Bibliograph

1381, the year of the Peasants' Revolt, Juliet Barker

Type

Label

1381, the year of the Peasants' Revolt, Juliet Barker

Language

eng

Bibliography note

Includes bibliographical references (pages 465-476) and index

Illustrations

platesmapsillustrations

Index

index present

Literary Form

non fiction

Main title

1381

Nature of contents

bibliography

Oclc number

882738849

Responsibility statement

Juliet Barker

Sub title

the year of the Peasants' Revolt

Summary

Written with the fluency readers have come to expect from Juliet Barker, 1381: The Year of the Peasant's 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 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. -- from dust jacket

Table Of Contents

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

Classification