Conflicting liberties. The English Debate from James I to James Harrington

Abstract

The political debate surrounding the English revolution shows how rich and complex is the scenery of the English liberties before “modern Liberty”. The ancient libertates of the Realm, the religious and commercial liberties, the liberty of the free states, and lastly the just freedom of Levellers and Diggers: all these perspectives intersect and conflict without finding any political or juridical synthesis. On the contrary, the gradual affirmation of the liberty of the moderns is accompanied by instances of political and social equality, with which it has to confront. Starting from the dispute on the “Norman Conquest” up to James Harrington’s Oceana, this contribution aims to highlight the extent to which the debate on liberties before “liberalism” was composite, conflictual and characterized by the persistence of instances of equality.