Medieval and Early Modern Peasant Revolts(See Hunt et al., pp. 421-2, 467)
JacquerieNWFrance,1358Afterfamine and Black Death, during ravages of Hundred Years’ War amongEngland,France, andBurgundy. StartingMay 21, 1358, peasants in NW France rebelled against higher taxes (chronicler Froissart) and some Parisians led byEstienneMarcel also rebelled at same time.Destruction of some records of peasant obligations.ByJune 24, 1358, after a month of violence, nobles killed 20,000 peasants despite labor shortage. By July 31, urban revolt suppressed also.
Causes: 1358 French losing againstEnglandin war. (battleskeep resuming from 1337-1453) In first stage,EnglandbeatFranceatCrécyandPoitiers, and captured King John. French were gathering ransom, and by 1359 King John ofFrancehad to surrender 1/3 his kingdom.
Englisharmy, as well as some French knights, wereravaging peasants and countryside instead of protecting peasants.
Taxesraisedto protect Dauphin Charles of Navarre against opposition inParis. Peasants resented tax burden.
Froissart’sdescription of peasant uprising created stereotypes.“JacquesBonhomme” (Jack Good Man)slang negative name for any peasant..Historical interest from Marxist historians---see class warfare against nobility by both peasants and urban dwellers.
1381 John Ball, peasant priest, arouses revolt inSE England.Preached equality of all, confiscation of church lands.WatTylermarched onLondon, plundering mansions to release Ball from prison. Tylerslain,and Ball hung.
German Peasants’ Revolt, 1525
Russian Marxist and Chinese Marxist historians found topic especially inspiring.Peasants inspired by Luther’s rebellion against Catholic hierarchy, but interpret Luther’s words differently. Equality of lay and priest implies equality of goods.Peasants were seeking relief from burdens of their feudal lords. Twelve Articles of the Peasants” 1525 ask for relief from serfdom on bases of Gospels, revolt against Lords and try to reform church more racially than Luther.Luther wrote encouraged Protestant, as well as Catholic, princes to suppress the revolt, and it was suppressed.
Medieval Bifurcated Stereotypes—for women, Eve or Mary.For peasants, either barbaric peasant in revolt or idyllic peasant community dancing.
Medieval nobles either focused on “peasant revolt”—stereotype of barbarity fromFroissart, or they imagined the happy peasant, best expressed in the imageofthegentle, dancing peasantry.