Following the Levellers, Volume Two : English Political and Religious Radicals from the Commonwealth to the Glorious Revolution, 1649-1688

The Levellers sought to restructure the state in 1647-9 around popular consent and liberty for conscience, especially in their __Agreement of the People.____Following the Levellers, Volume Two__ examines the later political efforts of Leveller spokesmen like John Lilburne, John Wildman, and Richard Overton, and their followers. Far from ending in the 1649 troop revolts, the Leveller impact continued in the Interregnum climacterics of 1653 and 1659-60, times of acute political and religious unsettlement. Indeed, Leveller ideas resurfaced in Restoration political and religious crises in 1678-83 and again in 1687-8 and flourished in populations that once followed the Levellers. Analysis of London, army, and county Levellers reveals connections to subsequent outbursts of unrest. Sectarian communities in London’s peripheral neighbourhoods and nearby counties sustained the Leveller ethos, and ordinary people like those who followed the Levellers remained active in petitioning and protest about political and religious liberties through the Glorious Revolution. Contents 6 List of Figures 11 List of Tables 12 Chapter 1 Introduction: Finding the Levellers and Their Successors 13 Chapter 2 The Levellers and the Commonwealth, 1649–1653 22 Introduction: Confrontation and Containment 22 Maintaining the Case for an Agreement and the Oxford Mutiny 24 The 1649 Treason Trial of John Lilburne 33 Sustaining the Leveller Ethos, 1649–1653 39 The Climacteric of 1653 and the Leveller Revival 47 Conclusion 58 Chapter 3 Leveller Followers in London, the Army, and the Counties 71 Introduction: Finding Leveller Followers 71 The London Levellers and Their Milieu 73 The Army Levellers 85 The Levellers in the Counties 96 Conclusion 107 Appendix 3.1: London Levellers 117 Appendix 3.2: Army Levellers 128 Chapter 4 Leveller Successors and the Protectorate, 1654–1659 140 Introduction: Leveller Successors and Opposition to the Protectorate 140 Adapting the Leveller Agenda Against the Protectorate, 1654–1655 143 Conspiracies Against Cromwell, 1656–1658 152 Leveller Successors, Commonwealthmen, and the Collapse of the Protectorate, 1658–1659 164 Conclusion 172 Chapter 5 Leveller Successors and the Climacteric of 1659–1660 183 Introduction: The Restored Rump and the Problem of Settlement 183 The Division of Opinion About the Constitution in Church and State 186 The Revival of the Leveller Agenda 190 The Republic Against Itself: Leveller Successor Responses to the Committee of Safety 201 Leveller Successors and the Collapse of the Republic, 1659–1660 208 Conclusion 216 Chapter 6 The Leveller Ethos and the Restoration 227 Introduction: Leveller Successors and the Restoration Settlement, 1660–1683 227 Leveller Successors and Early Restoration Plotting 230 The Second Conventicle Act and the Leveller Legacy, 1670 239 The Restoration Crisis, 1678–1683: Origins and Leveller Antecedents 247 Reading Whig Arguments Through a Leveller Lens 256 Conclusion 266 Chapter 7 Leveller Successors of the 1680s 276 Introduction: Connecting Radicals in Two Eras of Revolution 276 London Leveller Successors in the Restoration Crisis and Their Milieu 277 Finding County Leveller Successors in the Restoration Crisis 289 The Leveller Past and the Climacteric of James II’s Toleration, 1687–1688 298 Detecting Leveller Successors Who Supported James’s Toleration 308 Appendix 7.1: Rye House Plot Recruits 325 Conclusion: Following the Levellers 330 Selected Bibliography 339 Index 365 The Levellers sought to restructure the state in 1647-9 around popular consent and liberty for conscience, especially in their Agreement of the People. Following the Levellers, Volume Two examines the later political efforts of Leveller spokesmen like John Lilburne, John Wildman, and Richard Overton and their followers. Far from ending in the 1649 troop revolts, the Leveller impact continued in the Interregnum climacterics of 1653 and 1659-60, times of acute political and religious unsettlement. Indeed, Leveller ideas resurfaced in Restoration political and religious crises in 1678-83 and again in 1687-8 and flourished in populations that once followed the Levellers. Analysis of London, army, and county Levellers reveals connections to subsequent outbursts of unrest. Sectarian communities in London's peripheral neighbourhoods and nearby counties sustained the Leveller ethos, and ordinary people like those who followed the Levellers remained active in petitioning and protest about political and religious liberties through the Glorious Revolution.-- Provided by publisher The Levellers sought to restructure the state in 1647-9 around popular consent and liberty for conscience, especially in their Agreement of the People. This volume examines the later political efforts of Leveller spokesmen like John Lilburne, John Wildman, and Richard Overton, and their followers. Far from ending in the 1649 troop revolts, the Leveller impact continued in the Interregnum climacterics of 1653 and 1659-60, times of acute political and religious unsettlement. Indeed, Leveller ideas resurfaced in Restoration political and religious crises in 1678-83 and again in 1687-8 and flourished in populations that once followed the Levellers. Analysis of London, army, and county Levellers reveals connections to subsequent outbursts of unrest. Sectarian communities in London's peripheral neighbourhoods and nearby counties sustained the Leveller ethos, and ordinary people like those who followed the Levellers remained active in petitioning and protest about political and religious liberties through the Glorious Revolution Front Matter ....Pages i-xv Introduction: Finding the Levellers and Their Successors (Gary S. De Krey)....Pages 1-9 The Levellers and the Commonwealth, 1649–1653 (Gary S. De Krey)....Pages 11-59 Leveller Followers in London, the Army, and the Counties (Gary S. De Krey)....Pages 61-129 Leveller Successors and the Protectorate, 1654–1659 (Gary S. De Krey)....Pages 131-173 Leveller Successors and the Climacteric of 1659–1660 (Gary S. De Krey)....Pages 175-218 The Leveller Ethos and the Restoration (Gary S. De Krey)....Pages 219-267 Leveller Successors of the 1680s (Gary S. De Krey)....Pages 269-322 Back Matter ....Pages 323-379 This book reinterprets the Leveller authorships of John Lilburne, Richard Overton and William Walwyn, and foregrounds the role of ordinary people in petitioning and protest during an era of civil war and revolution.