Lilburne, John (c. 1614–1657)

English republican agitator. He was imprisoned 1638–40 for circulating Puritan pamphlets, fought in the Parliamentary army in the English Civil War, and by his advocacy of a democratic republic won the leadership of the Levellers, the democratic party in the Civil War.

In 1640 Oliver Cromwell made a speech in favour of Lilburne to get him released, and in 1641, Lilburne received an indemnity of £3,000. He rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel in the army, but resigned in 1645 because of the number of Presbyterians. In 1647 he was put in the Tower of London for accusations against Cromwell. He was banished in 1652 and arrested again on his return in 1653. He was acquitted, but still imprisoned until 1655 for ‘the peace of the nation’.