The year was 1647. The fighting of the first Civil War was over, Parliament was victorious and the King was a prisoner. Since March, almost the entire New Model Army, more than 21,000 men, were billeted across a wide area around Saffron Walden pending disbandment. Their General, Sir Thomas Fairfax had established his headquarters in Saffron Walden but the soldiers were becoming increasingly restless, as Parliament refused to pay them their substanial pay arrears and made plans to send more than half of the Army to Ireland.

The soldiers were reluctant to take part in the Irish campaign, preferring to return home to their families. They were also keen to ensure Parliament would grant them indemnity for any crimes they may have committed during the Civil War, and set out their concerns in a series of pamplets and petitions.

The Prebyterian dominated parliament was furious at the soldiers calling them "enemies of the state" and forbidding them the right to Petition. In April the soldiers who were becoming increasingly radicalised took the unprecedented step of forming soldiers' councils with two elected represenatives from each regiment, who they called "Agitators". One of their first demands was that the officers should be elected by the ranks, and to indicate their support for this democratic movement, many of the soldiers wore red ribbons attached to their clothes.

They set out their demands in a letter headed The Apologie of the Common Soldiers reported to the House of Commons on 30 April, and published as a clandestinely printed pamphlet on the 3 May. The Apologie demanded withdrawal of the charge that the soldiers were "enemies of the State" and attacked the proposals for disbandment. Repeating the request for arrears of pay, and support for widows, orphans and the disabled, it also stated that the army would not serve in Ireland "until our just desires be granted".

The growing Leveller influence in the army can be detected in the statement that the soldiers saw their "liberties as Englishmen are 10,000 times more important than our arrears of pay".

The Apologie had been read to each troop and subscribed to on the spot, whereafter each troop retained its own copy. It was signed by 16 troopers, two for each regiment, who described themselves as "agitating in behalf of their several regiments". Three troopers, Edward Sexby, William Allen and Thomas Shepherd, who had openly signed the letter were summoned to Parliament for interrogation, but aware of the danger they faced, they gave little away about the manner in which The Apologie was composed, defiantly maintining that it was a joint effort by several regiments.

Concerned at the mutinous state of the Army, Parliament instructed three commissioners, including Oliver Cromwell, to journey to Saffron Walden to inform the Army of Parliament's intentions and to assess the level of unrest. In May a series of meetings and debates were held in St Mary's Church culminating in a two-day debate on 15 & 16 May during which the soldiers' grievances were discussed.

Shortly after the debates the Agitators hatched a plot to seize control of a munitions store in Oxford, and despatched 1,000 men to complete the task. Within days these men, under the command of Cornet Joyce went on to seize the King, preventing him from entering into an alliance with the Presbyterians in Parliament. Charles was already detained by a parliamentary guard at Holdenby.

Between the plan and the seizure of the King, the New Model Army left Saffron Walden and set up a new HQ at Bury St Edmunds. Army HQ was moved frequently over the next few weeks, to Royston, Newmarket and St Ives until August when the New Model Army marched on London to quell a royalist rebellion.

In London the soldiers organised a series of famous debates in Putney Church when heady ideas of democracy were discussed. Ideas that first stirred among the ordinary soldiers billeted in and around Saffron Walden - the "cradle" of English democracy.