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"... Every May [UK Labor Day], trade unionists, socialist politicians like John McDonnell MP, and associated organizations gather in the sleepy village of Burford in Oxfordshire to celebrate Levellers’ Day. There are banners, speakers, the Internationale, a “community group workshop on biodiversity,” and other festivities aimed at preserving the memory of a 17th century political movement known as the Levellers, whom the celebrants praise for “their wish to abolish property rights and develop an equalisation of wealth.” ...
An exemplar is probably the man most associated with the term Leveller during his lifetime, John Lilburne [1614-1657], or Free-Born John. ...
Lilburne was at first a champion of religious liberty, publishing and importing unlicensed Puritan tracts. This brought him to the attention of the Attorney-General, who in 1637 prosecuted him in the Star Chamber for unlawful printing and publishing of “Libellous and Seditious books.” The Star Chamber required all those before it to take an “ex officio oath” to swear to answer all question put to them, before knowing the charges. Lilburne refused to take the oath.
He based his objection on Clause 39 of Magna Carta, the “nullus liber homo” clause that states that no free man can be stripped of his liberties unless by the law of the land. He argued that a secret oath that leads to self-incrimination was illegal, and that freedom from such abusive processes was the birthright of all Englishmen, basing his arguments on earlier work by Sir Edward Coke. This led to his moniker, Free-Born John. The Star Chamber ordered him whipped and pilloried.
By his stance, Lilburne started a movement that demanded what we would now call due process or natural justice. The legal process referred to in Magna Carta required protection against self-incrimination, notice of any charges, confrontation of accusers, trial by jury ... and freedom from arbitrary imprisonment, alongside the freedom of Englishmen to publish, speak, and follow their own religious conscience...."
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