Overview
Argues that the Levellers were not a cohesive movement, but rather a political expression of London’s growing sectarian population in the 1640s
Focuses on the Levellers as an urban phenomenon, situating both leaders and followers in their London milieu
Offers an extensive analysis of the social following of the Leveller writers of 1646-49, placing these ideas in the broader context of libertarian political and religious agitation
Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras
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Table of contents (7 chapters)
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Front Matter
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Back Matter
Keywords
About this book
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. The Levellers sought to restructure the state in 1647-49 around popular consent and liberty for conscience, especially in their Agreement of the People. Their following was not a ‘movement’ but largely a political response of the sects that had emerged in London’s rapidly growing peripheral neighbourhoods and in other localities in the 1640s. This study argues that the Levellers did not emerge as a separate political faction before October 1647, that they did not succeed in establishing extensive political organisation, and that the troop revolt of spring 1649 was not really a Leveller phenomenon. Addressing the contested interpretations of the Levellers throughout, this book also introduces Leveller history to non-specialist readers.
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Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Following the Levellers, Volume One
Book Subtitle: Political and Religious Radicals in the English Civil War and Revolution, 1645–1649
Authors: Gary S. De Krey
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-26843-3
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan London
eBook Packages: History, History (R0)
Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2017
Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-137-26842-6Published: 18 January 2018
Softcover ISBN: 978-1-349-66990-5Published: 06 March 2019
eBook ISBN: 978-1-137-26843-3Published: 24 November 2017
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XIX, 299
Number of Illustrations: 9 b/w illustrations
Topics: History of Britain and Ireland, Political History, History of Early Modern Europe, Social History