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The Jacquerie () was a
popular revolt This is a chronological list of conflicts in which peasants played a significant role. Background The history of peasant wars spans over two thousand years. A variety of factors fueled the emergence of the peasant revolt phenomenon, including: ...
by
peasant A peasant is a pre-industrial agricultural laborer or a farmer with limited land-ownership, especially one living in the Middle Ages under feudalism and paying rent, tax, fees, or services to a landlord. In Europe, three classes of peasa ...
s that took place in northern
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
in the early summer of 1358 during the
Hundred Years' War The Hundred Years' War (; 1337–1453) was a series of armed conflicts between the kingdoms of England and France during the Late Middle Ages. It originated from disputed claims to the French throne between the English House of Plantagen ...
. The revolt was centred in the valley of the
Oise Oise ( ; ; pcd, Oése) is a department in the north of France. It is named after the river Oise. Inhabitants of the department are called ''Oisiens'' () or ''Isariens'', after the Latin name for the river, Isara. It had a population of 829,41 ...
north of
Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...
and was suppressed after a few weeks of violence. This rebellion became known as "the Jacquerie" because the nobles derided peasants as "Jacques" or "Jacques Bonhomme" for their padded
surplice A surplice (; Late Latin ''superpelliceum'', from ''super'', "over" and ''pellicia'', "fur garment") is a liturgical vestment of Western Christianity. The surplice is in the form of a tunic of white linen or cotton fabric, reaching to th ...
, called a "
jacque Jacque is a given name and a surname which may refer to: __NOTOC__ People * Jacque Batt (died 2014), American First Lady of Idaho 1994-1999 * Jaque Fourie (born 1983), South African former rugby union rugby player * Jacque Fresco (1916–2017), Am ...
". The aristocratic chronicler
Jean Froissart Jean Froissart (Old and Middle French: ''Jehan'', – ) (also John Froissart) was a French-speaking medieval author and court historian from the Low Countries who wrote several works, including ''Chronicles'' and ''Meliador'', a long Arthurian ...
and his source, the chronicle of Jean le Bel, referred to the leader of the revolt as Jacque Bonhomme ("Jack Goodfellow"), though in fact the Jacquerie 'great captain' was named
Guillaume Cale Guillaume Cale (sometimes anglicized to William Kale, also known as Guillaume Caillet, popularly known as Jacques Bonhomme ("Jack Goodfellow") or Callet) was a wealthy peasant from the village of Mello near Beauvais, who became leader of the pea ...
. The word ''jacquerie'' became a synonym of peasant uprisings in general in both English and French.


Background

After the capture of the French king ( John II, Froissart's ''bon roi Jean'' "good king John") by the English during the
Battle of Poitiers The Battle of Poitiers was fought on 19September 1356 between a French army commanded by King JohnII and an Anglo- Gascon force under Edward, the Black Prince, during the Hundred Years' War. It took place in western France, south of Poit ...
in September 1356, power in France devolved fruitlessly among the Estates-General, King
Charles II of Navarre Charles II (10 October 1332 – 1 January 1387), called Charles the Bad, was King of Navarre 1349–1387 and Count of Évreux 1343–1387. Besides the Pyrenean Kingdom of Navarre, Charles had extensive lands in Normandy, inherited from his fathe ...
and John's son, the Dauphin, later
Charles V Charles V may refer to: * Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (1500–1558) * Charles V of Naples (1661–1700), better known as Charles II of Spain * Charles V of France (1338–1380), called the Wise * Charles V, Duke of Lorraine (1643–1690) * Infa ...
. The Estates-General was too divided to provide effective government and the disputes between the two rulers provoked disunity amongst the nobles. Consequently, the prestige of the French nobility sank to a new low. The century had begun poorly for the nobles at Courtrai (the "
Battle of the Golden Spurs The Battle of the Golden Spurs ( nl, Guldensporenslag; french: Bataille des éperons d'or) was a military confrontation between the royal army of France and rebellious forces of the County of Flanders on 11 July 1302 during the Franco-Flemis ...
"), where they fled the field and left their infantry to be hacked to pieces; they had also given up their king at the
Battle of Poitiers The Battle of Poitiers was fought on 19September 1356 between a French army commanded by King JohnII and an Anglo- Gascon force under Edward, the Black Prince, during the Hundred Years' War. It took place in western France, south of Poit ...
. 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 Corvée () is a form of unpaid, forced labour, that is intermittent in nature lasting for limited periods of time: typically for only a certain number of days' work each year. Statute labour is a corvée imposed by a state for the purposes of ...
'' – without compensation. The passage of a law that required the peasants to defend the ''
château A château (; plural: châteaux) is a manor house or residence of the lord of the manor, or a fine country house of nobility or gentry, with or without fortifications, originally, and still most frequently, in French-speaking regions. No ...
x'' that were emblems of their oppression was the immediate cause of the spontaneous uprising. The law was particularly resented as many commoners already blamed the nobility for the defeat at Poitiers. 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. In addition, bands of English, Gascon, German, and Spanish ''
routiers Routiers () were mercenary soldiers of the Middle Ages. Their particular distinction from other paid soldiers of the time was that they were organised into bands (''rutta'' or ''routes''). The term is first used in the 12th century but is parti ...
'' – unemployed mercenaries and bandits employed by the English during outbreaks of the Hundred Years' War – were left uncontrolled to loot, rape, and plunder the lands of northern France almost at will, with the Estates-General powerless to stop them. Many peasants questioned why they should work for an upper class that would not meet its feudal obligation to protect them.


Uprising

This combination of problems set the stage for a brief series of bloody rebellions in northern France in 1358. The uprisings began in a village of St. Leu near the
Oise Oise ( ; ; pcd, Oése) is a department in the north of France. It is named after the river Oise. Inhabitants of the department are called ''Oisiens'' () or ''Isariens'', after the Latin name for the river, Isara. It had a population of 829,41 ...
river, where a group of peasants met in a cemetery after vespers to discuss their perception that the nobles had abandoned the King at Poitiers. "They shamed and despoiled the realm, and it would be a good thing to destroy them all." The account of the rising by the contemporary chronicler Jean le Bel includes a description of horrifying violence. According to him, Examples of violence on this scale by the French peasants are offered throughout the medieval sources, including accounts by Jean de Venette and
Jean Froissart Jean Froissart (Old and Middle French: ''Jehan'', – ) (also John Froissart) was a French-speaking medieval author and court historian from the Low Countries who wrote several works, including ''Chronicles'' and ''Meliador'', a long Arthurian ...
, an aristocrat who was particularly unsympathetic to the peasants. Among the chroniclers, the one sympathetic to their plight is Jean de Venette, sometimes known as the continuator of the chronicle of Guillaume de Nangis. The peasants involved in the rebellion seem to have lacked any real organization, instead rising up locally as an unstructured mass. Jean le Bel speculated that governors and tax collectors spread the word of rebellion from village to village to inspire the peasants to rebel against the nobility. When asked as to the cause of their discontent they apparently replied that they were just doing what they had witnessed others doing. Additionally it seems that the rebellion contained some idea that it was possible to rid the world of nobles. Froissart's account portrays the rebels as mindless savages bent on destruction, which they wrought on over 150 noble houses and castles, murdering the families in horrific ways. Outbreaks occurred in
Rouen Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine in northern France. It is the prefecture of the region of Normandy and the department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one of the largest and most prosperous cities of medieval Europe, the population ...
and
Rheims Reims ( , , ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French department of Marne, and the 12th most populous city in France. The city lies northeast of Paris on the Vesle river, a tributary of the Aisne. Founded by ...
, while Senlis and Montdidier were sacked by the peasant army. The bourgeoisie of
Beauvais Beauvais ( , ; pcd, Bieuvais) is a city and commune in northern France, and prefecture of the Oise département, in the Hauts-de-France region, north of Paris. The commune of Beauvais had a population of 56,020 , making it the most popul ...
, Senlis, Paris,
Amiens Amiens (English: or ; ; pcd, Anmien, or ) is a city and commune in northern France, located north of Paris and south-west of Lille. It is the capital of the Somme department in the region of Hauts-de-France. In 2021, the population of ...
, and
Meaux Meaux () is a Communes of France, commune on the river Marne (river), Marne in the Seine-et-Marne Departments of France, department in the Île-de-France Regions of France, region in the Functional area (France), metropolitan area of Paris, Franc ...
, sorely pressed by the court party, accepted the Jacquerie, and the urban underclass were sympathetic.Vericour 1872:304. A small number of knights and squires provided leadership for some of the peasant bands, although in letters of pardon issued after the suppression of the rising, such individuals claimed that they were forced to do so. The Jacquerie must be seen in the context of this period of internal instability. At a time of personal government, the absence of a charismatic king was detrimental to the still-
feudal Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was the combination of the legal, economic, military, cultural and political customs that flourished in medieval Europe between the 9th and 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of structur ...
state. The Dauphin had to contend with roaming free companies of out-of-work mercenaries, the plotting of
Charles the Bad Charles II (10 October 1332 – 1 January 1387), called Charles the Bad, was King of Navarre 1349–1387 and Count of Évreux 1343–1387. Besides the Pyrenean Kingdom of Navarre, Charles had extensive lands in Normandy, inherited from his father ...
, and the possibility of another English invasion. The Dauphin gained effective control of the realm only after the supposed surrender of the city of Paris under the high bourgeois Étienne Marcel, ''prevôt des marchands'' in July 1358. Marcel had joined Cale's rebellion somewhat inadvisedly, and when his wealthy supporters deserted his cause, it cost him the city and his life, in September. It is notable that churches were not generally the targets of peasant fury, except in certain regions.


Suppression

The revolt was suppressed by French nobles and gentry led by
Charles the Bad Charles II (10 October 1332 – 1 January 1387), called Charles the Bad, was King of Navarre 1349–1387 and Count of Évreux 1343–1387. Besides the Pyrenean Kingdom of Navarre, Charles had extensive lands in Normandy, inherited from his father ...
of Navarre, cousin, brother-in-law, and mortal enemy of the Regent, whose throne he was attempting to usurp. His army and the peasant force opposed each other near Mello on 10 June 1358, when
Guillaume Cale Guillaume Cale (sometimes anglicized to William Kale, also known as Guillaume Caillet, popularly known as Jacques Bonhomme ("Jack Goodfellow") or Callet) was a wealthy peasant from the village of Mello near Beauvais, who became leader of the pea ...
, the leader of the rebellion, was invited to truce talks by Charles. He went to the enemy camp, where he was seized by the French nobles, who considered that the conventions and standards of chivalry did not apply to him; he was tortured and decapitated. His now leaderless army, claimed to be 20,000 strong in only Froissart's account, which was heavily influenced by the conventions of Romance, was ridden down by divisions of mounted knights. In the ensuing
Battle of Mello The Battle of Mello was the decisive and largest engagement of the Peasant Jacquerie of 1358, a rebellion of peasants in the Beauvais region of France, which caused an enormous amount of damage to this wealthy region at the height of the Hundred ...
and in a campaign of terror throughout the
Beauvais Beauvais ( , ; pcd, Bieuvais) is a city and commune in northern France, and prefecture of the Oise département, in the Hauts-de-France region, north of Paris. The commune of Beauvais had a population of 56,020 , making it the most popul ...
region, knights, squires, men-at-arms and mercenaries roamed the countryside
lynching Lynching is an extrajudicial killing by a group. It is most often used to characterize informal public executions by a mob in order to punish an alleged transgressor, punish a convicted transgressor, or intimidate people. It can also be an ex ...
peasants. Maurice Dommaget notes that the few hundred aristocratic victims of the ''Jacquerie'' were known as individuals to the chroniclers, who detailed the outrages practiced upon them. An estimated 20,000 anonymous peasants were killed in the reprisals that followed. The final events transpired at
Meaux Meaux () is a Communes of France, commune on the river Marne (river), Marne in the Seine-et-Marne Departments of France, department in the Île-de-France Regions of France, region in the Functional area (France), metropolitan area of Paris, Franc ...
, where the fortified citadel was crowded with knights and their dependents. On 9 June a band of some 800 armed commoners (not the 10,000 Jacques of Froissart's account) came out of Paris under the leadership of Etienne Marcel to support the rising. Like many of the peasants, they seem to have seen themselves as acting in the name of the imprisoned king. When the band from Paris appeared before Meaux they were taken in hospitably by the disaffected townspeople and fed. The fortress, somewhat apart from the town, remained unassailable. Two captain adventurers, returning from crusade against the pagans of Prussia, were at Châlons, Gaston Phebus, comte de Foix and his noble Gascon cousin the
Captal de Buch Captal de Buch (later Buché from Latin ''capitalis'', "first", "chief") was a medieval feudal title in Gascony held by Jean III de Grailly among others. According to Du Cange, the designation ''captal'' (''capital, captau, capitau'') was applied l ...
. The approach of their well-armed lancers encouraged the besieged nobles in the fortress, and a general rout of the Parisian force ensued. The nobles then set fire to the suburb nearest the fortress, entrapping the burghers in the flames. The mayor of Meaux and other prominent men of the city were hanged. There was a pause, then the force led by the nobles and gentry plundered the city and churches and set fire to Meaux, which burned for two weeks. They then overran the countryside, burning cottages and barns and slaughtering all the peasants they could find. The reprisals continued through July and August. Senlis defended itself. Knights of Hainault,
Flanders Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to cultu ...
, and
Brabant Brabant is a traditional geographical region (or regions) in the Low Countries of Europe. It may refer to: Place names in Europe * London-Brabant Massif, a geological structure stretching from England to northern Germany Belgium * Province of Bra ...
joined in the carnage. Following the declaration of amnesty issued by the Regent on 10 August 1358, such heavy fines were assessed upon the regions that had supported the Jacquerie that a general flight of peasantry ensued. Historian
Barbara Tuchman Barbara Wertheim Tuchman (; January 30, 1912 – February 6, 1989) was an American historian and author. She won the Pulitzer Prize twice, for ''The Guns of August'' (1962), a best-selling history of the prelude to and the first month of Worl ...
says: "Like every insurrection of the century, it was smashed, as soon as the rulers recovered their nerve, by weight of steel, and the advantages of the man on horseback, and the psychological inferiority of the insurgents". The slanted but vivid account of Froissart can be balanced by the Regent's letters of amnesty, a document that comments as severely on the nobles' reaction as on the peasants' rising and omits the atrocities detailed by Froissart: "it represents the men of the open country assembling spontaneously in various localities, in order to deliberate on the means of resisting the English, and suddenly, as with a mutual agreement, turning fiercely on the nobles". The Jacquerie traumatized the aristocracy. In 1872 Louis Raymond de Vericour remarked to the Royal Historical Society, "To this very day the word 'Jacquerie' does not generally give rise to any other idea than that of a bloodthirsty, iniquitous, groundless revolt of a mass of savages. Whenever, on the Continent, any agitation takes place, however slight and legitimate it may be, among the humbler classes, innumerable voices, in higher, privileged, wealthy classes, proclaim that society is threatened with a Jacquerie".


In the arts

*The contemporary literary chronicles were influenced by other medieval genres: romance,
satire Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming o ...
, and complaint. *The subject of the Jacquerie engaged the Romantic historical imagination, resulting in numerous nineteenth-century historical novels with somewhat operatic plots set against the backdrop of the Jacquerie—''The Jacquerie, or, The Lady and the Page: An Historical Romance'' by G. P. R James (1842) and the like— and even an opera, '' La jacquerie'', by
Édouard Lalo Édouard-Victoire-Antoine Lalo (27 January 182322 April 1892) was a French composer. His most celebrated piece is the '' Symphonie espagnole'', a five-movement concerto for violin and orchestra, which remains a popular work in the standard repe ...
. *In
Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian er ...
' '' Tale of Two Cities'', the revolutionaries call themselves "Jacques". * Eugène Sue's novel ''The Iron Trevet'' (part of Sue's "Mysteries of the People" sequence) gives a sympathetic account of the Jacquerie rebels."''The Iron Trevet'': Deals with the Jacquerie revolts and the peasants alliance with the revolutionary bourgeois of Paris..." Advertisement for "Mysteries of the People" by Eugène Sue. ''The New Review'' magazine, April 1915 (p. 245). *In
Thomas Love Peacock Thomas Love Peacock (18 October 1785 – 23 January 1866) was an English novelist, poet, and official of the East India Company. He was a close friend of Percy Bysshe Shelley and they influenced each other's work. Peacock wrote satirical novels, ...
's ''
Crotchet Castle ''Crotchet Castle'' is the sixth novel by Thomas Love Peacock, first published in 1831. As in his earlier novel '' Headlong Hall'', Peacock assembles a group of eccentrics, each with a single monomaniacal obsession, and derives humour and socia ...
'', Dr Folliott compares a local riot with the Jacquerie and expresses nostalgia for "that blessed middle period, after the Jacquerie was down and before the March of Mind was up". *
Arthur Conan Doyle Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930) was a British writer and physician. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for ''A Study in Scarlet'', the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Ho ...
's historical novel "
The White Company ''The White Company'' is a historical adventure by British writer Arthur Conan Doyle, set during the Hundred Years' War. The story is set in England, France and Spain, in the years 1366 and 1367, against the background of the campaign of Edward ...
" includes a chapter where the English free company of the title rescue French nobility from peasants of the Jacquerie - portrayed as savage and brutish. *The 1961 novel ''
A Walk with Love and Death ''A Walk with Love and Death'' is a 1969 American adventure drama historical romance war film directed by John Huston and starring Anjelica Huston and Assi Dayan. Plot The story is based on the 1961 novel by Hans Koningsberger, set at the time ...
'' by
Hans Koning Hans Koning (born Hans Königsberger, since 1949 officially Hans Konigsberger; July 12, 1921 – April 13, 2007) was a Dutch author of over 40 fiction and non-fiction books, was also a prolific journalist, contributing for almost 60 years to many ...
sberger takes place in northern France during the Jacquerie. The revolt provided the basis for a film of the same name directed by
John Huston John Marcellus Huston ( ; August 5, 1906 – August 28, 1987) was an American film director, screenwriter, actor and visual artist. He wrote the screenplays for most of the 37 feature films he directed, many of which are today considered ...
in 1969. *A somewhat fictionalized version of the Jacquerie is featured in the 1962 '' Blake and Mortimer'' comic album '' The Time Trap''. * German progressive rock band Eloy's 1975 concept album '' Power and the Passion'' partially takes place in France in 1358 with the Jacquerie being an important part of the story.


Notes


References

* J. B. Bury, ''The Cambridge Medieval History: Decline of Empire and Papacy'', Vol. VII. New York: Macmillan Company, 1932. *
Samuel K. Cohn, Jr. Samuel ''Šəmūʾēl'', Tiberian Hebrew, Tiberian: ''Šămūʾēl''; ar, شموئيل or صموئيل '; el, Σαμουήλ ''Samouḗl''; la, Samūēl is a figure who, in the narratives of the Hebrew Bible, plays a key role in the transit ...
, ''Popular Protest in Late Medieval Europe.'' Manchester: Manchester University Press. *Justine Firnhaber-Baker, ''The Jacquerie of 1358: A French Peasants' Revolt''. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2021. *
Jean Froissart Jean Froissart (Old and Middle French: ''Jehan'', – ) (also John Froissart) was a French-speaking medieval author and court historian from the Low Countries who wrote several works, including ''Chronicles'' and ''Meliador'', a long Arthurian ...
. ''Chronicles.'' London: Penguin Books, 1978. {{Authority control Conflicts in 1358 14th-century rebellions Conflicts of the Hundred Years' War Popular revolt in late-medieval Europe 1358 in England 1350s in France Protests in France Peasant revolts Rebellions in France