Editing Peasants' Revolt (section)

===Protest and authority===
[[File:Sheep pen (Luttrell Psalter).png|thumb|upright=1.2|alt=Medieval painting|Sheep farming, from the [[Luttrell Psalter]], c. 1320–1340]]
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|quote=...from the beginning all men by nature were created alike...
|source=–[[John Ball (priest)|John Ball]], 1381<ref name=bbc>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/history/voices/voices_reading_revolt.shtml|title=BBC Radio 4 Voices of the Powerless – featuring Peasants Revolt|website=www.bbc.co.uk}}</ref>
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The decades running up to 1381 were a rebellious, troubled period.<ref>{{harvnb|Postan|1975|p=171}}; {{harvnb|Dyer|2000|p=214}}</ref> London was a particular focus of unrest, and the activities of the city's politically active [[guild]]s and [[fraternity|fraternities]] often alarmed the authorities.<ref>{{harvnb|Rubin|2006|pp=121–122}}</ref> Londoners resented the expansion of the royal legal system in the capital, in particular the increased role of the [[Marshalsea Court]] in Southwark, which had begun to compete with the city authorities for judicial power in London.<ref>{{harvnb|Harding|1987|pp=176–180}}; {{harvnb|Dunn|2002|pp=80–81}}</ref>{{#tag:ref|The Marshalsea Court was originally intended to provide justice for the royal household and those doing business with it, travelling with the King around the country and having authority covering {{convert|12|miles}} around the monarch. The monarchs of the 14th century were increasingly based in London, resulting in the Marshalsea Court taking up semi-permanent business in the capital. Successive monarchs used the court to exercise royal power, often at the expense of the City of London's Corporation.<ref>{{harvnb|Dunn|2002|pp=80–81}}</ref>|group="nb"}} The city's population also resented the presence of foreigners, [[Flemish people|Flemish]] weavers in particular.<ref>{{harvnb|Spindler|2012|pp=65,72}}</ref> Londoners detested John of Gaunt because he was a supporter of the religious reformer [[John Wycliffe]], whom the London public regarded as a heretic.<ref>{{harvnb|Jones|2010|p=34}}</ref> John of Gaunt was also engaged in a feud with the London elite and was rumoured to be planning to replace the elected [[Lord Mayor of London|mayor]] with a captain, appointed by the Crown.<ref>{{harvnb|Jones|2010|pp=34, 35, 40}}</ref> The London elite were themselves fighting out a vicious, internal battle for political power.<ref>{{harvnb|Oman|1906|p=18}}</ref> As a result, in 1381 the ruling classes in London were unstable and divided.<ref>{{harvnb|Jones|2010|p=40}}</ref>

Rural communities, particularly in the south-east, were unhappy with the operation of [[serfdom]] and the use of the local manorial courts to exact traditional fines and levies, not least because the same landowners who ran these courts also often acted as enforcers of the unpopular labour laws or as royal judges.<ref>{{harvnb|Dyer|2000|pp=213–217}}</ref> Many of the village elites refused to take up positions in local government and began to frustrate the operation of the courts.<ref>{{harvnb|Dyer|2000|pp=211–212}}</ref> Animals seized by the courts began to be retaken by their owners, and legal officials were assaulted.<ref>{{harvnb|Dyer|2000|p=212}}</ref> Some started to advocate the creation of independent village communities, respecting traditional laws but separate from the hated legal system centred in London.<ref>{{harvnb|Dyer|2000|p=219}}; {{harvnb|Rubin|2006|pp=123–124}}</ref> As the historian [[Miri Rubin]] describes, for many, "the problem was not the country's laws, but those charged with applying and safeguarding them".<ref>{{harvnb|Rubin|2006|p=124}}</ref>

Concerns were raised about these changes in society.<ref>{{harvnb|Dyer|2009|p=281}}</ref> [[William Langland]] wrote the poem ''[[Piers Plowman]]'' in the years before 1380, praising peasants who respected the law and worked hard for their lords, but complaining about greedy, travelling labourers demanding higher wages.<ref>{{harvnb|Dyer|2009|pp=281, 282}}</ref>  The poet [[John Gower]] warned against a future revolt in both ''[[Mirour de l'Omme]]'' and ''[[Vox Clamantis]]''.<ref>{{harvnb|Wickert|2016|p=18}}</ref> There was a [[moral panic]] about the threat posed by newly arrived workers in the towns and the possibility that servants might turn against their masters.<ref>{{harvnb|Rubin|2006|p=70}}</ref> New legislation was introduced in 1359 to deal with migrants, existing [[conspiracy (crime)|conspiracy laws]] were more widely applied and the [[Treason Act 1351|treason laws]] were extended to include servants or wives who betrayed their masters and husbands.<ref>{{harvnb|Rubin|2006|p=70}}; {{harvnb|Harding|1987|pp=18–190}}</ref> By the 1370s, there were fears that if the French invaded England, the rural classes might side with the invaders.<ref name="Dyer 2009 285"/>

The discontent began to give way to open protest. In 1377, the "[[Great Rumour]]" occurred in south-east and south-west England.<ref>{{harvnb|Faith|1987|p=43}}</ref> Rural workers organised themselves and refused to work for their lords, arguing that, according to the [[Domesday Book]], they were exempted from such requests.<ref>{{harvnb|Faith|1987|pp=44–46}}</ref> The workers made unsuccessful appeals to the law courts and the King.<ref>{{harvnb|Faith|1987|p=69}}</ref> There were also widespread urban tensions, particularly in London, where John of Gaunt narrowly escaped being lynched.<ref>{{harvnb|Dunn|2002|p=88}}; {{harvnb|Cohn|2013|p=100}}</ref> The troubles increased again in 1380, with protests and disturbances across northern England and in the western towns of [[Shrewsbury]] and [[Bridgwater]].<ref>{{harvnb|Cohn|2013|p=105}}; {{harvnb|Dilks|1927|p=59}}</ref> An uprising occurred in York, during which John de Gisborne, the city's mayor, was removed from office, and fresh tax riots followed in early 1381.<ref>{{harvnb|Dobson|1987|p=123}}</ref> There was a great storm in England during May 1381, which many felt to prophesy future change and upheaval, adding further to the disturbed mood.<ref>{{harvnb|Dyer|2000|p=218}}.</ref>