John Lilburne
John Lilburne (* approx. 1614; † August 28, 1657 ), also known as Freeborn John , was one of the most famous spokesmen for the radical democratic " levelers " in England in the seventeenth century. He is the brother of Robert Lilburne .
Lilburne was born the son of wealthy servants at the English court . At the age of 22 he introduced Puritan writings from Holland, which brought him into conflict with the censors , namely the Worshipful Company of Stationers and Newspaper Makers . Lilburne was imprisoned and tortured. In 1640 he was released by the Long Parliament at the request of Oliver Cromwell .
In the English Civil War he fought as an officer on the side of the parliamentarians. In 1645 he left the army because he rejected the peace treaty with the Scottish royalists and above all the related Presbyterian church order in England.
In the following time he became the spokesman for the so-called " Levellers ", who advocated political equality for English citizens, the so-called " freeborn rights ". In 1649 he submitted a draft constitution based on this principle. Several arrests followed, but initially only lasted for a short time, as the London population stood up for the popular Lilburne and threatened riots. In 1652, after the Levellers were suppressed, he was banished. In 1653 he was acquitted and returned to England, where he was nevertheless imprisoned for years; during this time he accepted the Quaker faith .
He was dismissed in 1657 because of poor health; when Cromwell found out, he ordered him to be re-imprisoned, but Lilburne had already passed away.
literature
- Literature about Robert Lilburne in the Karlsruhe Virtual Catalog
- CH Firth: John Lilburne in Dictionary of National Biography, 1892 (Engl.)
- Christopher Hill : The World Turned Upside Down 1972, ISBN 0-85117-025-0
- Andrew Sharp: John Lilburne in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, 2004
Web links
- Biography of JohnLilburne Website on the English Civil War and the Commonwealth #
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Lilburne, John |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Spokesman for the radical democratic "Levellers" |
| DATE OF BIRTH | around 1614 |
| DATE OF DEATH | August 28, 1657 |