Saturday, April 18, 2009

Levellers Day – May 16th

A fascinating bit of British history. There were more casualties per head of population in the Civil War (1642-1651) than during the First World War (1914-1918).

Was the regicide Cromwell (his 410th birthday is on April 29th) a tyrant or a hero? Were the Levellers/diggers - religious fanatics and/or early socialists or just aggressive soldiers grousing about the late payment of wages?

Levellers’ Day takes place at the actual site of the execution of three of the “mutineers” which was ordered by “Old Noll” himself in Burford Church graveyard.

Read the various links or make a visit on the day and make your own mind up.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

John
I am afraid to say Cromwell was no hero or freedom fighter for democracy. He murdered and tortured many innocent people during and before his dreadful reign ended.He disbanded parliament at will when he was Lord Protector, he didnt agree with its decisions (ironic really given that he fought Charles 1st on such a position of a free parliament) I wouldnt celebrate anything to with Cromwell who I consider to be a murdering dictator.As far as Levellers day goes its a good excuse for a few beers and an historical chat, probably attended by folks from the Parliamentary side of the sealed knot!

ian said...

Cromwell was all those things but Britain changed forever ddue the this revolution. It was a revolution by the way.

Also Charles 1st was equally a murdering dictator and tyrant who ruled without parliament. That why the people revolted.

Anonymous said...

Dont forget the Diggers
at St George's Hill, Walton upon Thames (Kingston)1649

up the sea green blades

Anonymous said...

And of course all the Monarch (French and German) were as murderous as Cornwell. At least he wasn't a hereditary ruler. The French revolution had the right ideas about the monarchy!

Jesmi said...

I wouldnt celebrate anything to with Cromwell who I consider to be a murdering dictator.As far as Levellers day goes its a good excuse for a few beers and an historical chat, probably attended by folks from the Parliamentary side of the sealed knot!

Anonymous said...

Cromwell was a murderer and slaughtered and tortured many innocent people within Britains protectorate and especially Ireland where he committed carnage upon the population.The Lord Protector protected nobody but his "revolution" at a terrible cost.I agree Britain was changed after the regicide of Charles 1st however his son Charles 2nd was soon restored and we have had a monarchy to this day. Monarchy (anon 3)isnt perfect but we have plenty of rotten republics headed by rancid president dictators aka Robert Mugabe!Finally for historical accuracy Ian there were equal numbers of ordinary folk who gave their lives for Charles 1st and defended him, both sides had terrible losses, indeed like John correctly said the losses were the largest ever in Britains history given the size of the population at the time.All wars are tragic events but civil wars (as once written) are wars "without an enemy"

ian said...

For historical accuracy Anon, people didnt wake up one day and find themselves in a civil war!The abuses of the tyrant Charles 1st had been going on for a long time before as a continuation of the tyranny of his father James 1st.

Yes the monarchy was eventually restored but in a diluted form which eventually became the waste of money we see today.

Anonymous said...

John
I see Ian just continues his hatred of the monarchy and Charles 1st. I suggest he stops reading his ladybird book of the english civil war and take up some some serious reading of that era of history.The monarchy has survived a very long time and dont need lessons in being a waste of money. Murder and torture are alive and well in republics run by the likes of Mugabe in charge today! Large numbers of ordinary folk and supporters died in support of Charles 1st, Cromwell's experiment in a republic was a disaster both in human cost and financial cost. The only dilution is your historical knowledge of the Civil War!

John Gray said...

Hi Everyone
I think there is truth in all your contributions though that the execution of a King and replacement by a republic (of sorts) did send shock waves all over Europe and helped changed the world. That the republic turned against its early ideals and repressed its supporters is also illuminating...

there I say nuf said?