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Just finished the book. Pretty incredible stuff.
The so-called Peasant's revolt wasn't a case of a bunch of illiterate dirt diggers attempting anarchy. It included many people that owned land, were skilled in trades, and knew how government worked. The revolt itself in the summer of 81 was heavily co-ordinated, with rebels tracking down crooked officials, court rolls, and legal documents, in order to obtain a somewhat "legitimate" change in the way things are done. They burned these documents in public ceremonies, imitating official practice, to drive that home. They also displayed the dismembered heads of their victims in public areas, again imitating official practice. Aside from burning legal documents they had new ones drawn up to guarantee their newly won freedoms.
The main goal seems to have been abolishing villeinage (common serfdom) itself, and crazy enough, they met with (14 year old) King Richard II at Mile End in person, and he gave his word that it would be done. The boy king also gave them official seals and banners, which they carried with them on their quest to root out traitors. The nobelmen and royal court later made him go back on his word, and there is some ambiguity as to whether he did so in the first place out of fear or because he genuinely wanted to help his people. There is evidence that he actually attempted to abolish villeinage again and was unable to, so who knows. During the revolt the rebel rallying cry emphasized allegiance to the king, and many of them thought they were acting with the king's blessings.
What led to the revolt was a number of factors. The Black Death had struck earlier in the century, killing off many landholders and leaving the survivors to consolidate resources. This worked out better for some (the church, noblemen, lords) than others (serfs, freemen), resulting in increased social stratification. There were a series of mis-managed wars that benefited not the commoners but the glory-seekers, war profiteers, mercenaries, The Realm, etc. Campaigns were mis-managed and taxes continued to be levied, at more and more unfair rates. A poll tax was enacted that was due from every person 14 or older. Tax collectors often abused their power and were targets of the rebels. It would be 600 years before another poll tax.
Interestingly we only know about the most famous rebels due to establishment propaganda written in order to defame them. Inspirational speeches from rebel martyrs at the gallows were invented by church officials in order to further the church's monopoly on spirituality. The rebellion was quickly suppressed and all gains granted by the king were revoked within months. The example of the rebels' religious heresy was used to justify hundreds of years of brutalization and oppression.
There are some amazing stories in here. One story has well-hated Chief Justice John Cavendish fleeing from rebels and coming upon a boat to make his escape when a woman named Katherine Gamen saw him coming and untied it, leaving him to the mercy of the mob. Another story has the corpses of rebels displayed hanging from a tree to serve as a warning to others. A good samaritan climbed the tree, cut them down, and gave them a proper burial. Official response was to force the townspeople to dig up the corpses and re-hang them. Insane.
It's basically Game of Thrones except it really happened.
― AdamVania (Adam Bruneau), Saturday, 19 March 2016 01:10 (eight years ago) link
six years pass...