So today is St. George's Day, once a prominent day for Englishmen. It is so strange that Englishmen would have embraced a man likely who was born in present day Turkey, who was a soldier in the Roman army and who was deemed a saint by the Romanists with their prelacy and popery.Even the Saint George's flag, with its white field and red cross, which forms a constituent part of the Union Jack, was the flag of the maritime Republic of Genoa. Richard I paid the Genoese to protect English merchant ships sailing through the Mediterranean. Presumably, the Genoese flew the flag from the flag masts atop the English ships.
The Greatest Englishman
The names of Englishmen Winston Churchill, Oliver Cromwell, Isaac Newton and William Shakespeare usually top those heralded as the 100 Greatest British of all-time, but such a listing includes Scots and Welshmen; and of the foregoing names, only Churchill and Cromwell were leaders.
Perhaps the greatest Englishmen is Freeborn John Lilburne. Born sometime in 1614, Freeborn John as he was known is the leading light of authentic progress for Englishmen and mankind — the ascent of the individual and his property (right of ownership).
Lilburne suffered greatly at the hands of government in his struggle to free all Englishmen. On 11 December 1637, the King's men arrested Lilburne for printing and circulating unlicensed books. Facing prosecution before the Star Chamber court, Lilburne refused to incriminate himself. The court sentenced Filburne to whippings, the pillory and imprisonment until he would relent.
Lilburne became a solider for the the Parliamentary army in the First English Civil War. And though a Puritan and thus Protestant against popery and prelacy, Lilburne championed both freedom of religion and freedom of speech as he pushed against legalizing Presbyterianism.
Not only did Lilburne champion his freeborn rights, but also, Lilburne championed suffrage, equality before the law, and religious tolerance. During 1645, Lilburne suffered imprisonment for denouncing Members of Parliament and their lives comfort while soldiers died fighting for the Parliamentary cause.
Based on an earlier work titled, An Agreement of the People, Lilburne along with William Walwyn, Thomas Prince and Richard Overton wrote An Agreement of the Free People of England, which they intended to be a written constitution for the Commonwealth of England.
Beginning in 1644, Lilburne advocated for the end of trade restraints imposed by legalized monopolists in the industries of cloth trade and soap manufacturing.
Other Great Englishmen
Though many names could make anyone's list of great Englishmen, the greatest Englishmen are those who pushed the cause of freedom and individualism. One such man was John Wycliffe, the great dissent who challenged the Roman Catholic Church with his Middle English translations of the Bible in 1382, personally translating the gospels into Wycliffe's Bible.
Though not taken seriously during his lifetime, John Locke and his Two Treatises of Government, a work advocating political legitimacy resting upon consent by individuals who comprise the body politik, Locke's work greatly influenced the English colonials including Thomas Jefferson as expressed in his work the Declaration of Independence.
Of course, the English today would not consider these men as Englishmen, but in their days, though born in English colonies, they were Englishmen. As Englishmen, greatly they advanced the cause of liberty: Thomas Hooker, James Otis, Samuel Adams, Thomas Jefferson.
Freeborn John Lilburne Day
The day Englishmen should celebrate is Freeborn John Lilburne Day. That should be held every April 18th upon the anniversary of the day in which Lilburne endured much torture.
Sadly, as a people become ever further detached from their history, a people become ever easier to be manipulated by those currently in power. Such is the case for Englishmen and all British. So too is it the case of Americans and 14th Amendment U.S. citizens.
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