The Banbury mutiny was a mutiny

Mutiny

Mutiny is a conspiracy among members of a group of similarly situated individuals to openly oppose, change or overthrow an authority to which they are subject...

 by soldiers in the English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 New Model Army

New Model Army

The New Model Army of England was formed in 1645 by the Parliamentarians in the English Civil War, and was disbanded in 1660 after the Restoration...

. The mutineers did not achieve all of their aims and some of the leaders were executed shortly afterwards on 17 May 1649.

The mutiny was over pay and political demands. The pay issue was defused by Oliver Cromwell acknowledging the justice of the soldiers' financial grievances and securing £10,000 towards payment of arrears from Parliament. But 400 troopers under the command of Captain William Thompson who were sympathetic to the Levellers

Levellers

The Levellers were a political movement during the English Civil Wars which emphasised popular sovereignty, extended suffrage, equality before the law, and religious tolerance, all of which were expressed in the manifesto "Agreement of the People". They came to prominence at the end of the First...

 set off from Banbury

Banbury

Banbury is a market town and civil parish on the River Cherwell in the Cherwell District of Oxfordshire. It is northwest of London, southeast of Birmingham, south of Coventry and north northwest of the county town of Oxford...

, where they were billeted to speak with other regiments at Salisbury about their political demands.

Major White was sent by Cromwell and Thomas Fairfax

Thomas Fairfax, 3rd Lord Fairfax of Cameron

Thomas Fairfax, 3rd Lord Fairfax of Cameron was a general and parliamentary commander-in-chief during the English Civil War...

 to mediate with Thompson's troops and give assurances that force would not be used against them. However on 13 May Cromwell launched a night attack. Several mutineers were killed in the skirmish. Captain Thompson escaped only to be killed a few days later in another skirmish near the Diggers community at Wellingborough

Wellingborough

Wellingborough is a market town and borough in Northamptonshire, England, situated some from the county town of Northampton. The town is situated on the north side of the River Nene, most of the older town is sited on the flanks of the hills above the river's current flood plain...

. After being imprisoned in Burford Church with the other mutineers, three other leaders were shot: Cornet

Cornet (military rank)

Cornet was originally the third and lowest grade of commissioned officer in a British cavalry troop, after captain and lieutenant. A cornet is a new and junior officer.- Traditional duties :The cornet carried the troop standard, also known as a "cornet"....

 James Thompson (William Thompson's brother), Corporal Perkins and John Church on 17 May 1649. This destroyed the Levellers' power base in the New Model Army.

Levellers' Day

Each year since 1975, Levellers' Day has been held in the Oxfordshire town of Burford to commemorate the three Levellers executed there. A different theme is chosen for each Levellers' Day and speakers are invited to speak on the theme during the morning, this is followed by a procession around the town and a ceremony in the churchyard. In the afternoon there is music and other entertainment usually held in the garden of Warwick Hall which is next to the church. In 1979 a plaque to the three soldiers on the church wall was unveiled by Tony Benn

Tony Benn

Anthony Neil Wedgwood "Tony" Benn, PC is a British Labour Party politician and a former MP and Cabinet Minister.His successful campaign to renounce his hereditary peerage was instrumental in the creation of the Peerage Act 1963...

 to commemorate the event.

See also

• The English Civil War
  English Civil War
  The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
  
  
• The Putney Debates
  Putney Debates
  The Putney Debates were a series of discussions between members of the New Model Army – a number of the participants being Levellers – concerning the makeup of a new constitution for England....
  
  
• The Corkbush Field mutiny
  Corkbush Field mutiny
  The Corkbush Field Mutiny, also known as the Ware Mutiny occurred on 15 November 1647, during the early stages of the Second English Civil War at the Corkbush Field rendezvous, when soldiers were ordered to sign a declaration of loyalty to Thomas Fairfax, the commander-in-chief of the New Model...
  
   November 1647
• The Bishopsgate mutiny
  Bishopsgate mutiny
  The Bishopsgate mutiny occurred in April 1649 when soldiers of Colonel Edward Whalley's regiment of the New Model Army refused to obey orders and leave London. At the end of the mutiny one soldier, a supporter of the Levellers, Robert Lockyer, was executed by firing squad.In January 1649 Charles I...
  
  April 1649

Further reading

Cites: .