Diggers (True Levellers)

Christian dissenters who serve as the early forerunners of modern anarchism and socialism

1649 - 1650

In 1649, England was a place of political turmoil and high food prices. Therefore, a small group of about 20 declared the government should be overthrown and the land should be held in common. Energized by this conviction, they set up communities around England and cultivated food on common land to symbolize the classless society that they tried to create. Although local authorities quickly stopped the movement, their influence spread far and wide and became the forerunners of modern anarchism.

Religion: Christianity

Denomination: English Dissenters

Founder: Gerrard Winstanley

Founded: 1649

Ended: 1650

Location: Southern and Central England

Also called: True Levellers

Anarchist

Promoted and tried to institute a classless society (source)
Advocated the overthrow of the monarchy (source)
Winstanley claimed that the king was the antichrist, and those who followed him had the mark of the beast (source p. 103)
Protested courts, tithes, customs, and taxes (source p. 103)

Persecuted

Opponents burned down their shelters and destroyed their crops (source)

Renunciation of Private Property

Practiced agrarian communism (source)
Advocated for a redistribution of private property, which would benefit the poor (source)
Cultivated common land on St. George's hill in 1649-50 (source)
Seized land, believing that it should be held in common, and thought this would allow them to create a classless society (source)

Other info:

Several songs and other forms of art have been created in support of this sect (source, source)

Other tags:

Communal

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