The Conceptions of Revolution in Two Puritan Political Movements of Seventeenth-Century England. Secular Appeal to the Ancients or Divine Justification?

Abstract

This paper aims to study the conceptualization of revolution within two groups associated with Puritanism during the English Revolution of the seventeenth century, known as levellers and diggers. The focus of the analysis will be on the ideas they put forth to justify the overthrow of the Stuart regime, which would result in the proposal of a political system considered to be the only rational and just. To this end, it will be examined in particular whether the appeal to texts from Latin antiquity or the interpretation of biblical passages played a more predominant role in their theories. Within this framework, the paper will contribute to the discussions on the processes of secularization in Early Modernity. The hypothesis to be upheld is that, although the political propositions of the members of these groups have clear connections with modern ideas, their origin is not to be found in the influence of secular thought associated with the reading of authors from the pagan antiquity, but rather in a particular interpretation of the Bible. This will show how some modern political conceptualizations emerge not as a break with the medieval theological world, but rather as a product of an interpretative variation of Christian theology.