Popular Protest in the Middle Ages Flashcards
1
Q
What is characteristic of M. Bonne’s approach?
A
Seeks the interconnection of economics with politics in urban space and conflict in the context of Flanders.
2
Q
M. Bonne: What did urban space permit?
A
Factions concrete sites for the consolidation of power and expression of discontent. In Flemish urban regimes, whilst economic interests were indispensable, power was only realised in the act of seizing and marking public and private places - such as buildings, town halls, belfries, market squares, parish churches and the like.
3
Q
What happened to Bruges and Ghent in the thirteenth century?
A
Underwent important changes in their spatial design - including the creation of major canals which made a direct link to the sea possible - for international trade.
4
Q
What contrasts exist between Venice and Genoa?
A
Venice had a central public space upon which the republic could stage its politic al rituals of unity - Genoa, by contrast, remained an extremely compartmentalised city. This difference is a reminder that economic rationale alone does not explain a chronologically similar trajectory of urban development.
5
Q
What happened in 1302 in Flemish cities?
A
Democratic revolution - the takeover of political power wtihin the cities by artisans and guild representatives.
6
Q
How does the notion of a democratic revolution complicate the narrative of social unrest?
A
It is often suggested that the patriciate was exhausted by the mid-1200s - resultantly, regime weakness was the reason why the democratic revolution occurred. This, argues M Boone, underestimates the vigour of the patrician regime, and fails to appreciate the nuances at work in the collective social actions of protest.
7
Q
What forces were strong inside the Flanders commune?
A
Ecclesiastical presence - literally in the shadow of the cathedral
8
Q
What was considered a cornerstone of commune spatial expression?
A
The Burgher’s right to judge the private use of space within a city - represented by the droit d’abatis - destruction of the house of an evildoer
9
Q
What is begriffsgeschichte?
A
German for cultural history
10
Q
What does Begriffsgeschichte historian Oexle want to see in the history of communes?
A
The unity of the medieval city came through the social units of guilds and confraternities - with spatial dimension. This provided the seedbed for rebelliousness.
11
Q
What inspired social and political unrest in Flemish cities?
A
Larger waves of discontent present in Northern France.
12
Q
What does O. Oexle suggest are demonstrations of the lack of revolutionary developments as the Pirennian tradition would have it?
A
Movements such as the Moerlemaye in Bruges or the Cockerulle in Ypres (both dating from 1280) indicate how, instead of being revolutionary developments as the Pirennian tradition would have had it, followed a relatively fixed pattern that reveals how political and social demands were formulated in and through space by collective protest and public written grievances.
13
Q
What could Flanders draw upon in terms of popular revolt?
A
A long tradition of collective action and rebelliousness, known to scholars as the “little tradition” of revolt, as distinguished from the great tradition that opposed cities to princes throughout the late Middle Ages and sixteenth century.
14
Q
What did religious solidarities among artisans result in?
A
Spatial manifestations of the role of relics in politics - in Bruges, 1302 - the procession of the Holy Blood became central in the establishment of the guild based government
15
Q
What was rare in Ghent and Bruges?
A
Purely secular manifestations of guild power thoruhg street processions were rare.
16
Q
What did the possession of Flanders by the Valois dukes of Burgundy, 1384, result in?
A
Incessant conflict between cities and state in which princes and townspeople used political space to test their boundaries of power.
17
Q
What was a safety valve against outright war in Flanders?
A
Diplomatic negotiation - the dukes actually institutionalised the “Four Members”, with a strong tradition of bargaining
18
Q
Name an act which showed the Valois monopoly on the exercise of power?
A
One of their strategies was to execute a large number of people for the crime of sodomy so as to express their mastery over the social body and public space.
19
Q
What tensions existed throughout the fifteenth century, vis-a-vis the Flanders?
A
Duke of Burgundy became increasingly focused on securing rule in Netherlands - resulted in strong demonstrations of force - such as the punishment of Bruges after the revolt of 1436-8.
20
Q
Why was the rule of the French king clearly one which inspired dissent from the people of the Low Countries?
A
They ruled by fear. In principle, they accorded the duke-who had started to dream more or less openly of kingship-the right to destroy any city in open revolt against his authority.
21
Q
Why else did the dukes decide to threaten Bruges and Liège as much as they did?
A
Destroying or altering functions belonging to the urban patrimony were not the only ways Burgundian and Habsburg rulers dealt with potentially rebellious cities. The destruction or submission of Ghent and Liege were good publicity for the Burgundian dynasty; these cities also had a reputation, a judicial system, and collective identity vulnerable to state power.
22
Q
Who demolished Liège and punished Ghent?
A
Charles the Bold.
23
Q
What were fundamental turning points in Florentine domination over its hinterland?
A
- Trends in household wealth
- Differential in wealth between plains and mountains
- Rates and direction of migration
- Changes in tax rates
By 1401-2.
24
Q
What followed the revolt of the Ciompi?
A
Rule of the Minor Guilds - although this did not alter Florence’s attitudes and policy towards its Hinterland
25
How have historians tended to treat revoltrs in central and Northern Italy?
Treat as hazy, and spared from the 'true' peasant uprisings until the "Ave Maria" revolts of the 1790s, if then.
Veneto was thought to have only felt 'unease'
26
What has Philip Jones stated about armed risings in central and northern Italy?
"Peasant hatred, and even armed risings were mostly short and bloodless."
27
What sort of sources do historians rely on?
Chronicles, surviving diaries and recollections of Floretine citizens, the ricordanze
28
Between whom did revolts in the mountains of Pistoia occur?
Urban factional conflict between the families of Panciatichi and the Cancellieri. The issue with this is that this is often projected as a solely elite conflict - peasantry is not considered.
29
Why should we caution applying too much emphasis on solely the elites?
By contrast, from the perspective of the criminal records and the government’s decrees, these events register little more than a ripple in comparison with the numerous inquests, sentences, and peasant petitions unleashed by the insurrections of the opening years of the fifteenth century in the Alpi Fiorentine.
30
What does Samuel Cohn Jnr. reveal, contra to the muted peasant line, about the revolts in Florence?
The insurrection was caused by direct taxation on the contado (the estimo), which had increased fivefold since the start of the decade (1300s) - and had risen again
31
Who is an eminent source on the political narrative of Florence in the 14th and 15th centuries, despite being a bit old?
Gino Capponi, who wrote in the 19th century
32
What did Gino Capponi argue about Giangaleazzo's conquests of 1402?
*"The contado was fatigued by taxes and in the Mugello the peasants gave a hand to those in the Alps, where the Ubaldini, even though exhuasted, were able to take the mountain crest together with others fed up with the Republic"*
33
What is a famous and enduring contemporary source of the 1420s?
That of Leonardo Bruni - who makes no reference to peasant discontent.
34
Why must we caution using sources uch as the Panciatichi chronicler?
Panciatichi chronicler glories in the Lombard rebellions against the Visconti and in the collapse of the Milanese empire following Giangaleazzo’s death but denies that the same was happening in Florence.
35
What is the emergent picture in the account of Cohn?
Florentine/ Alpi (basically the mountainous area north of Florence) peasant discord was suppressed in official narratives.
36
What do criminal records contribute toward our understanding of the Alpi Florentine rebels?
First, the uprisings’ temporal and geographical dimensions are much more extensive; second, the criminal records bring into question the chroniclers’ assertions that the revolts were simply the rising of Florence’s traditional feudal enemies assisted by a few Florentine patrician malcontents. Instead, these records show peasants as the bulk of the rank and file, part of leadership, and at times even planning military strategy.
37
What troubles faced the Florentine archives?
A flood, in 1966, badly damaging documents. Thankfully, to , for the three main criminal tribunals that adjudicated such cases – the Podestà, the Capitano del Popolo, and the vicariate courts, remained safe
38
What does Cohn's analysis suggest about the rebels?
Not in abject poverty, not merely the youth, not completely the homeless
39
What does Cohn remark about the early 1370s?
Surprisingly quiet, riot-wise. Especially given the ongoing war with the Ubaldini in the mountains, and the wave of pestilence, war and famine.
The countryside remained relatively quiet even into the Ciompi period.
40
How long was Minor Guild rule?
August 1378 - January 1382
41
What were more traditional sources of revolution? (In Arezzo)
Old feudal families - such as the Tarlati, Battifolle or Ubertini
42
What other, grassroots, signs of discontent can be seen in Arezzo?
1387 - five men without family names or distinctions were accused of attackign and occupying a Florentine castle.
1390 - 13 attempted "to subvert and change the present liberty of the people and Guelf state of Florence" by retaking their castrum of Cacciano
43
What stimulated the resumption of fresh violence and insurrection in 1397, Florence?
Resumption of Milanese and Sienese incursions into the Florentine countryside. Farm violence was present, as in much of the periphery.
44
Where did the most explicit case of resentment emerge towards Florentine authority?
Although not labeled as conspiracy or rebellion, the most explicit case of peasant resentment against Florentine authority during these years came from the contado, in fact from the prope Alpes of the upper Mugello where Florence’s tax rates were the highest.
A father, his wife, and their two sons from San Niccolò at Montecarelli attacked officers and a notary of the Podestà, stabbing one while they were capturing a neighbor who had not paid his taxes (estimo) to Florence.
45
What did Cohn conclude from his investigation into the Florentine criminal records?
In short, the years immediately following the sharp rise of Florentine taxes in did register the first outright assaults by townsmen and peasants against the estimo and the tax collector that I have found in the criminal records.
46
Why did Luther fail to hold allegiance with great multitudes of common people?
Because of the content of his doctrine of salvation, and because of his alliance with established secular rulers.
47
Anabaptism was not a homogeneous movement. How many independent sects of anabaptism existed?
40 different sects
48
What had the Neckar Anabaptists seemingly set out to do in 1528, Esslingen?
Set up the Kingdom of God by force of arms
49
How many ecclesiastical centres were there in Münster?
Thirty. The clergy carried out trade and handicraft, but were exempt from taxation.
50
What was the German Peasant's War?
The German Peasants' War, Great Peasants' War was a widespread popular revolt in the German-speaking areas of Central Europe from 1524 to 1525. It failed because of the intense opposition by the aristocracy, who slaughtered up to 100,000 of the 300,000 poorly armed peasants and farmers.
51
What had caused the German Peasants war?
A series of both economic and religious revolts in which peasants and farmers, often supported by Protestant clergy, took the lead. The German Peasants' War was Europe's largest and most widespread popular uprising prior to the French Revolution of 1789.
52
What did the German Peasants' Revolt lead to in the North-West?
Not the uprising of the peasantry or the towns, but the ecclesiastics of Osnabrück, Utrecht, Paderborn and Münster
53
What had happened in Holland?
As the cloth industry collapsed in Flanders, Holland leaped ahead - most important centre of industry was Leyden. **Holland now contained the greatest onccentration of insecure and harrassed workers.** Was probably worse than centuries ago - now, there was a stronger system of capitalism whereby aristans worked in their own homes. This made the usual mechanisms of guilds ineffective.
54
What else was more prevalent, according to Cohn?
More unemployed and unorganised - among these did Anabaptism flourish
55
What did John Merfold proclaim in a public alehouse?
Should the people rise up again, 'they wolde leve no gentilman alyve but such as thym list to have'
56
What did Hare argue was the motive for rebellion?
"Economic distress might, for some rebels, have been as powerful a motive as political dissatisfaction". Mollat and Wolff support by highlighting that prosperity followed by recession in the 15th century was important for instigating strife.
57
What caused the later recession?
Underlying this deflation was a general European bullion famine caused by the drain of gold and silver to the Near East and exacerbated by the widespread closure or contraction of European mints and mines. English mint output reached its nadir in I448 and remained generally low until the I460s, and the Calais mint, whose silver groats and halfpennies circulated in England, ceased minting in I440.
58
What did the rebels in Eastbourne declare?
the rebels aimed 'to destroy the ancient customs of fairs and markets in Robertsbridge/ At Eastbourne the men declared their unwillingness to pay more than 2d. an acre for land
59
What demographic causes of malcontent were there in the fifteenth century?
Population fall in the 1430s due to pestilence/ other disease
1439-40 esp. vulnerable as suffered from successive years of bad harvests
60
What happened as a result of the decline of population?
The population, moreover, had declined faster than production, and this too helped to reduce prices. More grain, stock, and wool was being produced than the market could absorb. Cloth exports, for example, had reached a peak in the early I440s, having doubled in volume in just 30 years; then they quickly lost all their gains
61
What does M. Mate aruge about the English reasons for rebellion?
Political corruption and misgovernment – linked to death of Duke of Suffolk, loss of Normandy. The rebels, in their written public manifestos, stressed administrative abuses and proposed political solutions-the removal of evil counsellors and the return of York from Ireland
Traditional Quote: *"the causes of the rebellion, unlike the Peasants' Revolt of I381, were more political than economic."*
62
What is a challenge in the analysis of the English rebels?
Cannot tell whether the primary ambition was to redistribute wealth or to increase personal wealth
63
What did the Sussex Rebels demand from the government?
Nonetheless it is true that the Sussex rebels, as well as those in Kent, sought redress through political means. Apart from a few specific economic demands, such as the rent of 2d. an acre, the rebels called for a new government, not new policies. So many ills plagued local society-judicial corruption, French raiders, increased taxation, the collapse of the wool trade-that it is easy to see why men felt that the overriding problem was lack of good governance
64
What was the rebellion in England in 1450?
'Wiltshire rising of I450', or Jack Cade's Rebellion, followed by the Sussex and Kent rebels
65
Bruges/ Dumolyn: What were the social and political struggles in Bruges?
Careful analysis of these sources reveals that the social and political struggles between the centralizing dukes of Burgundy and their powerful and autonomous Flemish cities reflected a discursive struggle for the representation of political events.
66
Bruges/ Dumolyn: What was the 'Great Tradition' of revolts in the Low Countries?
Refuting against their overlord, who was trying to centralize justice and administration while also taxing the towns heavily in order to wage his political and military campaigns
67
Bruges/ Dumolyn: Define Little tradition
a 'Little Tradition' of revolt: a struggle of power within the city, usually of the middle-class craft-guild workers against the urban patriciate, the former demanding financial control and participation in the urban government
68
Bruges/ Dumolyn: How did the great and little traditions interplay?
The 'Great' and 'Little' traditions constantly intermingled, especially after the accession of the Burgundian dukes, because the patricians, the urban political and economic elites who were mostly recruited among merchants and brokers, gradually started siding with the prince to win his favour and join his state bureaucracy. The Bruges revolt of 1436-85 and the Ghent revolt of 1449-536 were arguably the two most important obstacles faced by Duke Philip the Good, in his pursuit to centralize finance and the administration of justice and to weaken the autonomous power position of the large towns
69
What caused recession in the Flemish industry?
The 1429 ordinances of the (English) wool staple of Calais had caused a considerable rise in prices which led to recession in the Flemish industry
70
What else harmed the Flemish economy?
Pirates (Arrrr!)
## Footnote
The decade of the 1430s was a period of growing insecurity that was reflected in an increasing incidence of piracy in the North and Baltic Seas. There was a war between Denmark and the German Hanse, and Dutch, English and Castilian pirates hijacked many passing ship.
71
Rotz/Hanseatic towns: What happened after the mid-fourteenth century to the old merchant families, and what tensions did this cause?
After the mid-fourteenth century, however,according to this school of thought,descend ants of these old merchant families turned increasingly to more secure investments in land, annuities, or urban property, while nevertheless keeping their grip on town government. Since commerce was the life-blood of these towns, this transfer of capital eventually led to an estrangement of the town elite and its government from the large segment of the population that still lived primarily from merchant activeity; the latter group (including "pure merchants," mercers, drapers, and some guildsmen with commercial interests such as goldsmiths, brewers for export, and so on) sought political power in part to force a return to a more commercially oriented government
72
What happened in Flanders, 1306?
Devaluation of the currency of about 39 per cent. The result was automatic. Prices shot up, and creditors demanded payment at the higher rate.
73
What did Froissart suggest about the rebellion in England, 1381?
"Owing to the great ease and abundance of good in which the lower class was living, the rebellion broke out."
This is in the mindset that the richest peasnats make for good officers in the revolution.
74
What has to be said about the nature of famine in the coming of rebellions?
Every famine does not provoke rebellion. There was none, for example, in the days of the great calamity of 1315-17. In all the countries on the Atlantic seaboard a succession of bad seasons had destroyed the crops and raised the price of corn. The poor died of hunger in thousands. The example of Flanders is particularly striking
75
What grievances did the people of Catalonia have with their lords?
The peasants demanded an end to the practice of lords spending the night with peasant brides or, as a symbol of lordship, claiming a right to "pass over" the newly married woman while she lay in bed. This was regarded by the peasants not only as evil but as a degrading symbol of unjust subjugation.
76
What ill did William of Padua target?
The use of **purveyance -** The alleged prerogative of the king to provide for his household and troops when touring the realm by confiscating local goods or purchasing them at a fixed, non-negotiable price.
77
What had become an essentially indirect tax by 1300 in England?
Purveyance
78
What case does Cohn put forward with regards Münster?
Revolutionary millenarianism took place against a background of disaster:
* Following the plagues which preluded the First Crusade and Second Crusade
* The greatest wave of millenarian excitement was precipitated by the most universal natural disaster of the Middle Ages - the Black Death -
79
What did Jan Matthys do, on the pretence of Anabaptism?
Jan Matthys – refer to highlights – regime of terror – book burnings, expulsion, murder in the name of establishing a communal state
80
What could be said of the peasants' revolts in Catalonia, 16th century?
The successful peasants' rebellion may be regarded as the product of an unusually prolonged economic crisis. Or alternatively, the disastrous condition of Catalonia in 1500 may have been the result not of a long earlier decline but the immediate shock of the civil wars.
81
What instigated the Jacquerie? (1358)
***Long Term:*** To secure their rights, the French privileged classes — the nobility, the merchant elite, and the clergy — forced the peasantry to pay ever-increasing taxes (for example, the taille) and to repair their war-damaged properties under corvée — without compensation.
***Short Term***: The passage of a law that required the peasants to defend the châteaux that were emblems of their oppression was the immediate cause of the spontaneous uprising.
82
What are the varying responses to the Jacquerie?
The chronicle of Jean de Venette articulates the perceived problems between the nobility and the peasants, yet some historians, such as Samuel K. Cohn, see the Jacquerie revolts as a reaction to a combination of short- and long-term effects dating from as early as the grain crisis and famine of 1315.
83
Who did the Popolo Grosso piss off?
The dominant elite, the popolo grasso, the bourgeois of the wealthiest guilds, who were in future to control the town to the resentment of the *popolo minuto.*
84
What did Pierenne show about the revolts in Bruges and Ypres?
Pirenne has proved that the revolt which shook Bruges and Ypres for several years was led by relatively well-off peasants, not by the poor
(This connects to the Cohn analysis of the Alpi Florentine - suggests that the base bugher alone lacked the capacity to engage in all out war. Also aligns to the M. Mate argument that the better off peasant is a good general)
85
Who makes the case for Malthusian constraints being the dominant causal factor of conflict?
M. M. Postan and Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie have suggested that the revolts were a response to the hardship imposed by Malthusian constraints
86
What do Marxists think about the matter?
Marxists, such as Guy Bois, contend that they were the physical manifestation of feudalism’s being undone by its own contradictions
87
Who makes the case for psychological driving forces behind revolution?
Strayer diverges from every one of these, arguing that economic explanations cannot provide a full picture, and a psychological understanding of participants in uprisings is necessary.[1]
## Footnote
[1] Joseph R. Strayer, ‘The Fourth and Fourteenth Centuries’, American Historical Review, vol. 77, p.7
88
What is the Fourquin definition of a revolt?
A reflexive reaction to an intolerable status quo
89
If a rebellion is the desire for political aims within an existing system, and a revolution is the destruction of the system itself, what is it that Fourquin argues about the nature of the rebels in the fifteenth century?
the men if the Middle Ages were sometimes insurgents but they were never revolutionaries.
90
What is the word for mutually destructive activity?
internecine
91
What is Strayer's perspective on the rebellions of the time?
"Uprisings were warnings to the state that it must do its job better; they were not attempts to create a completely new society."
92
Evidence of the little motivation required to service the escalation of rebellions
Rapid escalations required very little provocation: in **Viterbo** in **1367**, a member of the **retinue of the Cardinal of Carcassonne murdered a woman** who shouted at him for washing a dog in the fountain, and **in response the people rose and killed the servants of several other cardinals.**
93
Why did the Piacenza revolt in 1250?
In 1250, Piacenza revolted over high food prices, and Florence over magnatial incompetence.
94
Why did mobs form in Bruges, 1280?
Bruges in 1280 witnessed a mob demanding reform to the office of alderman and to the council
95
Why was there a revolt in Calais, 1298?
In 1298 in Calais, there was a revolt against high debt and oligarchic control of industries.
96
Evidence of varigating causes within a singular region
In Flanders between 1279 and 1281, protests broke out amongst the artisans in Damme against maladministration of taxes and the contravention of guilds’ rights, amongst the cloth workers in Ypres against their employers, and in Bruges and Ghent as part of a running conflict between rival branches of the patriciate
97
Why did some middling rebels desire upheaval?
Social mobility. There was good reason for social groups to wish to elevate themselves: in many cities, such as Ghent[1] and Siena,[2] official membership of the patriciate was accompanied by special legal privileges
## Footnote
[1] Nicholas, pp.181-82
[2] Bowsky, p.3
98
What often maintained social structures?
The overbearing infleunce of greater authorities:
* The coppersmiths of Diant could not maintain their own self-governing corporation, as it was compelled to relinquish control by the Bishop of Liége (who sieged the town)
* Lords were cognisant of the troubles - When various towns of Flanders, including Ypres, Douai, and Bruges, revolted in 1290, rioting, attacking property, and in Douai assassinating eleven magistrates, the Count of Flanders put the rebellions down forcibly and executed participants.
99
How many died in the Black Death?
Ziegler - 30-60% of the European population, between 1348-50
100
What English rebellion is closely tied to the Black Death?
Wat Tyler's rebellion of 1381 - or the Peasant's Rebellion.
***Did not want to overthrow the king. Wanted reform.***
Was not solely about money. The peasants also sought increased liberty and other social reforms. They demanded that each labourer be allowed to work for the employer of his choice, and sought an end to serfdom and other rigid social demarcation. There were uprisings across England, with much of the unrest focused on Essex and Kent. The uprising represented a significant part of English society in those regions, including nobility and wealthy religious establishments
101
**Ciompi Revolt**
What was the Ciompi revolt?
The Revolt of the Ciompi was a rebellion among unrepresented labourers which occurred in Florence, Italy from 1378 to 1382. Those who revolted consisted of artisans, labourers, and craftsmen who did not belong to any guilds and were therefore unable to participate in the Florentine government. These labourers had grown increasingly resentful over the established patrician oligarchy. In addition, they were expected to pay heavy taxes which they could not afford, forcing some to abandon their homes. The resulting insurrection over such tensions led to the creation of a government composed of wool workers and other disenfranchised workers which lasted for three and a half years.
102
**Ciompi Revolt**
Who are the key stakeholders in the revolt?
Representing the middle and upper class was Salvestro de' Medici. Representing the lower class was the mysterious group known as "The Eight (Saints)". Finally caught in the middle of these two groups is Michele di Lando. He was "separated from his social superior due to inferior birth, but he was also separated by his peers by his superior vision". Salvestro de' Medici was seen as a problem with the Ciompi uprising
103
**Ciompi Revolt**
What happened between the years 1339 and 1349?
Between the years of 1339 to 1349, wealthy houses went bankrupt and markets were reduced. The economy never peaked again but there were no sharp declines either, except for minor political and military disputes familiar to Florence. Economic grievances had drawn artisans and wage-labourers into Florentine politics from the mid-fourteenth century.
104
**Ciompi Revolt**
How did Florence finance the conflict with Pisa and the Ubaldini?
Florence fell deeper in debt, and the oligarchy burdened those living in the countryside with increasing taxation. As taxes kept on increasing, the highlanders chose to flee, worsening a labor shortage, already present after the Black Death. Furthermore, there were increasing differences in wealth between the popolo minuto and the patriciates. In fact, before the Ciompi, there were already rebellions organized by laborers, such as the October 9, 1343 revolt by wool workers led by the Sienese Aldobrando di Ciecharino, who lived in Florence.
105
**Ciompi Revolt**
Who did the Ciompi resent?
The Ciompi resented the controlling power that was centred in the Arte della Lana—the textile-manufacturing establishment which guided the economic engine of Florence's prosperity—and was supported by the other major Guilds of Florence (the Arti maggiori) as well as the limitations they faced in influencing politics, and the lower wages and exploitation they experienced as a result of their exclusion from the guild system. The consequent revolt of 1378 marked the high point of labour agitation in Florence.
106
**Ciompi Revolt**
Who were the Ciompi?
Wool carders and other non-guilded workers who rose up to demand a voice in the commune's ordering in addition to enacting debt and tax reforms. The revolt was an outburst of proletariat unrest in the city of Florence that began in June 1378 and consisted of three phases ending in August of the same yea
107
**Ciompi Revolt**
How did the Ciompi revolt contribute to the rise of the Medici?
After the Ciompi Uprising, the restored Florentine government did attempted to alleviate the plight of Ciompi artisans, such as a reform to lesser the burden of taxation. Yet, the rebellion left a permanent scar in the Florentine elites’ mind (both the new and the old nobility) and created their everlasting fear and hatred toward the Ciompi. This scar built a tension between the new nobilities and the lower labouring class greater than that prior to the uprising. The elites were constantly paranoid of the working class’s secret plotting against them, and began to favour a more authoritative and autocratic government, which may be more centralized, stronger in crushing a revolt. This eventually gave rise to the Medici family, the most powerful banking family of Florence, whose power outweighed Salvestro de' Medici's bad reputation, and became the de facto ruler of Florence in the 15th century, drastically changing the character of the Florentine communal government
108
**Peasant's Revolt**
What triggered the Peasant's Revolt of 1381?
The revolt had various causes, including the socio-economic and political tensions generated by the Black Death in the 1340s, the high taxes resulting from the conflict with France during the Hundred Years' War, and instability within the local leadership of London. The final trigger for the revolt was the intervention of a royal official, John Bampton, in Essex on 30 May 1381. His attempts to collect unpaid poll taxes in Brentwoodended in a violent confrontation, which rapidly spread across the south-east of the country
109
**Peasant's Revolt**
How was it that the economy disintegrated as a result of the Black Death?
The death rate among the peasantry meant that suddenly land was relatively plentiful and manpower in much shorter supply. Labourers could charge more for their work and, in the consequent competition for labour, wages were driven sharply upwards. In turn, the profits of landowners were eroded. The trading, commercial and financial networks in the towns disintegrated.
110
**Peasant's Revolt**
How did economic opportunity expand for the English peasantry?
Over the next few decades, economic opportunities increased for the English peasantry. Some labourers took up specialist jobs that would have previously been barred to them, and others moved from employer to employer, or became servants in richer households. These changes were keenly felt across the south-east of England, where the London market created a wide range of opportunities for farmers and artisans
111
**Peasant's Revolt**
Dyer: By how much had purchasing power increased in 40 years, 1340-1380?
Wages continued to rise, and between the 1340s and the 1380s the purchasing power of rural labourers increased by around 40 percent.
112
**Peasant's Revolt**
How did the establishment respond to the wealth of the peasantry?
As the wealth of the lower classes increased, Parliament brought in fresh laws in 1363 to prevent them from consuming expensive goods formerly only affordable by the elite. These sumptuary laws proved unenforceable, but the wider labour laws continued to be firmly applied.
113
**Peasant's Revolt**
What sort of economic pressure was the campaign in France applying on the state?
By the 1370s, England's armies on the continent were under huge military and financial pressure; the garrisons in Calais and Brest alone, for example, were costing £36,000 a year to maintain, while military expeditions could consume £50,000 in only six months.
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**Peasant's Revolt**
Describe the introduction of the poll tax
Just before Edward's death, Parliament introduced a new form of taxation called the poll tax, which was levied at the rate of four pence on every person over the age of 14, with a deduction for married couples. Designed to spread the cost of the war over a broader economic base than previous tax levies, this round of taxation proved extremely unpopular but raised £22,000. The war continued to go badly and, despite raising some money through forced loans, the Crown returned to Parliament in 1379 to request further funds. The Commons were supportive of the young King, but had concerns about the amounts of money being sought and the way this was being spent by the King's counsellors, whom they suspected of corruption.[36] A second poll tax was approved, this time with a sliding scale of taxes against seven different classes of English society, with the upper classes paying more in absolute terms. Widespread evasion proved to be a problem, and the tax only raised £18,600 — far short of the £50,000 that had been hoped for.
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**Peasant's Revolt**
In 1380, how much was needed in tax?
£160,000
This was to be secured by a 3rd poll tax at 12 pence for over 15, without marriage concessions.
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**Sicilian Vespers**
What were the Sicilian Vespers?
The name given to the successful rebellion on the island of Sicily that broke out at Easter, 1282 against the rule of the French-born king Charles I, who had ruled the Kingdom of Sicily since 1266. Within six weeks, three thousand French men and women were slain by the rebels, and the government of King Charles lost control of the island. It was the beginning of the War of the Sicilian Vespers.
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**Sicilian Vespers**
Why did unrest simmer under Charles of Anjou?
Unrest simmered in Sicily because of its very subordinate role in Charles's empire — its nobles had no share in the government of their own island and were not compensated by lucrative posts abroad, as were Charles's French, Provençal and Neapolitan subjects; also Charles spent the heavy taxes he imposed on wars outside Sicily, making Sicily somewhat of a donor economy to Charles' nascent empire. As **Steven Runciman** put it, *"[The Sicilians] saw themselves now being ruled to enable an alien tyrant make conquests from which they would have no benefit"*
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**Sicilian Vespers**
What happened immediately after the events at the start of Vespers in Palermo?
After leaders were elected in Palermo, messengers spread word across the island for the rebels to strike before the French had time to organise resistance. In a fortnight the rebels gained control over most of the island, and within six weeks it was all under rebel control, except for Messina which was well fortified, and whose leading family, the Riso, remained faithful to Charles. But on 28 April it too broke into open revolt and, most significantly, the islanders' first act was to set fire to Charles's fleet in the harbor
119
**Hussites**
Who were the Hussites?
The Hussites were a Christian movement in the Kingdom of Bohemia following the teachings of Czech reformer Jan Hus (c. 1369–1415), who became the best-known representative of the Bohemian Reformation and one of the forerunners of the Protestant Reformation. This predominantly religious movement was propelled by social issues and strengthened Czech national awareness.
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**Hussites**
What did the Hussites do?
After the Council of Constance lured Jan Hus in with a letter of indemnity, then tried him for heresy and put him to death at the stake on 6 July 1415, the Hussites fought the Hussite Wars (1420–1434) for their religious and political cause.
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**Hussites**
What did the Hussites do?
After the Council of Constance lured Jan Hus in with a letter of indemnity, then tried him for heresy and put him to death at the stake on 6 July 1415, the Hussites fought the Hussite Wars (1420–1434) for their religious and political cause.
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**Hussites**
What did Hus believe?
De Ecclesia, written in 1413 and have been most frequently quoted and admired or criticized, and yet their first ten chapters are but an epitome of Wycliffe's work of the same title, and the following chapters are but an abstract of another of Wycliffe's works (De potentate papae) on the power of the Pope. Wycliffe had written his book to oppose the common position that the Church consisted only of the clergy, and Hus now found himself making the same point.
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**Hussites**
What was Hus's legacy?
Jan Hus was a key contributor to Protestantism, whose teachings had a strong influence on the states of Europe and on Martin Luther. The Hussite Wars resulted in the Basel Compacts which allowed for a reformed church in the Kingdom of Bohemia—almost a century before such developments would take place in the Lutheran Reformation. The Unitas Fratrum (or Moravian Church) considers itself a spiritual heir to many of Hus' followers. Hus' extensive writings earn him a prominent place in Czech literary history.
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**Hussites**
What were the immediate responses to Hus's condemnation in 1415?
When news of his death at the Council of Constance in 1415 arrived, disturbances broke out, directed primarily against the clergyand especially against the monks. Even the Archbishop narrowly escaped from the effects of this popular anger. The treatment of Hus was felt to be a disgrace inflicted upon the whole country and his death was seen as a criminal act. King Wenceslaus, prompted by his grudge against Sigismund, at first gave free vent to his indignation at the course of events in Constance. His wife openly favoured the friends of Hus. Avowed Hussites stood at the head of the government.
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**Hussites**
What are the Four Articles of Prague?
The programme of the more conservative Hussites (the moderate party) is contained in the Four Articles of Prague, which were written by Jakoubek ze Stříbra and agreed upon in July 1420, promulgated in the Latin, Czech, and German languages. The full text is about two pages long, but they are often summarized as:
* Freedom to preach the word of God
* Celebration of the communion under both kinds (bread and wine to priests and laity alike)
* Poverty of the clergy and expropriation of church property;
* Punishment for mortal sins i.e. the punishment of notorious sinners, among whom prostitutes are singled out for special attention
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What was Jack Cade's rebellion?
Jack Cade was the leader of a popular revolt against the government of England in 1450. At the time of the revolt, the weak and unpopular King Henry VI was on the throne. While little is known about the rebel leader himself, the events of the rebellion to which he gave his name are well recorded in fifteenth-century chronicles. The Jack Cade Rebellion stemmed from local grievances concerned about the corruption and abuse of power surrounding the king's regime and his closest advisors. Furthermore, the rebels were angered by the debt caused by years of warfare against France and the recent loss of Normandy. Leading an army of men from Kent and the surrounding counties, Jack Cade marched on London in order to force the government to end the corruption and remove the traitors surrounding the king's person.
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What rebellions therefore can be accounted for in this unit?
* English Peasant Revolt, 1381 (Wat Tyler's Rebellion)
* Jack Cade's Rebellion, 1450
* Hussite Revolt, 1430s
* Ciompi Uprising, 1378-1382
* Arezzo Feuds
* Florentine Alpi Feuds
* German Peasant Rebellions 1520s
* Munster
* Essen
* Flanders, Bruges, Liege, Ghent rebellions
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What causes therefore can be discussed?
* Economic Factors
* Demographic
* Political
* Malthusian
* Religious
* Geopolitical
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What were the Catalonia revolts of the 15th century known as?
Rebellion of the Remences or War of the Remences was a popular revolt in late medieval Europe against seignorial pressures that began in Catalonia in 1462 and ended a decade later without definitive result
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**Hilton & Ashton - The English Uprising of 1381**
* Traditional view (rejected) - dissolution of the traditional feudal order + advance of money economy)
* Xenophobic killing of Flemish recorded
* Destruction of manorial records was widespread during this period
* Unusual to see violence actually against lords - exception being the death of John Lakenheath in Bury St. Edmunds. Most were 'insulted' - such as the lady of Great Bromley
* Social status of rebels not easily defined.
* From records, can see land ownership (5-32) alongside sheep ownership - upto 80. Generally speaking, **wide spectrum of rural society, with a slight bias to the well off.** This could reflect the nature of government record keeping, which tend to give the names of leaders over rank and file. Does not contradict notion of peasant rebellion.
* Following black death, rising prosperity - increased ownership of flocks observable
*
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Evidence showing high property rates and high disposable income
Thomas Spryngefeld of Fristling - bought a 8 1/2 holding for £20 in 1379. In the same location, a tenant paid £12 for 20 acres in 1378, and after the revolt, land changed hands at 13s 4d per acre.
Still, this wealth was embryonic
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How did serf migration patterns change during this period?
Increased markedly post-1349 - fines incurred for departure were now servicable
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Show evidence of serfs asserting their freedom
John Clench and John Soule - Suffolk men - claimed freedom in 1360. In response, their lord - the bishop of Norwich, demanded 3s 4d for 'an unjust claim and rebellion' - also put into the stocks. Another tenant attempted to defend - was deprived of his lands until submitting to lord's grace + paying a fine.
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Show that the economic condition of the peasants leading the revolt in England were increasing before 138§
John Philip of Brandon (Suffolk) - accumulated 5 separate holdings in 1370s, became bailiff from warrener
John Fillfol, John Geffrey and James Atte Ford - acquired land in 1380.
Ergo, too narrow to suggest solely on the relationship of lord-tenant in 1381.
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What was a preceding revolt to 1381?
The Great Rumours of 1377 - uprisings attempting to secure liberties granted by a revered ruler - Richard. Motivated by millenarian and egalitarian thought of John Ball - contributing to an ideology of the medieval peasant movement.
Attempted to use ancient rights to resist feudal lordship - reliant on revered texts such as the Doomsday book.
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Raymond Cazelles - The Jacquerie
What happened in the Jacquerie?
28 May, 1358
In Saint-Leu d'Esserent - Nobles killed or expelled - immediate uprisings in neighbouring manors and villages - castles attacked.
Failed to enter Compiègne and Senlis.
Leader emerged - Guillaume Cale - attacked Marché de Meaux - defeated.
2 weeks long, brutally suppressed.
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Raymond Cazelles - The Jacquerie
What about the economic status of participants?
* Cannot be explained by economics - serfdom had disappeared all but Brie, Valois and Champagne
* Looking at *letters of remission*, can see occupational standing - shoemakers, coopers, masons, poultry sellers, butchers, cartwrights
* Could not have been cultivators - would not have risked damaging crop in May - would wait till end of summer/ autumn.
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Raymond Cazelles - The Jacquerie
What does Cazelles argue caused the Jacquerie?
* 3 political purposes, 2 mental attitudes:
* Regent - Charles - hoped to strike a major blow against bourgeois Parisians by preventing supplies reaching them via the river - block the Oise. Charles could also control stone - vital commodity - in Saint Leu
* Etienne Marcel and the burgesses associated with him - destruction of castles was to undermine strength of nobility
* King of Navarre - Territorial and monarchical ambitions - though did not contribute to rise of Jacques - indeed, set trap for Cade. Charles used the prestige for his own purposes.
Mentalities
* Anti-noble feelings from the military pushbacks in the 100 years war - Poitiers was a major blow - captured in *Complainte de la Bataille de Poitiers* from contemporary Francois de Montebelluna. Arguably dwindled in attempt at monarchical reformation in 1357, but remained underlying.
* Nobility feared the enoblement of merchants and the entry of law doctors into their ranks - existential crisis.
*
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Typical explanatory frameworks for European revolt as a general trend
* Samuel Cohn Jr - revolts in context to local developments
* Mollatt and Wolff = backdrop of the black death/ demographic crises'
* Hilton = Crisis of feudalism
* Victor Rutenberg - Proletarian struggle
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Cohn's Findings About Italian Experience of Revolt
1. Urban protests of the late Trecento did not spread to the countryside or provoke independent uprisings
2. Little peasant participation in the urban insurrections of the second half of the fourteenth century, contrary to England and France.
3. Florentine riots were urban, not rural (save the food riot of 1368)
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Ciompi - context
* 1343-1385 - 43 counts of riots and insurrection in criminal records of the capitano, podesta and Esecutore - probably mobilising 1000s at a time
* Critically, not about grain or food supply - bar one
* Should prices have been a determinant factor, 1375 would have been a critical year - not 1378. Contra **Professor Brucker** - prices actually fell in immediate years preceding the revolt.
* 81% of Ciompi revolters - disenfranchised wool workers
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What did the popolo minuto do?
Following the ousting of the old oligarchy, the popolo minuto introduced a Balìa of 32 - effectively ran the government of the commune until the insurrection of Otto di S. Maria Novella.
Also, on 25 and 29 July, Ciompi nominated own judges and officials in court.
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What have alternate historians argued about the nature of the Ciompi government?
Gene Brucker, Mollat, Wolff and de Roover
Intensely conservative - creation of three revolutionary guilds was a throwback to the restoration of the guild-world of Dino Compagni
Contradicting this, Samuel Cohn Jr
Balia introduced decisions which ran counter to the ancient prerogatives of the wool merchants and merchant banking class.
* Forced loans cut from 15% to 5%
* Gold and silver prices stabilised at 3.5 lire per florin
* Wool workers imposed production quotas to reduce unemployment and underemployment
* Abolition of forestiere meant wool merchants could no longer arbitrarily affect the personal and economic behaviour of their workers.
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What happened to the Balìa of 32?
* Overthrown in 6 weeks by more radical wing of popolo minuto, wanted to push movement further. Failure following resulted in a coalition between government and minor guildsmen.
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What led to the downfall of the Ciompi?
A utopian image of power, vainglory and even cash impelled some of the desperate populi minuti to ally or conspire with the patriciate.
'Long live the twenty-four guilds and death to the traitors who make us starve'
146
Where in Italy had the distinct lack of social upheaval led to a change in social structures?
Siena - The government of the Nine, an oligarchy composed largely of merchants and bankers, which rueld Siena without serious threat to its hegemony for nearly seven decades (1287-1355), transformed fundamentally old medieval judicial and political institutions. It whittled down the authority and police power of the Podesta and the Capitano and created three new judicial and executive bodies.
147
What limitations should be placed on the understanding of the relationship between the dukes of Burgundy and the Low Countries
The dukes were cognisant of, and participant in, the traditions of revolt of the region - in fact, did a great deal to try and placate the violent nature of the Low Countries by changing the political identity of the region.
148
What was the revolt of Moerlemaaie?
1280 - discontented citizens stage coup against incumbent city government - due to fiscal mismanagement + general dishonesty. Introduction of new charter followed - which attempted to levy a fine on the populace. Led to cycle of violence, reimposition of order, and punishment by the count, continued for 10 years.
149
What happened in 1297?
Count Guy, who renounced fealty to Philip IV, faced invasion by the French. This led to the direct annexation of Bruges. Intense anti-French feeling predominated. Resulted in movements led by the Claws to remove French influence, culminating in the appointment of a new oligarchy from the people of Bruges. Called a democratic revolution, but still intensely oligarchical. Uprising still continued occasionally throughout the period. Remained intensely anti-royal.
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Who turned around the historiography of the 1381 peasants rebellion?
Hilton, who rejected the common thesis of the 1960s-70s, which saw the Peasant's rebellion as akin to the Jacquerie. Hilton instead proposed that it was very carefully orchestrated, and savvy - targetted affair for political gain, rather than completely chaotic.
