Editing Peasants' Revolt (section)

==Rebels==
[[File:Reeve and Serfs.jpg|thumb|upright=1.7|alt=Medieval painting|14th-century rural scene of a [[Reeve (England)|reeve]] directing [[serf]]s, from the [[Queen Mary Psalter]]. [[British Library]], London]]
Chroniclers primarily described the rebels as rural serfs, using broad, derogatory [[Latin]] terms such as ''serviles rustici'', ''servile genus'' and ''rusticitas''.<ref name=Hilton1995Crane1992P202>{{harvnb|Hilton|1995|pp=176–177}}; {{harvnb|Crane|1992|p=202}}</ref> Some chroniclers, including Knighton, also noted the presence of runaway apprentices, artisans and others, sometimes terming them the "lesser commons".<ref name=Hilton1995Crane1992P202/> The evidence from the court records following the revolt, albeit biased in various ways, similarly shows the involvement of a much broader community, and the earlier perception that the rebels were only constituted of unfree serfs is now rejected.<ref>{{harvnb|Postan|1975|p=171}}; {{harvnb|Hilton|1995|pp=178, 180}}; {{harvnb|Strohm|2008|p=197}}</ref>{{#tag:ref|Historian Sylvia Federico notes the dangers in treating the pardons lists simplistically, given the tendency for some innocent individuals to acquire pardons for additional security, and the tendency for cases to be brought against individuals for local, non-political reasons.<ref>{{harvnb|Federico|2001|pp=162–163}}</ref>|group="nb"}}

The rural rebels came from a wide range of backgrounds, but typically they were, as the historian [[Christopher Dyer]] describes, "people well below the ranks of the gentry, but who mainly held some land and goods", and not the very poorest in society, who formed a minority of the rebel movement.<ref>{{harvnb|Dyer|2000|p=196}}; {{harvnb|Hilton|1995|p=184}}; {{harvnb|Strohm|2008|p=197}}</ref> Many had held positions of authority in local village governance, and these seem to have provided leadership to the revolt.<ref>{{harvnb|Dyer|2000|pp=197–198}}</ref> Some were artisans, including, as the historian Rodney Hilton lists, "carpenters, sawyers, masons, cobblers, tailors, weavers, fullers, glovers, hosiers, skinners, bakers, butchers, innkeepers, cooks and a lime-burner".<ref>{{harvnb|Hilton|1995|p=179}}</ref> They were predominantly male, but with some women in their ranks.<ref>{{harvnb|Federico|2001|p=165}}</ref> The rebels were typically illiterate; only between 5 and 15 per cent of England could read during this period.<ref>{{harvnb|Crane|1992|p=202}}</ref> They also came from a broad range of local communities, including at least 330 south-eastern villages.<ref>{{harvnb|Dyer|2000|p=192}}</ref>

Many of the rebels had urban backgrounds, and the majority of those involved in the events of London were probably local townsfolk rather than peasants.<ref>{{harvnb|Rubin|2006|p=121}}; {{harvnb|Strohm|2008|pp=197–198}}</ref> In some cases, the townsfolk who joined the revolt were the urban poor, attempting to gain at the expense of the local elites.<ref>{{harvnb|Butcher|1987|pp=84–85}}</ref> In London, for example, the urban rebels appear to have largely been the poor and unskilled.<ref name="Hilton 1995 195"/> Other urban rebels were part of the elite, such as at York where the protesters were typically prosperous members of the local community, while in some instances, townsfolk allied themselves with the rural population, as at Bury St Edmunds.<ref>{{harvnb|Butcher|1987|p=85}}; {{harvnb|Strohm|2008|p=197}}</ref> In other cases, such as Canterbury, the influx of population from the villages following the Black Death made any distinction between urban and rural less meaningful.<ref>{{harvnb|Butcher|1987|p=85}}</ref> With the Peasants’ Revolt marking the revolution of the freedom fight, labour had become so expensive that the feudal system was ultimately coming to an end.<ref name="auto">{{Cite web|title=Interpretations of the Peasants' Revolt – KS3 History Revision|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/z2c2pv4/revision/5|access-date=2021-12-10|website=BBC Bitesize|language=en-GB}}</ref> The rebels of the Peasants’ Revolt were represented by various writers since they did not represent themselves in historical records.{{sfn|Crane|1992}} The distortion of written records implied that these rebels were illiterate, or otherwise incoherent.{{sfn|Crane|1992}} Some of these distortions made by countless authors were also interpretative and favored their own positions, making the job of historians more difficult as they try to uncover a more truthful representation of the rebels.{{sfn|Crane|1992}} Author and medievalist Steven Justice exemplifies that the rebels were, in fact, capable of speech and language at its most developed.<ref name="Justice">{{Cite web|title=Protest, Complaint, and Uprising in the "Miller's Tale."|url=https://chaucer.lib.utsa.edu/items/show/275243|access-date=2021-12-10|website=chaucer.lib.utsa.edu}}</ref> Examples of this included cultural forms of expression such as rituals, performances, and literary texts.<ref name="Justice" />

The vast majority of those involved in the revolt of 1381 were not represented in Parliament and were excluded from its decision-making.<ref>{{harvnb|Rubin|2006|p=121}}</ref> In a few cases the rebels were led or joined by relatively prosperous members of the gentry, such as Sir Roger Bacon in Norfolk.<ref>{{harvnb|Hilton|1995|p=184}}</ref> Some of them later claimed to have been forced to join the revolt by the rebels.<ref>{{harvnb|Tuck|1987|p=196}}</ref> Clergy also formed part of the revolt; as well as the more prominent leaders, such as John Ball or John Wrawe, nearly 20 are mentioned in the records of the revolt in the south-east.<ref>{{harvnb|Hilton|1995|pp=207–208}}</ref> Some were pursuing local grievances, some were disadvantaged and suffering relative poverty, and others appear to have been motivated by strong radical beliefs.<ref>{{harvnb|Hilton|1995|pp=208–210}}</ref>

Many of those involved in the revolt used pseudonyms, particularly in the letters sent around the country to encourage support and fresh uprisings.<ref>{{harvnb|Jones|2010|p=169}}; {{harvnb|Hilton|1995|pp=214–215}}</ref> They were used both to avoid incriminating particular individuals and to allude to popular values and stories.<ref>{{harvnb|Jones|2010|p=169}}</ref> One popular assumed name was Piers Plowman, taken from the main character in [[William Langland]]'s [[Piers Plowman|poem]].<ref>{{harvnb|Justice|1994|p=223}}</ref> Jack was also a widely used rebel pseudonym, and historians Steven Justice and Carter Revard suggest that this may have been because it resonated with the Jacques of the French [[Jacquerie]] revolt several decades earlier.<ref>{{harvnb|Justice|1994|p=222}}</ref>