In many respects modern European history—its art, philosophy, politics, literature, and religion—had its roots in the fourteenth century.
In 1377 (the time of the story) the Kingdom of England was in the midst of a great crisis, as was all of Europe. The old king, Edward III, was dying. The heir to the throne was his grandson, a boy who at the age of ten would be crowned Richard II.
King Edward III had led his country into what historians would later call the Hundred Years’War, a dynastic struggle for land and power between England and the country we now call France. Not only was it ruinous to the common people, it wreacked havoc upon the English economy, because the king was forced to impose heavy and very unpopular taxes upon all classes to raise money for his armies.
In the same period almost all of Europe (including England) was still recovering from the Black Death, the recurring waves of bubonic plague that killed at least a third (and in many places even half) of the population.
There was also a climactic shift that caused long periods of dreadful weather (constant cold and rain), which in turn reduced crop production—and therefore caused food and fodder shortages. Starvation was rampant. As for the small numbers of those who ruled, they were fabulously rich.
If these calamities were not enough, the European Christian Church (what we today would call the Catholic Church) was in great turmoil, with the contending existence of two popes: one in Italy, the other in France. Each one was backed by warring political factions. All this led to a great desire for reform inside and outside the Church.
Corruption, death, and cruelty were everywhere in both secular and religious society. It has been suggested that the only period to witness an equal amount of devastation was the twentieth century.
In England there was a desire for change, too. In the realm of religion, a group of people known as the Lollards emerged. They wanted major reforms in the Church, including an end of corruption, and a return to what they believed were “original” Christian practices based on simplicity and biblical injunction. It was, in short, the beginning of the Reformation.
In many places in Europe there were violent peasant uprisings. In southern England, just four years after the time of this story, a great revolution erupted, later known as the Peasant Revolution of 1381. The peasants demanded, among other things, an end to serfdom, as well as far greater political equality. They were almost successful.
The historical record suggests that the revolt was as spontaneous as it was murderous. The notion of a brotherhood conspiring to ferment revolution—as told in this story—is my invention. But surely, such talk was common.
The short-lived rebellion of 1381 was terribly bloody, both in the acts committed by the rebels, and in their suppression. One of the key leaders of the peasants’ revolt was John Ball, the only historical person in this story. When the revolution failed, he was executed.
While we do not know when John Ball was born, we do know that he was an English priest who was well known for preaching radical ideas, such as the end of the feudal system (serfdom), as well as the common ownership of property. In 1364 he was excommunicated by the Bishop of London, freed, and then again put in prison for life. During the rebellion he was freed by the rebels, and became a leader of the movement, in which some 30,000 men took part. A contemporary historian of the period, Jean Froissart, has called John Ball’s sermon to the rebels “the most moving plea for social equality in the history of the English language.”
After the rebellion was suppressed, Ball was caught, hanged, drawn, and quartered.
One example of the era’s popular political sentiment—at least among those not in the aristocracy—may be found in this couplet from a sermon delivered on June 13, 1381 by John Ball at Blackheath (near London) to the rebels of the 1381 uprising:
When Adam dalj and Eve span
Who was then a gentilman?
Ball, like his listeners, spoke Middle English. When Adam dalf and Eve span means “When Adam dug and Eve spun.” Ball is referring to the book of Genesis in the Bible. After being exiled by God from the Garden of Eden, where they lived naked and could eat fruit from the trees, the first man and woman were forced to work: they had to plant crops to grow their own food, and they had to spin wool and thread to make their own clothing. In the very beginning of society, everyone had to work equally. Ball is saying that when there were only Adam and Eve, there was no upper class. Or to put it in more modern terms, “All men are created equal.”
One final note: crosses of lead are not my invention. You can see a whole case of them on display in the British Museum, London, England.
Avi
August 19, 2001