"Eutopians" and the Thirty Years’ War

In the late 16th century, people across Europe were reconceptualizing society and slowly struggling toward the rights of man in the face of authoritarian states. “Eutopians” of the late 16th century were promoting utopias of their own design, places in society where they thought they had gotten rid of all the problems of normal society. Historian Jacques Barzun referred to them as "Eutopians" because, etymologically, "utopian" literally means "no place" and "eutopian" would etymologically mean "good place." That’s what they were going for. Because the sixteenth century was the Age of Discovery, free thinkers were learning about strange societies around the world and a lot of them thought that they had the idea for a perfect society. 

At the same time as people were rethinking society, the Thirty Years’ War in the Holy Roman Empire was caused by religion, concerns about the balance of power, and disagreements over who would rule Europe. It finally ended with the Peace of Westphalia, a series of religious treaties. If the ruler of the area you were in had a different religion than you, you could practice your religion during set hours of the day and whenever you wanted in private.

The English were having a similar problem.  The First English Civil War was about concerns over the balance of power between Parliament and Charles I. In response to the struggle, theLevellers were the first systematic libertarian movement.  They believed in property rights, contract rights, and religious tolerance. Natural law ruled.  One standard of right vs wrong.