The Tumultuous Birth of a Republic

The execution of Charles I in 1649 left England in a state of political and spiritual upheaval. For groups like the Fifth Monarchists—radical Puritans who believed Christ’s millennial reign was imminent—the king’s death was not a void but a prelude to divine glory. Their preachers roamed the streets, captivating apprentices, craftsmen, and soldiers with fiery sermons that framed the revolution as a holy crusade.

England in the late 1640s was an armed camp. Though Royalists had been defeated in England, they remained active in Scotland and Ireland. Scotland’s Presbyterian leaders declared Charles II king, while in Ireland, Catholic Confederates bolstered Royalist resistance. The New Model Army, now the dominant political force, was wary of peace. Its ranks had transformed: younger, less-educated officers from lower social strata, often fervently religious, now commanded troops. Literacy among soldiers—many of them artisans—fueled political awareness. By 1647, each regiment elected “Agitators” to represent their grievances, from unpaid wages to demands for radical democracy.

The Levellers and the Putney Debates

The Levellers—led by John Lilburne, Richard Overton, and William Walwyn—emerged as the era’s most vocal democratic reformers. Their manifesto, The Agreement of the People, called for universal male suffrage (for property-owning men), annual parliaments, abolition of tithes, and legal reform. At the Putney Debates (1647), Colonel Thomas Rainsborough famously declared, “The poorest he that is in England hath a life to live as the greatest he.” This shocked conservative officers like Henry Ireton, who argued that only property owners should vote, fearing anarchy.

Oliver Cromwell, once sympathetic to Lilburne, grew alarmed by Leveller radicalism. When soldiers mutinied at Corkbush Field (1647), Cromwell crushed dissent, tearing green Leveller ribbons from their hats. By 1649, the Levellers accused the new Commonwealth of betraying its ideals, becoming as tyrannical as the monarchy it replaced.

Women, War, and Radicalism

The Levellers uniquely included women in their activism. Elizabeth Lilburne and Katherine Chidley led petitions demanding the release of imprisoned leaders, challenging Puritan gender norms. Chidley’s speeches highlighted wartime suffering: “We cannot bear to see our children starve.” When Parliament dismissed them—”Go home and tend your washing”—they persisted, distributing pamphlets and organizing protests.

Suppression and Legacy

By 1649, the Commonwealth moved to silence dissent. Lilburne, tried for treason, delivered a stirring defense of jury rights and was acquitted—a rare victory. Yet the movement fractured. Lilburne exiled himself; others turned to Quakerism, seeking spiritual solace after political defeat.

The Fifth Monarchists, meanwhile, awaited Christ’s kingdom. Though their dreams faded, their zeal influenced later democratic thought. The Levellers’ ideas resurfaced in America’s Revolution, while their demands for equality and justice echo in modern movements.

Conclusion: The Fire That Never Died

The English Revolution’s radicals—Fifth Monarchists, Levellers, and Quakers—were crushed by Cromwell’s regime. Yet their vision of a just society endured. As Lilburne wrote, “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church.” Their struggle, though defeated, planted the roots of modern democracy.