ABSTRACT
In June 1646, in prison in Newgate, John Lilburne praised his supportive wife, Elizabeth, whose petition to the House of Commons clearly demonstrated the illegality of his treatment. Elizabeth deserved 'exceeding commendations in so close following her husbands business, in his great captivity, with such resolution, wisdom and courage as she doth, whose practice herein may be a leading, just and commendable precedent for all the wives in England that love their husbands, and are willing to stand by them in the day of their trial'. The practical defiance and determined petitioning of Elizabeth Lilburne and other Leveller wives were thus presented within a broader context of harmonious households where women played key but ultimately secondary roles. The Levellers as a movement were defeated over the course of 1649, but London radicals, women and men, rallied to the defence of John Lilburne in the summer of 1653, when he was tried and imprisoned following his unauthorised return from exile.
