BattlefieldsMidlands Rising — Cotesbach Levelling 1607
English Civil War

Midlands Rising — Cotesbach Levelling 1607

1607
England
Era
English Civil War
Battle Type
Pitched Battle
Location
England
Status
Unregistered
The Combatants

Who Fought

Forces
Not recorded in historical accounts
Forces
Crown authority
VS
Victor
Not recorded in historical accounts
Forces
Several hundred Levelling commons
Outcome
Enclosures at Cotesbach levelled; Quarles enclosures temporarily overthrown; later restored under crown authority
The Battle

History & Significance

Cotesbach in Leicestershire was a notorious enclosure case that became a particular focus of leveller anger in 1607. The landlord John Quarles had enclosed common fields and evicted tenants, making Cotesbach a symbol of agrarian injustice. Levelling gangs descended on the enclosures and began systematic destruction of hedges. The Cotesbach action was one of the best documented of the Midlands Rising.

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