1/13/2014

The Story Of Richard Overton

By Marissa Velazquez


Richard Overton was born in England in 1599 during the first English civil war. He studied in Cambridge at the college of queen where he performed as playwright. He had also done some acting in his early childhood and it was through this job that he came to learn about levelers becoming a sympathizer himself. He lived a very mysterious life and passed away at the age of sixty five years.

He formed a party with three other members and they called themselves the levelers. This was a group formed with the aim of ending the monarchy which they felt was archaic. They were so much against it because they had their own views which they wanted heard. They felt that if their ideas were implemented, the world would be revolutionized. They wanted court trials to include the jury which was not the case. Censor ships had been placed on the media and all forms of printed material. Overton though went ahead to print pamphlets so as to push for the end of the monarchy.

Overton was a Christian but he felt the need to belong to a certain church but he was not quite decided on which one it would be. The pamphlets he had distributed contained details about how different churches held their spiritual affairs. Some of his articles also had some negative information about the Catholic Church and the Church of England. Apart from the articles, he also held debates about church reforms.

Overton felt the urge to gain more knowledge about Christianity and therefore studied the bible thoroughly. In his search for a church, he landed at the General Baptism church and was dedicated there. The teachings from this church were so different from what was taught in other churches and he found this very contradictory.

The message taught by most churches was that when a person died, his soul departed the body but remained alive. Richard opposed this saying that it was not just the body that died but the soul as well. He believed that both the body and soul resurrected together on judgment day. This led to disagreements with the church.

Richard felt that each person was equal to their neighbor and so he pushed for equality in the government. The government was keen and observed him closely so as to understand why he was always opposing many things so much. The articles he had published made him popular among his people and he was gaining followers. Due to this, the government was not very happy and this led to his arrest twice where he ended up in jail both times.

It was after these kinds of trouble with the government that he fled to Flanders. He was a man of good character and the previous popularity in his country did not change this. Just like he pushed for equality among all, he also practiced it and was a good role model who people could emulate.

Richard Overton was also a very bright student while in school and performed particularly very well in English and mathematics. They government may not have loved him but this did not stop the people around from loving him. He was a man who always made others laugh and even loved to read his own publications because he thought they were funny.




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