The English Rising of 1381

This volume eschews general narrative history and consists of articles, most of which were presented to a conference organized in 1981 by the Past and Present Society.

R. H. Hilton (Edited by), T. H. Aston (Edited by)

9780521359306, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 28 August 1987

232 pages
21.6 x 13.8 x 1.7 cm, 0.26 kg

'Historians of the Rising of 1381 must now rend the veil of the Poll Taxes, that neat and easy, but insufficient, explanation for what happened … These essays have served to illuminate several aspects of the climate of revolt in France and Florence, but predominantly in England, in the second half of the fourteenth century.' Economic History Review

This book contains eight articles, six of which are based on papers contributed to a commemoration conference organised by the Past and Present Society in 1981. Two further articles and an introduction are contributed by other experts. They explore the various dimensions of the rising of 1381: the discontent of peasants and townspeople who became politicised in response to government tax demands; reasons for the attitudes of the subordinated classes to the law, which they perceived as being the instrument of their oppressors; the response of the ruling class and its government to one of the most coherent challenges to feudal order in the Middle Ages. In addition, two contributions on social movements in fourteenth-century France and Italy show that the rising can be regarded as a symptom of the general crisis of European feudal society in the later Middle Ages.

Introduction R. H. Hilton
1. The social and economic background to the rural revolt of 1381 Christopher Dyer
2. The 'great rumour' of 1377 and peasant ideology Rosamond Faith
3. The jacquerie Raymond Cazelles
4. English urban society and the revolt of 1381 A. F. Butcher
5. The risings in York, Beverley and Scarborough 1380–1381 R. B. Dobson
6. Florentine insurrections, 1342–1385, in comparative perspective Samuel Cohn Jr
7. The revolt against the justices Alan Harding
8. Nobles, commons and the Great Revolt of 1381 J. A. Tuck
Index.

Subject Areas: Early history: c 500 to c 1450/1500 [HBLC], British & Irish history [HBJD1]