In seventeenth-century England, petitioning was one of the few opportunities for people at every level of society to make their voices heard by those in power.
As a result, petitions became the ubiquitous means by which groups such as the Levellers sought to radically change the government and the organisation of religion in England, through carefully crafted submissions signed by thousands of supporters.
At the same time, individuals or small groups used petitions to seek the relief or redress which would improve their lives.
So these petitions, big or small, offer unique windows into the lives, concerns and thinking of people across society. Including the voices of women which are rarely heard at this time.
Today these voices are being revealed in a fascinating research project – The Power of Petitioning in Seventeenth-Century England – funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council.
In this programme, the principal investigator Dr Brodie Waddell tells publisher Mike Gibbs how petitions gave people the power to change not only their own lives but the England in which they lived.
