Pheasant+Uprising



The harsh demands that medieval landlords and kings made on their peasants and villagers were a source of discontent that sometimes led to open rebellion. These rebellions started because of warfare constantly going on and the taxes and rent being raised. The lower class started to envy and dislike the upper class. Plague, epidemics, poor harvests, and famines led to death and hardships. Peasant uprisings were very violent and caused a lot of destruction. They were common and happened in many different places.

One of the largest peasant revolts of the late middle ages was called the Jacquerie in France during the year of 1358. The uprising began on May 28, 1358 and it was led by a man named Guillaume Cale. It started in St.Leu d'Esserent(located 25 miles north of Paris) and it spread until it engulfed a large area around Paris. It spread from Amiens in the north, to Orleans in the south. Conditions of the revolt were created by pressure from the Hundred Years War and because the peasants felt deep hatred for the nobility. The end result was the nobility crushing the uprising that took place.

Another one of the largest peasant revolts was called the Great Rising of 1381 in England. The uprising started with villagers in southwestern Essex attacking royal officials. The reason was because of a poll tax being imposed. There were two groups of rebels. The Kent rebels which were led by Wat Tyler and the Essex rebels who were led by Jack Straw. The uprising spread from Essex to Kent, Norfolk, Suffolk, Hertfordshire, Cambridgeshire, and parts of counties in southeastern England. The rebels were heading for London which they eventually reached on June 13, 1381. Even though the Jacquerie and the Great Rising were about the same size, the English rebellion was much less violent.

Works Cited
 * “File: Richard II Meets Rebels.jpg.” Wikimedia Commons. Wikimedia Foundation, 24 Mar. 2010. Web. 1 Apr. 2010. .
 * “Peasants’ Rebellions and Uprisings.” The Middle Ages: An Encyclopedia for Students. Ed. William Chester Jordan. Vol. 3. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1996. 205-206. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 12 Mar. 2010.
 * “Peasant Uprisings.” Medieval World. Vol. 8. Danbury, CT: Grolier Educational, 2001. 20-21. Print.

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