649, three soldiers were executed on Oliver Cromwell's orders in Burford churchyard, Oxfordshire. They belonged to a movement popularly known as the Levellers, with beliefs in civil rights and religious tolerance.During the Civil War, the Levellers fought on Parliamentary side, they had at first seen Cromwell as a liberator, but now saw him as a dictator. They were prepared to fight against him for their ideals and he was determined to crush them.
Over 300 of them were captured by Cromwell troops and locked up in Burford church. Three were led out into the churchyard to be shot as ringleaders.
In 1975, members of the WEA Oxford Industrial Branch went to Burford to reclaim a piece of history that seemed to be missing from the school books. They held a meeting in remembrance of the Leveller soldiers.
The following year, Tony Benn came and read in the church and in each succeeding year, people have come to Burford on the Saturday nearest to 17 May, debated, held a procession, listened to music and remembered the Levellers and the importance of holding on to ideals of justice and democracy.
Hear and question the following speakers
DR. BRENDA BOARDMAN Environmental Change InstituteOxford University Centre for the Environment http://www.eci. ox.ac.uk/ people/boardmanb renda.php
DR. ANTHONY WEBSTERDepartment of Theory & ModellingUKAEA/Euratom Fusion Association, Culham Science Centrehttp://www.fusion. org.uk/ and
JOHN MALONEDevelopment DirectorEnergy4Allwww.energy4all. co.uk
Chaired byDENIS GREGORYInternational Labour and Trade Union Studies, Ruskin College, Oxfordwww.ruskin.ac. uk
Leading the churchyard ceremonyPROFESSOR CHRIS ROWLANDQueen's College, Oxford.http://resources. theology. ox.ac.uk/ staff.phtml? lecturer_ code=Crowland
In the afternoon TONY BENN and ROY BAILEY present THE WRITING ON THE WALL an anthology of dissent in words and music from the fourteenth to thetwenty-first century followed by entertainment fromTRACEY CURTIS www.traceycurtis.com
VALE ISLANDERS dancers and musicians who perform English country dances of the ordinary people of the seventeenth century in period costume, will appear in venues throughout Burford during the afternoon.http://www.vale- islanders. org.uk/
Hat tip Col. Roi. Check out previous post.
2 comments:
John
Cromwell murdered more people than just the levellers, he really was an utter tyrant and dictator.In the years he was the Lord Protector he slaughtered and tortured anybody who opposed his despotic rule.He caused a bloodbath in Ireland and butchered many innocent people in England too.Cromwell encouraged such vile people as Matthew Hopkins the so called Witchfiner General, who was a Sick sadistic sociopath and was supported by his rancid assistant John Stearne.They toured England killing alleged witches and were responsible for over 200 murders between 1645-46,Cromwell approved of such barbaric acts, that just about sums the man up!
Hi Anon
Sadly you are right. But by defeating the King (which was never a foregone conclusion) and executing him he did help destroy the myth of divine right.
This is important to the development of democracy.
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