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By trolling the English Court, John Lilburne helped reestablish all sorts of fundamental rights to the English legal tradition.
Michael Braddick joins us to discuss John Lilburne’s legacy of political activism. Lilburne did not want to be considered a martyr. He fought for what we now understand as the English legal tradition, which is really the backbone of American democracy. He defended political freedom when very few mechanisms existed to mobilize support.
Who is John Lilburne? What influence did Lilburne have on the English legal tradition? What is Christian Egalitarianism? How did mobilization work during the English Civil Wars? Is John Lilburne a martyr? Were the Levellers the first modern political party?
The Common Freedom of the People, written by Michael Braddick
John Lilburne- Leveller Leader, by the UK National Archives
Radical Weirdness in the English Civil Wars, Anthony Comegna and Caleb Brown
Agenda for Liberty: A Biography of John Lilburne, written by Jim Powell
Profiles in Locodom: William Cullen Bryant, Liberty Chronicles Podcast
Anthony Comegna received his MA (2012) and PhD (2016) in history from the University of Pittsburgh, where he specialized in early American, intellectual, and Atlantic history. His dissertation, “The Dupes of Hope Forever:” The Loco-Foco or Equal Rights Movement, 1820s-1870s, revives the submerged and forgotten legacy of locofocoism. Anthony has taught undergraduate courses in American history and Western Civilization. He produces regular historical content for Libertarianism.org and is the writer/host of Liberty Chronicles. He currently works at the Institute for Humane Studies as the Academic Programs Design Manager.