John Lilburne (1615-1657), known as "Free-born John," was an English political activist and pamphleteer. He was a radical Puritan in the forefront of the Leveller movement against established institutions and in favor of egalitarian democracy.

John Lilburne grew up in Durham in the North Country, close to Scottish reformist influences. At an early age he was undoubtedly impressed by scenes of the suppression of Puritan preachers who attacked the doctrine and ceremonies of the Church of England as being too popish. While still in his teens he moved to London, where he was an apprentice to a cloth merchant until 1637. In 1638 he was tried and convicted in the Court of Star Chamber for printing and circulating scurrilous literature. He was whipped, pilloried, and then imprisoned until released by the sympathetic Long Parliament in 1641. This marked the beginning of a long career of persecution and imprisonment.

Lilburne served the...