An interesting development is J.C Davies theory that the Ranters were a “Percieved phenomenon” with the idea that they were an invention of the authorities in the aim of quelling radicalism by presenting the dangers. This suggested fabrication implies that radical thought posed enough risk to try and socially condition the population through lies in the hope that they’re loyalty would then lie with the Church and state, rather than Radical minorities.
Many groups emerged from this period, ranging from Baptists who practiced a variation of Protestant beliefs to the Fifth Monarchists who believed the monarchy preceded the Bible, and that the Civil was the birth of a new age in history. Again they interpreted their ideas from religion, believing that The Four Monarchies would rule the earth, Charles being the fourth followed by God as the fifth. Led by Major-General George Harrison they had a significant influence both on Cromwell, in the Army, and more importantly the Nominated Assembly, which Cromwell later referred to as “a story of my own weakness and folly” in its arguable failure. One of the largest movements, numbering 50,00 was the Quakers. Its supporters believed that faith could only be attained through personal experience, “God within them”, this “rejected earthly authority, both state and Church”(Lynch), believing God was entitled to command men. Therefore any other authority, be it religious, political or social need not be obeyed. This led to them “often expressing their beliefs with a vigorous disregard for property”; refusing to pay tithes and often disrupting church services The most notable of all was over 2000 members being tried during the Interregnum as well as the Naylor case. Lynch calls them “the most socially dangerous of all the radical groups”, through disobeying fundamental laws of theft and more importantly, publicly mocking other religions, and disobeying Cromwell’s “Liberty of conscience”. The Quakers alongside other radical sects often came into conflict with the new establishment, however it should be made clear that it was the National religions which were more to blame for the creation of the Civil wars, when compared to religious minorities, which bloomed in its aftermath.
The intellectual and political movement called the Levellers emerged in 1645-46 towards the latter end of the first English Civil War. Led by John Lilburne they believed that everyone was bourn “equal in majesty”; and thus in a “levelled” society. In their rejection of inequality, they believed in “The basic principal that sovereignty lay not with parliament but the people”. This challenged civic and social order furthermore, with support both among the population and roughly 800 in the army, they posed a serious threat to Cromwell’s power. Radical thinking within the army was a fear for Cromwell due to his strong reliance upon it. This culminated in what D. Underdown calls “the Levellers final defeat at Burford”, where Cromwell swiftly quells a number of small army revolts, however Austin Woolrych claims “The Levellers were in fact a precociously well organised pressure group, rather than a revolutionary movement”. Many historians doubt the degree of threat the Levellers posed. This is backed through Underdown’s belief that,” only in London and the home counties... was there any effective civilian movement”. Moreover by 1649 Army back payments were settled, harvests had improved resulting in the movement dieing out. Therefore it seems that many radical ideas and movements never took hold, however the possibility was enough to try and remove them.
Another new movement emerging from this period were the “True Levellers” otherwise mockingly known as the Diggers. With ideas of equality, community and “true religion for all” they maintained that land was “ a common treasury”, challenging laws of ownership. This led to Lynch’s interesting theory that “ In an exact sense they were communists”, suggesting that here may lay the original seeds that led to later communism. Their views derived from a combination of the bible and ancient history, which were put into practice through communes, the most famous being on St Georges hill. Their numbers never rose above a few hundred, however they quickly earned a reputation of being “Drunk on the Bible” creating much “Yellow Press” dramatising their actions. This culminated in the removal of their leader Winstanly, and 50 followers from what was later known as Georges hill as a result of them living there. Like the Levellers and many other radical sects, although extreme they were never truly established, nor sufficiently big enough to amount to a direct threat to government, and therefore most likely never intended to overthrow it. Nevertheless the Quaker movement, although much changed still survives today, and retains principals of “true peace” through inner light that was first heard form Winstanly.
Although Cromwell did not think the Presbyterians as radical, their significance is evident. The Presbyterian aspiration to abolish Bishops directly challenged the traditional, highericical structure of the church. The belief that “members of each parish would elect their own priest or minister” tested the arterial route of influence and communication to and with the population. This culminated in divisions among Parliament between Independents and Presbyterians resulting in the Army’s refusal to disband and “Cromwell’s hopes if reconciling the two sides” (lynch). This was to have major consequences from Cromwell, forcing him to choose between Parliament and the Army.
Michel Lynch states “Cromwell…held..that the root cause of the civil wars had been religious division”. The New Model Amy was a solid base for many “radical” beliefs to be expressed through, one of which is arguably Cromwell’s four fundamentals, including religious toleration. Support came mostly from those who fort alongside Cromwell, mainly composed of the lower classes of feudal society, with similar back-rounds to Cromwell. He inspired many, creating a force which believed in what the fought for. This gave Cromwell a new loyalty, which he later relied on in trying to implement “liberty of conscience”. Cromwell’s Liberty of conscience created a stable and safe base to which many radical groups attached and protected themselves with. As Cromwell states “What greater hypocrisy than for those who were oppressed ..to become the greatest oppressors themselves”. This led to a trail of radical preachers following the Army wherever it went, implementing these ideas on what many historians believe to be an impressionable Army, who became caught in a vice between radicalism, and Parliament.
Radical can be defined in terms of fundamental and extreme change, relative to the context of the time. Radical thinking was a threat to the authorities, even if it was not implemented. Groups such as the Diggers threatened the higher levels of the feudal system, as they wanted to abolish laws of ownership, questioning Landowners and established feudal power. The Ranters threatened the concept of sin, ripping apart the populations fabric on which traditional morality and life was woven from, furthermore the state method of communication. All the radical movements threatened both religion and state, arguably more through their ideas then actions.
Therefore significance can be defined by the, impact and consequences of radical thought and attitude. Groups such as the Levellers and Diggers died out relatively quickly, not having either the time or power to truly establish themselves. Others returned to the privacy of closed doors after the return of the monarchy. David Underdown describes the impact of the Interregnum period as “ a intellectual eruption (which) touched only a small minority-most continued to accept the reiterated message of higherical order to hanker not for religious liberty, but for the comfortable certainties of the old regime”. Therefore what can be said is that this period of experimentation was not met with open arms nor did it become established, however ideas such as those of the Diggers resurfaced in both the Russian and French civil wars. Furthermore it was the precursor to early democracy and constitutional Monarchy, on which today’s boundaries are based on.
