref>

On 18 April 1638, Lilburne was flogged with a three-thonged whip on his bare back, as he was dragged by his hands tied to the rear of an ox cart from [[Fleet Prison]] to the [[pillory]] at [[Westminster]]. He was then forced to stoop in the pillory, where he still managed to campaign against his [[Censorship|censors]] more unlicensed literature was distributed to the crowds. He was then gagged. Finally he was taken back to the court and again imprisoned. During his imprisonment in Fleet he was cruelly treated.<ref>{{harvnb|Firth|1893|p=243}} cites Lilburne ''The Christian Man's Trial'', 1641; Lilburne ''A Copy of a Letter written by John Lilburne to the Wardens of the Fleet'', 4 October 1640; Lilburne ''A True Relation of the Material Passage of Lieutenant-Colonel John Lilburne's as they were proved before the House of Peers'', 13 February 1645; ''State Trials'', iii. 1315)</ref>

While in prison, however, he managed to write and to get printed in 1638 an account of his own punishment styled ''The Work of the Beast'', and in 1639 an apology entitled ''Come out of her, my people'' for separation from the [[Church of England]].{{sfn|Firth|1893|p=243}}

Upon his release, Lilburne married [[Elizabeth Lilburne|Elizabeth Dewell]] (a London merchant's daughter) in September 1641. Lilburne's agitation continued: the same year he led a group of armed citizens against a group of Royalist officers, who retreated. That was the first in a long series of trials that lasted throughout his life for what John Lilburne called his "[[freeborn|freeborn rights]]", including the right to hear the accusation, the right to face one's accusers, and the right to avoid self-incrimination.<ref>{{harvnb|Firth|1893|p=243}}</ref> As a result of these trials a growing number of supporters began to call him "Freeborn John" and even struck a medal in his honour to that effect. It is this trial that has been cited by constitutional jurists and scholars in the United States of America as being one of the historical foundations of the [[Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution]]. It is also cited within the 1966 majority opinion of ''[[Miranda v. Arizona]]'' by the [[Supreme Court of the United States|U.S. Supreme Court]].{{citation needed|date=December 2022}}