Summer of Blood: The Peasants’ Revolt of 1381
Page 22
3 See City of London Letter Book H, in Dobson, Peasants’ Revolt. Stepney was, in 1381, known as Stebenhithe.
4 For Richard’s particular love of Westminster Abbey, see Stanley, Westminster Abbey.
5 London Letter Book H.
6 Honeybourne, Sketch Map of London.
7 Prescott, ‘Portrait Gallery’.
8 Ibid.
9 Ibid.
10 Dobson, Peasants’ Revolt.
11 Barron, London in the Later Middle Ages.
12 Ibid.
13 J. Stow, Survey of London (1598).
14 Ibid.
15 CRISIS
1 Timings for Saturday, 15 June derive from the Anonimalle Chronicle, rather than the Westminster Chronicle. The latter puts the time of Richard’s visit to Westminster much earlier in the day. But the Anonimalle Chronicle and City of London Letter Book H both agree that disorder continued until late on Saturday afternoon. The Anonimalle Chronicle times the King’s visit to Westminster at 3 p.m., whereas Letter Book H records discord in the City until vespers (around 6 p.m.). 5 p.m. therefore seems a reasonable estimate for the time of the Smithfield conference.
2 Anonimalle Chronicle.
3 A.J. Prescott, Digitising the Event (freemasonry.dept.shef.ac.uk, 2005) reports that Robert Bennett of Barford St John, a convicted felon and government approver, executed on the evidence of a Middlesex jury for allegedly taking part in the burning of the Savoy and Clerkenwell Priory, claimed that Imworth’s wife had entrusted him with six silver spoons as the rebels approached.
4 For a history of the abbey, and much of the below, see Stanley, Westminster Abbey.
5 Timing according to the Anonimalle Chronicle.
6 Stanley, Westminster Abbey.
16 SMITHFIELD
1 The most famous early description of Smithfield comes from William Fitzstephen in his ‘Description of London’, c. 1170.
2 Levelling charges of treason against rebels in the aftermath of the revolt was certainly made easier if the authorities could paint them as having organised militarily beneath flags and pennons, but given their obvious deference to Wat Tyler as leader, entrusted to negotiate on behalf of them all, it is reasonable not to doubt the chroniclers’ assertions that ‘the commons arrayed themselves in bands of great size’ (Anonimalle Chronicle).
3 For a brief description of St Bartholomew’s see Baker, Medieval London.
4 Walsingham records that it was Sir John Newton, the rebels’ onetime captive and Keeper of Rochester Castle, who was sent to summon Tyler. It would have made for a logical choice, but in the account of Smithfield we are obliged to follow the Anonimalle Chronicle in light of its greater overall accuracy, attention to circumstantial detail, and probable eyewitness status.
5 In the outlaw legends, which were probably beginning to gain mainstream oral popularity late in the fourteenth century, a respectful meeting between the outlaws and the king was a standard denouement. See S. Knight and T. Ohlgren, Robin Hood and Other Outlaw Tales (Kalamazoo, 1997) for a collection of outlaw stories.
6 Anonimalle Chronicle.
17 SHOWDOWN
1 Walsingham.
2 According to the Anonimalle Chronicle. Other sources have Tyler dead at the time of the initial scuffle in front of Richard II.
18 RETRIBUTION
1 The commission is printed in Dobson, Peasants’ Revolt.
2 The narrative that follows relies on the first-hand witness account by Thomas Walsingham.
19 THE BISHOP
1 We can assume Ball’s movements based on his appearance in Coventry in mid-July.
2 Walsingham and Knighton collected examples of Ball’s letters-examples from the two chroniclers are printed in Dobson, Peasants’ Revolt.
3 Knighton records the fullest account of Despenser’s progress through East Anglia.
4 Froissart gives a romantic, and perhaps faintly ludicrous, account of Salle’s death at the hands of a mob.
20 COUNTER-TERROR
1 Westminster Chronicle.
2 Recorded in Walsingham.
3 Knighton.
4 The Parliament Rolls from the parliament of November 1381 give a lengthy account of the unrest in Cambridge on Corpus Christi weekend.
21 NORWICH
1 See Eiden, ‘Joint action’.
2 Cf footnote 1, Chapter Nineteen, above.
3 See Prescott, ‘Judicial Records’.
22 VENGEANCE
1 See Prescott, ‘“The Hand of God”: the Suppression of the Peasants’ Revolt of 1381’.
2 Prescott, ‘Judicial Records’.
3 Walsingham, who recorded the battle, presented it as a modern parallel to Boudicca’s last stand.
4 Walsingham.
5 Ibid. Walsingham ascends to new peaks of glee when he describes Richard’s pompous denunciation of the rebels.
Epilogue
1 Quoted in Prescott, ‘“Hand of God”’.
2 Ibid.
3 The first figure is Prescott’s minimum estimate for the number of rebels killed in battle and by order of the royal commissioners and justices (see Prescott, ‘“Hand of God”’); the second is the number recorded by the Monk of Evesham, a chronicler who wrote a life of Richard.
4 Details on Richard’s attempts to quell the dispute can be found in K. Towson, ‘“Hearts warped by passion”: The Percy-Gaunt dispute of 1381’, in Fourteenth Century England III, ed. W. M. Ormrod (Woodbridge, 2004).
5 My thanks to Oliver Morgan for his thoughts on Shakespearean rabbles, and for pointing out the two passages quoted.
6 For all the above examples, see L. M. Matheson, ‘The Peasants’ Revolt through Five Centuries of Rumor and Reporting’ in Studies in Philology, Spring 1992, No. 2.
7 E. Burke, Appeal from the New to the Old Whigs; T. Paine, Rights of Man: Part Two; F. Engels, The Peasant War in Germany.
AUTHOR’S NOTE
Ten years ago I arrived at Pembroke College, Cambridge to read for the History Tripos. It was then-as much through random choice as good judgment-that I chose to study for the first time the history of medieval England.
It was hardly a fashionable choice. Medieval history was generally thought of as dirty, distant, a little alien or just quite boring At some faculty classes I was one of only five or six undergraduates in the whole university to be taking the subject. Lecture series about political thought, the Tudor household and Islamic history were packed, but the world-class lectures on crime and disorder in medieval England were sparsely populated. Cambridge had-and still has-some of the finest minds in the field, but few people were listening.
This struck me then, as now, as a great pity. But out in the real world, that trend continues. We know very well the business of the Tudors, the Victorians, the Romans and the Nazis. Yet we are broadly unfamiliar with events in Britain before 1485-even though the Middle Ages not only established the character of our nation, but is also a rich seam of gripping stories.
I hope with this book, and the next one, to restore medieval history to the minds of readers all over the nation. I want to bring to life for a new generation the outrageous characters and episodes of heroism, villainy, glory and wickedness that were years ago ingrained in every school-leaver’s mind. Summer of Blood is in that sense the start of a project. If you, the reader, enjoy this book, then I can be optimistic that it will be a successful one.
Now I must thank a number of people for this book’s very existence. Kind and talented friends have made its writing not just possible, but hugely pleasurable. I thank them here with all the gratitude in my heart, and claim for myself total responsibility for any and all omissions, errors and plain old howlers.
In the first place, I must thank those brilliant teachers who have inspired me to read and write about history. Robin Green was the first. Later there were others: at Pembroke they included Jon Parry, the late Mark Kaplanoff and the late Clive Trebilcock. Then there were the medievalists: Christine Carpenter, Helen Castor and Richard Partington. Finally, Davi
d Starkey taught me much about writing and gave me faith in telling the stories of people and places rather than of abstract movements and the development of institutions.
I count myself among the happiest writers in London to have as my agent Georgina Capel. She has showed faith in me always, plucked me up from innumerable blue funks and given me the courage to write as I see true. She is extraordinary and brilliant.
My publisher, Arabella Pike, has been enthusiastic about this book from the beginning, and was very patient in waiting for it. She trusted me when I was but a stripling with a big idea, and I hope this book and the next will be some small reward for her belief. Her talented team at Harper Press also deserve much praise. In particular, I must thank Michael Upchurch for working with intelligence and understanding on the manuscript and Sophie Goulden for following my occasionally rather vague instructions to find the images and maps.
Leanda de Lisle was the first to suggest the possibility of writing about 1381, and has been an encouraging and constant friend and fellow historian throughout.
Paul Wilson and Walter Donahue were kind enough to read draft versions of various parts of the book and made very useful comments. They are both hugely gifted and generous with their time-and I am proud and grateful to call them my friends.
The staff at the London Library, the British Library and Soho House brought me books, maps and wine, all of which were vital.
Finally, my fiancée, Jo Scotchmer, has been with me throughout. She tolerated me reading chapters aloud before bedtime, and managed my occasional despair with cheerful good grace. She is my true friend and my foundation.
Thanks and love to all.
DJ
INDEX
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Aldersgate, London 138, 141, 153
Aldgate, London 78, 84, 90, 111, 119
Algor, John 36, 38, 39
Allen, Reginald 129
Allen, Sir Robert 129
Anne of Bohemia 204, 205
Anonimalle Chronicle 49, 50, 77, 91, 97, 141
Appleton, William 127, 128, 134, 136
army, English: desertions 20, 28; funding of 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 26, 27-8, 29, 43, 94; mutiny within 20, 22; in Portugal 43, 71; in South-East England 20, 22, 28, 57; war with France see Hundred Years War
Attewell, Adam 57-8
Bacon, Sir Roger 177, 184, 185, 186
Baker, Thomas 46, 50, 53, 197
Ball, John 1, 65, 166, 184, 192, 201; archbishop of Canterbury and 61-2, 118-19, 167, 199; on Blackheath 74, 80-2, 85, 86; captured 199; letters of spiritual instruction 168-70, 175, 199; mystic urgency 73, 80-2, 107, 118-19; on the run 167, 168-70, 192; philosophy/radical egalitarianism 61-2,73, 80-2, 86, 107, 118-19, 120, 168-70, 175, 207; preaching 61, 80-2, 107, 118-19, 120, 168-70, 175; Southey’s portrayal of 210, 211; on Tower Hill 107, 114, 118-19, 120, 167; trial 199-200; Wat Tyler, relationship with 147, 168
Bamburgh Castle, Northumberland 189
Bampton, Sir John de 45, 46-7, 49, 50, 55, 58, 75, 84
Barnet, Hertfordshire 106, 164
Barstaple, Essex 50, 52
Baynard’s Castle, London 116, 128, 136, 138, 143
Beauchamp, earl of Warwick, Thomas 38, 71, 79
Beauchamp, William 38
Belknap, Sir Robert 54-5, 56, 58, 59, 60, 84, 160-1, 188
Berland, William 54, 58
Billericay, Essex 42, 195, 197, 200
Billingsgate fish market, London 86, 88
Bixton, Walter de 185
Black Death, the 13-15, 19, 42
Blackheath, London 66, 69-72, 78, 80-2, 84, 85, 86, 110, 119, 133, 142, 167, 199
Boccaccio, Giovanni 13
Bocking, Essex 50, 51, 52, 58
Borden, Kent 62-3
Brembre, Sir Nicholas 35, 38, 39, 40, 71, 108, 110, 113, 137, 138, 142, 153, 155, 161, 205
Brentwood, Essex 41-2, 44, 46, 49, 55, 56, 84, 109, 197
Bretigny, Treaty of, 1360/61 18-19, 28, 29
Brewes, Sir John de 184, 185, 187
Bridgewater, Somerset 191
Buckingham, earl of see Thomas of
Woodstock, earl of Buckingham Buckinghamshire 168, 190
Burke, Edmund 210
Burley, Sir John 38
Burley, Sir Simon 71, 79
Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk 172, 177, 190, 191, 204
Butterwick, John 98, 129
Cade, Jack 3, 208, 209
Cadyndon, William 163
Calais, France 18
Cambridge 171, 179-82, 186, 187, 204
Cambridge University 9
Cambridgeshire 136, 177, 183
Canterbury, Kent 2, 14, 51, 55, 60, 63, 64, 65, 72, 79, 119, 204
Carlisle, Adam 86
Cavendish, Sir John 131, 136, 167, 171-2, 181, 190, 204
Charing, London 96, 125-31, 143
Charles V of France, King 19
Chaucer, Geoffrey 8, 78, 125, 208
Chaundler, William 54
Cheapside, London 99, 107, 109, 131, 136, 155, 175
Chelmsford, Kent 63-4, 192, 195, 196, 201
Cheyne, William 161
Christ Church, Canterbury, Kent 51
Clandon, Surrey 162
Clerkenwell, London 97, 99, 152, 153, 154, 155, 160, 161
Coggeshall, Essex 51, 58, 63, 75
Colchester, Essex 50, 126, 192, 197
Corpus Christi, 1381 1, 7, 77-84, 87, 105, 127, 134, 178, 180, 183, 189
Cottenham, Cambridgeshire 181
Courtenay, bishop of London, William 34, 35, 84, 199-200, 203
courts 42, 45-6; assize sessions, Dartford, Whitsun, 1381 54, 55; Court of Common Pleas 54; Court of King’s Bench 131, 190; manorial 11, 15, 42, 115, 187; rolls, burning of 172, 177, 178, 179, 187; villagers attempt to secure free status through 16, 17 see also legal system, English
Crécy, battle of, 1346 18, 28, 110
Cressing Temple, Kent 63, 75
Crouchback, Edmund 89
d’Albret, Perducas 109
Dartford, Kent 52, 54-5, 59, 60, 65
David II of Scotland, King 18
de la Mare, Edmund 113-14
de la Mare, Thomas 106, 160, 166
de Vere, earl of Oxford, Robert 71, 112
de Vere, Sir Aubrey 112
Deptford, London 209
Dersham, Geoffrey 58
Despenser, bishop of Norwich, Henry 170-1, 172-4, 178, 179, 180, 181, 182, 183, 186, 187-8, 189, 190, 193-4, 195, 204
Domesday Book 17, 147
East Anglia 3, 37, 138, 149-50, 160, 170-4, 177-9, 183-8, 193-5
Ecceles, Reginald de 184
economy, English: City of London and 21, 22, 26, 28, 29; flourishing market economy, late 14th century 10-11; government bankruptcy 21, 22, 26, 28; labour laws and see labour laws; merchants, power of within see merchants, London; plague, effect upon prices of 14-15; taxation see taxation; upward mobility of peasants thwarted 14-16, 21; war with France, cost of 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 26, 27-8, 29, 43
Edward I, King 99, 147
Edward II, King 206
Edward III, King 14, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 45, 110, 131, 205, 206
Edward the Confessor, King 134
Edward, Prince (Black Prince) 18, 19, 20, 28, 131
Eleanor Cross, London 99, 126
Ely, Cambridgeshire 171, 178, 179
Engels, Friedrich 210
Erith, Kent 52-3
Essex 3, 41, 112; Ball’s letters to rebels in 168-9, 199; birth of revolt within 45-7, 49-52, 54, 57, 75, 186; Blackheath, Essex rebels at 69, 70; London, Essex rebels join Kentish rebels in 69, 70, 78, 87, 90, 94; London, Essex rebels enter 78, 84, 89-90; Mile End camp, Essex rebels at 78, 112-16, 192; Mile End meeting with Richard II, Essex rebels role in 112-16, 126, 137, 192, 193, 203, 204; pacification of rebels within 160, 161, 166, 190, 191, 192-71 poll tax collection within, 1380-1 42-5; resistance to poll tax c
ollection within, May, 1381 45-7 see also under individual town or village Ewell, John 63