Editing Levellers (section)

== Timeline ==
In July 1645, John Lilburne was imprisoned for denouncing [[Member of Parliament (England)|Members of Parliament]] who lived in comfort while the common soldiers fought and died for the [[Parliament of England|Parliamentary]] cause. His offence was [[slander]]ing [[William Lenthall]], the Speaker of the [[House of Commons of England|House of Commons]], whom he accused of corresponding with [[Cavalier|Royalists]]. He was freed in October 1645 after a petition requesting his release, signed by over 2,000 leading London citizens, was presented to the House of Commons.

In July 1646, Lilburne was imprisoned again, this time in the [[Tower of London]], for denouncing his former army commander, the [[Edward Montagu, 2nd Earl of Manchester|Earl of Manchester]], as a [[cavalier|Royalist]] sympathiser because he had protected an officer who had been charged with [[treason]]. It was the campaigns to free Lilburne from prison that spawned the movement known as the Levellers. Richard Overton was arrested in August 1646 for publishing a [[pamphlet]] attacking the [[House of Lords]]. During his imprisonment, he wrote an influential Leveller manifesto, "An Arrow Against All Tyrants and Tyranny".<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.constitution.org/lev/eng_lev_05.htm |title=An arrow against all tyrants Richard Overton, 12 October 1646 |access-date=20 September 2005 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051223101455/http://www.constitution.org/lev/eng_lev_05.htm |archive-date=23 December 2005 |url-status=live}}</ref>

The soldiers in the [[New Model Army]] elected "Agitators" from each regiment to represent them. These Agitators were recognised by the Army's commanders and had a seat on the General Council. However, by September 1647, at least five regiments of cavalry had elected new unofficial agitators and produced a pamphlet called "The Case of the Army truly stated".  This was presented to the commander-in-chief, Sir Thomas Fairfax, on 18 October 1647. In this, they demanded a dissolution of Parliament within a year and substantial changes to the constitution of future Parliaments that were to be regulated by an unalterable "law paramount".<ref name=EB_LEVELLERS/>

The senior officers in the Army (nicknamed "Grandees") were angered by the "Case of the Army" and ordered the unofficial Agitators to give an account of their principles before the General Council of the Army. These debates, known as the [[Putney Debates]], were held in [[St. Mary's Church, Putney]], in the county of [[Surrey]] between 28 October and 11 November 1647. The Agitators were assisted by some civilians, notably [[John Wildman]] and [[Maximilian Petty]], who had been connected to the Army as civilian advisers since July 1647. On 28 October, the Agitator [[Robert Everard]] presented a document entitled "[[An Agreement of the People]]".<ref>[http://www.constitution.org/eng/conpur074.htm The Agreement of the People] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041011032227/http://www.constitution.org/eng/conpur074.htm |date=11 October 2004 }} as presented to the Council of the Army October 1647</ref> This [[manifesto]], which was inherently republican and democratic, appeared to conflict with the terms of settlement that had already been endorsed by the General Council in July entitled "[[The Heads of the Proposals]]"<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.constitution.org/eng/conpur071.htm |title=The Heads of the Proposals offered by the Army |access-date=18 October 2004 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041011030042/http://www.constitution.org/eng/conpur071.htm |archive-date=11 October 2004 |url-status=live}}</ref> The "Heads of the Proposals" contained many demands that looked towards social justice but relied upon the King to agree to them and bring them into law through acts of Parliament. The new Agitators, who distrusted the King, demanded that England be settled from "the bottom up" rather than the "top down" by giving the vote to most adult males. The debates help to throw light on the areas on which supporters of the Parliamentarian side agreed and those on which they differed. For example, Ireton asked whether the phrase in the Agreement "according to the number of the inhabitants" gave a foreigner just arrived in England and resident in a property the right to vote. He argued that a person must have a "permanent interest of this kingdom" to be entitled to vote, and that "permanent interest" means owning property, which is where he and the Levellers disagreed. To modern eyes, the debates seem to draw heavily on the Bible to lay out certain basic principles. This is to be expected in an age still racked by religious upheavals in the aftermath of the [[Reformation]] and particularly in an army where soldiers were, in part, selected for their religious zeal. It is notable that [[John Wildman]] resisted religious language, arguing that the Bible produced no model for civil government and that reason should be the basis of any future settlement.

The [[Corkbush Field rendezvous]] on 17 November 1647, was the first of three meetings to take place as agreed in the Putney Debates. The Army commanders [[Thomas Fairfax]] and Cromwell were worried by the strength of support for Levellers in the Army, so they decided to impose "The Heads of the Proposals" as the army's manifesto instead of the Levellers' "Agreement of the People". When some refused to accept this (because they wanted the army to adopt the Levellers' document), they were arrested and one of the ringleaders, Private [[Richard Arnold (soldier)|Richard Arnold]], was executed. At the other two meetings, the troops who were summoned agreed to the manifesto without further protest.

The Levellers' largest [[petition]], titled "To The Right Honourable The Commons Of England", was presented to [[Long Parliament|Parliament]] on 11 September 1648 after amassing signatories including about a third of all Londoners.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.bilderberg.org/land/petition.htm |title=To The Right Honovrable The Commons Of England in Parliament assembled. The humble Petition of Thousands wel-affected persons inhabiting the City of London, Westminster, the Borough of Southwark Hamblets, and places adjacent |access-date=29 January 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070202100230/http://bilderberg.org/land/petition.htm |archive-date=2 February 2007 |url-status=live}}</ref>

On 30 October 1648, [[Thomas Rainsborough]], a [[Member of Parliament (England)|Member of Parliament]] and Leveller leader who had spoken at the Putney Debates, was killed during an attempt to abduct him. His funeral was the occasion for a large Leveller-led demonstration in London, with thousands of mourners wearing the Levellers' ribbons of sea-green and bunches of [[rosemary]] for remembrance in their hats.

On 20 January 1649, a version of the "Agreement of the People" that had been drawn up in October 1647 for the [[Army Council (1647)|Army Council]] and subsequently modified was presented to the House of Commons.<ref>[http://www.constitution.org/eng/conpur081.htm Agreement of the People and the places therewith incorporated, for a secure and present peace, upon grounds of common right, freedom and safety] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041011040439/http://www.constitution.org/eng/conpur081.htm |date=11 October 2004 }}, as presented to Parliament in January 1649</ref>

At the end of January 1649, [[Charles I of England]] was tried and executed for treason against the people. In February, the Grandees banned petitions to Parliament by soldiers. In March, eight Leveller troopers went to the commander-in-chief of the New Model Army, Thomas Fairfax, and demanded the restoration of the [[right to petition]]. Five of them were [[wikt:cashier#Verb|cashiered]] out of the army.

In April, 300 infantrymen of Colonel [[John Hewson (regicide)|John Hewson]]'s regiment, who declared that they would not serve in [[Kingdom of Ireland|Ireland]] until the Levellers' programme had been realised, were cashiered without [[arrears]] of pay. This was the threat that had been used to quell the [[mutiny]] at the Corkbush Field rendezvous. Later that month, in the [[Bishopsgate mutiny]], soldiers of the regiment of Colonel [[Edward Whalley]] stationed in [[Bishopsgate]] London made demands similar to those of Hewson's regiment; they were ordered out of London. When they refused to go, 15 soldiers were arrested and [[court martial]]ed. Six of their number were sentenced to death. Of these, five were later pardoned, while [[Robert Lockyer]] (or Lockier), a former Levellers agitator, was hanged on 27 April 1649. "At his burial a thousand men, in files, preceded the corpse, which was adorned with bunches of rosemary dipped in blood; on each side rode three [[trumpet]]ers, and behind was led the trooper’s horse, covered with mourning; some thousands of men and women followed with black and green ribbons on their heads and breasts, and were received at the grave by a numerous crowd of the inhabitants of London and [[Liberty of Westminster|Westminster]]."<ref>[http://www.authorama.com/history-of-england-4.html The History of England: Chapter IV: The Commonwealth] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041211193807/http://www.authorama.com/history-of-england-4.html |date=11 December 2004 }} by John Lingard</ref>

In 1649, Lieutenant-Colonel [[John Lilburne]], [[William Walwyn]], [[Thomas Prince (Leveller)|Thomas Prince]], and [[Richard Overton (Leveller)|Richard Overton]] were imprisoned in the [[Tower of London]] by the [[English Council of State|Council of State]] (see above). It was while the leaders of the Levellers were being held in the Tower that they wrote an outline of the reforms the Levellers wanted, in a pamphlet entitled "An Agreement Of The Free People Of England" (written on 1 May 1649). It includes reforms that have since been made law in England, such as the [[right to silence]], and others that have not been, such as an elected [[judiciary]].<ref>[http://www.constitution.org/eng/agreepeo.htm Agreement of the Free People] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041011020040/http://www.constitution.org/eng/agreepeo.htm |date=11 October 2004 }}, extended version from the imprisonment of the Leveller leaders, May 1649</ref>

[[Image:LevellersBiggsPiggenOxford.jpg|thumb|right|Commemoration plaque for two Levellers in [[Gloucester Green]], [[Oxford]].]]
[[Image:Levellers plaque Burford.jpg|thumb|right|Plaque commemorating [[Banbury mutiny|three Levellers]] shot at the command of [[Oliver Cromwell]] in [[Burford]].]]
Shortly afterwards, Cromwell attacked the "[[Banbury mutiny|Banbury mutineers]]", 400 troopers who supported the Levellers and who were commanded by Captain [[William Thompson (Leveller)|William Thompson]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.bilderberg.org/land/case.htm |title=The testimony of the Burford Levellers |access-date=18 October 2004 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041011045959/http://www.bilderberg.org/land/case.htm |archive-date=11 October 2004 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.strecorsoc.org/docs/vindicated.html |title=THE Levellers (Falsely so called) Vindicated, OR THE CASE Of the twelve Troops (which by Treachery in a Treaty) was lately surprised, and defeated at Burford |access-date=29 January 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070609101942/http://www.strecorsoc.org/docs/vindicated.html |archive-date=9 June 2007 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Several mutineers were killed in the skirmish. Captain Thompson escaped only to be killed a few days later in another skirmish near the [[Diggers]] community at [[Wellingborough]]. The three other leaders – William Thompson's brother, Corporal Perkins, and John Church – were shot on 17 May 1649. This destroyed the Levellers' support base in the New Model Army, which by then was the major power in the land. Although Walwyn and Overton were released from the Tower, and Lilburne tried and acquitted, the Leveller cause had effectively been crushed.