1381: The Year of the Peasants' Revolt

Written with the fluency readers have come to expect from Juliet Barker, 1381: The Year of the Peasants’ Revolt provides an account of the first great popular uprising in England and its background, and paints on a broad canvas a picture of English life in medieval times. Skeptical of contemporary chroniclers’ accounts of events, Barker draws on the judicial sources of the indictments and court proceedings that followed the rebellion. This emphasis offers a fresh perspective on the so-called Peasants’ Revolt and gives depth and texture to the historical narrative. Among the book’s arguments are that the rebels believed they were the loyal subjects of the king acting in his interests, and that the boy-king Richard II sympathized with their grievances.

Barker tells how and why a diverse and unlikely group of ordinary men and women from every corner of England—from servants and laborers living off wages, through the village elite who served as bailiffs, constables, and stewards, to the ranks of the gentry—united in armed rebellion against church and state to demand a radical political agenda. Had it been implemented, this agenda would have transformed English society and anticipated the French Revolution by four hundred years. 1381: The Year of the Peasants’ Revolt is an important reassessment of the uprising and a fascinating, original study of medieval life in England’s towns and countryside.

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1381: The Year of the Peasants' Revolt

Written with the fluency readers have come to expect from Juliet Barker, 1381: The Year of the Peasants’ Revolt provides an account of the first great popular uprising in England and its background, and paints on a broad canvas a picture of English life in medieval times. Skeptical of contemporary chroniclers’ accounts of events, Barker draws on the judicial sources of the indictments and court proceedings that followed the rebellion. This emphasis offers a fresh perspective on the so-called Peasants’ Revolt and gives depth and texture to the historical narrative. Among the book’s arguments are that the rebels believed they were the loyal subjects of the king acting in his interests, and that the boy-king Richard II sympathized with their grievances.

Barker tells how and why a diverse and unlikely group of ordinary men and women from every corner of England—from servants and laborers living off wages, through the village elite who served as bailiffs, constables, and stewards, to the ranks of the gentry—united in armed rebellion against church and state to demand a radical political agenda. Had it been implemented, this agenda would have transformed English society and anticipated the French Revolution by four hundred years. 1381: The Year of the Peasants’ Revolt is an important reassessment of the uprising and a fascinating, original study of medieval life in England’s towns and countryside.

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1381: The Year of the Peasants' Revolt

1381: The Year of the Peasants' Revolt

by Juliet Barker
1381: The Year of the Peasants' Revolt

1381: The Year of the Peasants' Revolt

by Juliet Barker

eBook

$29.95 

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Overview

Written with the fluency readers have come to expect from Juliet Barker, 1381: The Year of the Peasants’ Revolt provides an account of the first great popular uprising in England and its background, and paints on a broad canvas a picture of English life in medieval times. Skeptical of contemporary chroniclers’ accounts of events, Barker draws on the judicial sources of the indictments and court proceedings that followed the rebellion. This emphasis offers a fresh perspective on the so-called Peasants’ Revolt and gives depth and texture to the historical narrative. Among the book’s arguments are that the rebels believed they were the loyal subjects of the king acting in his interests, and that the boy-king Richard II sympathized with their grievances.

Barker tells how and why a diverse and unlikely group of ordinary men and women from every corner of England—from servants and laborers living off wages, through the village elite who served as bailiffs, constables, and stewards, to the ranks of the gentry—united in armed rebellion against church and state to demand a radical political agenda. Had it been implemented, this agenda would have transformed English society and anticipated the French Revolution by four hundred years. 1381: The Year of the Peasants’ Revolt is an important reassessment of the uprising and a fascinating, original study of medieval life in England’s towns and countryside.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780674744509
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Publication date: 11/24/2014
Sold by: Barnes & Noble
Format: eBook
Pages: 543
File size: 32 MB
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About the Author

Juliet Barker is one of Britain’s most distinguished literary biographers and medievalists and author of Agincourt: Henry V and the Battle That Made England.

Table of Contents

Contents Preface A Note to the Text Chapter 1. The end of an era Chapter 2. The state of the nation Chapter 3. Landlords and tenants Chapter 4. Urban society Chapter 5. Wars and taxes Chapter 6. Resistance Chapter 7. Essex and Kent arise Chapter 8. To London Chapter 9. Mile End Chapter 10. Smithfield Chapter 11. St Albans and Bury St Edmunds Chapter 12. Ely, Huntingdon and Cambridge Chapter 13. Norfolk Chapter 14. North and south Chapter 15. Suppression Chapter 16. The aftermath Chapter 17. The legacy Appendix 1. Wat Tyler Appendix 2. Jack Straw Appendix 3. John Balle Appendix 4. John Balle’s letters Notes Bibliography Index Picture Credits
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