Gerrard Winstanley. Political Pamphlets. Texts translated and introduced by Laurent Curelly & Mickaël Popelard

The aim of this book is to bring to light one of the most fruitful and original schools of thought to emerge from the English Revolution of the mid-17th century, which led to the execution of King Charles I and the abolition of the monarchy, followed by the establishment of a republic that very soon took on the characteristics of an oligarchic regime. A London merchant, Gerrard Winstanley became one of the leaders of the Diggers, members of a small colony that settled on common land in Surrey in 1649, the year of the regicide and the establishment of the republic. The Diggers thus experimented with a form of agrarian communism. They were hounded by local landowners and the republican authorities, who feared that practices they deemed seditious would spread throughout the country. The Diggers also faced setbacks in the courts as legal proceedings were brought against them. The small colony was dispersed a year after its establishment.

The existence of the Diggers’ colony was accompanied by the writing and circulation of pamphlets, some of which were collective works whilst others bore the sole authorship of Gerrard Winstanley. Advocating the communal ownership of property and imbued with Christian mysticism, Winstanley’s thinking permeates all the Diggers’ writings, which form the basis of this volume – these are translations previously unpublished in French. French-speaking readers can now access texts that develop a bold ‘proto-communist’ philosophy. In his political writings, Winstanley expresses his aversion to the feudal structures governing land ownership and campaigns for their abolition so that a community of property inspired by the early Christian Church might emerge. He also sets out his distrust of religious formalism in favour of a millenarian mysticism. More prosaically, he recounts the difficulties and indignities faced by the small colony and, in particular, the repression it endured.

Far from being detached, these texts offer a glimpse into a facet of the political and social history characteristic of the English Revolution of the early 17th century: in them, we hear the dissenting voices of marginalised individuals challenging various authorities in the country; we see ordinary people making use of the means of expression and protest provided by cheap and ephemeral writings, particularly pamphlets and petitions; we discover a richly diverse sectarian landscape, with the Diggers coexisting alongside other ‘radical’ groups and striving to distinguish themselves from them in order to better promote their ideas and agenda; finally, we read of the dashed hopes arising from an unfulfilled revolution. These texts resonate with many current debates fuelled by shared concerns, such as those relating to popular uprisings and movements, or those concerning the concepts of property and the commons, as illustrated by the various land occupation campaigns led by the ‘Zadists’.

CONTENTS

Introduction
Declaration of the Poor Oppressed People of England
Letter to Lord Fairfax and his War Council
Appeal to the House of Commons
Warning to the City of London and the Army
Memorial to Parliament and the Army
The Spirit of England Unveiled
Defence of the Diggers
Appeal to All Englishmen
Humble Petition Addressed to the Doctors of the Two Universities

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