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The Levellers were a political movement during the English Civil War that emphasised popular sovereignty, extended suffrage, common land ownership, equality before the law, and religious tolerance, all of which were expressed in the manifesto "Agreement of the People". They came to prominence at the end of the First English Civil War and were most influential before the start of the Second Civil War. Leveller views and support were found in the populace of the City of London and in some regiments in the New Model Army. The Levellers were not a political party in the modern sense of the word; they did not all conform to a specific manifesto. They were organised at the national level, with offices in a number of London inns and taverns such as The Rosemary Branch in Islington, which got its name from the sprigs of rosemary that Levellers wore in their hats as a sign of identification. From July 1648 to September 1649, they published a newspaper, ''The Moderate'',〔Howell & Brewster, ''Reconsidering the Levellers: The Evidence of the Moderate'' Past & Present No. 46, September 1970 pp. 68-86〕 and were pioneers in the use of petitions and pamphleteering to political ends. They identified themselves by sea-green ribbons worn on their clothing. After Pride's Purge and the execution of Charles I, power lay in the hands of the Grandees in the Army (and to a lesser extent with the Rump Parliament). The Levellers, along with all other opposition groups, were marginalised by those in power and their influence waned. By 1650, they were no longer a serious threat to the established order. ==Origin of name== The term "leveller" had been used in 17th-century England as a term of abuse for rural rebels. In the Midland Revolt of 1607, the name was used to refer to those who levelled hedges in enclosure riots.〔Perez Zagorin (1982). ''Rebels and Rulers, 1500–1660. Volume II Provincial rebellion. Revolutionary civil wars'', Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-521-28712-X. (p. 164 )〕〔Whitney Richard David Jones (2000). ''The Tree of Commonwealth, 1450–1793'', Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press, ISBN 0-8386-3837-6. pp. (133 ),(164 )〕 As a political movement, the term first referred to a faction of New Model Army Agitators and their London supporters who were allegedly plotting to assassinate Charles I of England. But the term was gradually attached to John Lilburne, Richard Overton, and William Walwyn and their "faction". Books published in 1647–1648 often reflect this terminological uncertainty. The public "identification" was largely due to the aspersions by Marchamont Needham, the author of the newspaper ''Mercurius Pragmaticus''. Lilburne, John Wildman and Richard Baxter later thought that Oliver Cromwell and Henry Ireton had applied the term to Lilburne's group during the Putney Debates of late 1647.〔Mendle (2001), Chapter by Blair Worden, "The Levellers in History and Memory c.1660–1960" p.282〕 Lilburne considered the term pejorative and called his supporters "Levellers so-called" and preferred "Agitators". The term suggested that the "Levellers" aimed to bring all down to the lowest common level. The leaders vehemently denied the charge of "levelling", but adopted the name because it was how they were known to the majority of people. After their arrest and imprisonment in 1649, four of the "Leveller" leaders – Walwyn, Overton, Lilburne and Thomas Prince – signed a manifesto in which they called themselves Levellers. The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' dates the first written use of the term for a political movement to 1644,〔''OED'', s.v. "Leveller": "1644 NEEDHAM ''Case Commw. 77'' Our Levellers now exclaim against the Parliament".〕 but the source cited there, Marchamont Needham's pamphlet ''The Case for the Commonwealth of England Stated'', dates from 1650.〔Nedham, Marchamont, Knache, Philip A (1969). ''The Case of the Commonwealth of England, Stated'', Associated University Press, ISBN 0-8139-0277-0, ISBN 978-0-8139-0277-7. (p. ix )〕 The term was used in a letter of 1 November 1647. The 19th-century historian S. R. Gardiner suggested that it existed as a nickname before this date.〔Gardiner, ''Great Civil War'', iii. 380.〕 Blair Worden, the most recent historian to publish on the subject, concluded that the 1 November letter was the first recorded use of the term.〔Mendle (2001), Chapter by Blair Worden, "The Levellers in History and Memory c.1660–1960" pp. 280–282〕 The letter referred to extremists among the Army agitators: "They have given themselves a new name, viz. Levellers, for they intend to sett all things straight, and rayse a parity and community in the kingdom".〔''"Levellers"'' article in the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition ()〕 Worden shows that the term first appeared in print in a book by Charles I called ''His Majesties Most Gracious Declaration''. This tract was a printing of a letter that had been read in the House of Lords on 11 November 1647. Although George Thomason did not date this tract, the last date internal to the document was Saturday 13 November 1647, suggesting a publication date of 15 November 1647.〔British Library Thomason Collection E413(15)〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「levellers」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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