Page "Gerrard Winstanley" Paragraph 3

There were many factions at work during the period of the three related English civil wars.

They included the Royalists, who supported King Charles I ; the Parliamentary forces, called " Roundheads ," who later emerged under the name of the New Model Army led by Oliver Cromwell ; the Fifth Monarchy Men, who believed in the establishment of a heavenly theocracy on earth to be led by a returning Jesus as king of kings and lord of lords ; the Agitators for political egalitarian reform of government, who were branded " Levellers " by their foes and who were led by John Lilburne ; and the Christian communists, who called themselves the True Levellers for their beliefs but who were branded " Diggers " because of their actions.

The latter were led by Gerrard Winstanley.

Whereas Lilburne sought to level the laws and maintain the right to the ownership of real property, Winstanley sought to level the ownership of real property itself, which is why Winstanley's followers called themselves " True Levellers ".