‘The Uprising’ shows how medieval people weren’t so obedient after all

The piece surveys medieval popular revolts, including England's 1381 Peasants' Revolt sparked by a regressive poll tax under 12-year-old King Richard II, who promised reforms and then reneged once the uprising was crushed.

It also covers France's Jacquerie of 1358 and Florence's 1378 Ciompi revolt, arguing that guilds and religious confraternities gave ordinary people networks to organize collective grievances against rulers who failed their obligations.

The article ties this history to the new film 'The Uprising' starring Andrew Garfield, using it to push back on the assumption that medieval people were politically passive before the Renaissance.

The full dispatch is available from the source below.