Charles: Political and Religious radicalism in the 1640's.

Civil War and breakdown of royal authority and movement of armies of Parliament around the country created a development for religious and political radicalism.

• The Levellers were a London Pressure Group that wanted economic, social and political reform.
• Created by the civil war at a time of religious and politcal uncertainty.
• John Lilburne was a key figure
• The Levellers wanted:
  • Written constitution.
  • House of Commons being the main legislature, not the King or Lords.
  • More elections.
  • Religious freedom.
  • Refor of law and elected local governments.
• This idea was ahead of it's time and like present day.

METHODS:

• How they publicised their ideas helped their influence.
• Used petitions, pamphlets and newspaper to convey it's messgaes.
• Their methods show how the control of the Politcal Nation during this period declined.
• Lilbrune made 250 Pamphlets from 1645-49.

1647, HOW THEY AFFECTED THE NEW MODEL ARMY:

• Knew without army support, they couldn't influence the post-war settlement.
• Levellers used the army's adjutators to express the concerns of the low army ranks.
• Whilst the army leaders were talking to Charles over the Heads of Proposals, they were scared that their officers would sell them short.
• Levellers saw Cromwell and Irenton as evil.
• October 1647, new soldiers representatives had close links with Levellers and appeared in 5 regiments. 
• Pamphlet, 'case of the army truly stated' attacked army leaders for attempt to compromise with Charles.
• New Model Army begins to divide and leaders saw Levellers as a threat.

OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 1647, THE PUTNEY DEBATES:

• General Council of the Army met with adjutators and Leveller representatives to debate how England should be governed in the future. 

October 1647 The Levellers' first agreement of the people:

• Levellers manifesto showed that those who wanted to be citizens of the state had to sign a document as their agreement.
  • Sovereignty = with the people, not King/Parliament by making Parliament more representative to the people.
  • Other agreements...
  • MPs elected according to proportion of constituencies.
  • Parliament elected every 2 years.
  • Parliament should only consist of the Commons.
• Succeeded in reminding Ireton to keep their demands in mind when they deal with Parliament/King.
• Army Leaders' need to work with Levellers and need to debate the settlement.
• The fact that their voices were being heard when in 1630 they would be ignored showed how big the revolution was.

• The Putney debate ended in November 1647 with a clash Ireton and Leveller sympathiser Rainsborough over the army leaders' attempts to settle with the King.
• Everything at Putney was undermined when Charles escaped, uniting higher and lower rank officers after the Putney and Whitehall debates against the King and Scots.
• Cromwell and Ireton reinforced their control over the army.
• Payed the troops through Parliament.
• This meant the Levellers couldn't have further discussions with the discontent ranks.
• Some say army made Levellers keep quiet after the Whitehall debates until the army killed the King.

DECEMBER 1648/JANUARY 1649, THE WHITEHALL DEBATES:

• Behind the trial and execution of Charles, Levellers met the Gerneral council of the Army.
• Met to debate the 'agreement of the people' as Whitehall.
• Levellers wanted this to = framework to a new constitution.
• Failure to agree led to a division between the Leveller leadership and army grandees.
• After failing to agree, Levellers and officers made own versions of the 'agreement of people'.
• Levellers second agreement was different from the officers' agreement.
• After the King, the Army Grandees had to deal with the Leveller leadership.

THE REPRESSION OF THE LEVELLERS:

• March 1649, Leading Levellers like Lillburn were arrested.
• Propaganda war still continued against the Rump Parliament and army.
• Levellers attacked Cromwell as a hypocrite after the 'Hunting of the foxes'.
• Levellers third agreement in 1649 wanted to caused an army mutiny.
• Fairfax and Cromwell quickly crushed this in May 1649.
• Rump parliament and army also put this to an end as rump Parliament still needed to pay army.
• Lillburn was aquitted at his trial in September 1649.
• After this the Leveller influence in the army was over.

THE DIGGERS:

• Came about due to the political, scoial and economic effects of civil war.
• Created by Gerrard Winstanley.
• Mainly had an influence post-King's execution.

METHODS:

• Communism was a solution to social inequality.
• Came across more threatening than it was.
• This = due to their challenge to nature of politics and society.
• Unlike levellers they wanted total social and political equality.
• Called themselves true levellers in their pamphlet ' True Levelles standard advanced'.
• Pamphlet 'Law of freeedom in a platform' he said every man should have freedom on earth to make anything he wants and not pay rent to landlords.

DIGGER'S INFLUENCE:

• Less immediate influence that the Levellers. 
• Were a Minority and commune only lasted 1 year.
• They weere destroyed by troops led by Fairfax due to the demands of the local elite.
• Unlike Levellers, Diggers' was only controlled by Winstanley.
• Despite failure, they had the ideas for future radicals such as...
  • Direct action - Winstanley said action is the only way to get something done.
  • Communism - Their making of communes show communism 200 years before Karl Marx.
  • Liberation theology - Their ideas go back to a radical Christian movement that aims to remove poverty.

REPRESSION OF THE DIGGERS:

• March 1649, a Digger group led by William Everard took over waste ground at St George's Hill.
• Took direct action of for their main idea of common ownership of land.
• Said this was God's vision, more religious than the Levellers.
• Failed because  hostile landowners.
• After a year, the group at St George's Hill collapsed 
• But, their were still short lived Digger communities in Kent, Nottinghamshire and Middlesex.

• A Purtian movement influenced by the Levellers and Diggers.
• Saw the civil war as the end of times.
• Saw judgement day as near due to the crises of King and Parliament.
• Decided to have a more political role.

FIFTH MONARCHISTS:

• 1650, Welsh and London Millenarians linked to campaign for relgious, economic and social reform.
• Called 5th Monarchist because of vision in the book of Daniel of a KIngdon lasting forever and would follow with 4 great earthly monarchs.
• This group = loosely organised and there wasn't a millenarian cented political group.
• They never had enough to threaten the state.

• Pre-1650, Millenarianism had an influence within the troops in the army.
• Key Millenarian in the army and the development of the 5th Monarchists was Colonel Thomas Harrison. 
• Central role in the 5th Monarchists group was from his position in the army and links with Millenarian preachers in South Wales and London. 
• Harrsions' developing millenarianism saw him leading a consistent and coherent group of relgious and political Millenarianism.
• They expected the coming of Christ on Earth and were theocratic.
• Wanted God to be rule, saints having a divine right etc.

OVERALL:

• Levellers, Diggers and 5th Monarchists all failed to achieve their political, relgious and social reforms.
• Diggers and Levellers were crushed by the New Model Army.
• But in 1653, 5th monarchists came closest to poltical power through Thomas Harrsion.
• But, the English Revolution led to these political movement influencing radicals in the future.