The English then, taking leave of the constable and the knights with him, came to their lodgings, where every thing was packed up and ready. They mounted their horses, departed from Château Josselin, and rode straight to Pontorson and Mont St. Michel. They were under the escort of that gallant knight Le Barrois des Barres, who never quitted them in Brittany or Normandy until they had arrived in Cherbourg.
CHAPTER III.
The Populace of England rebel against the Nobility.
THERE happened in England great commotions among the lower ranks of the people, by which England was near ruined without resource. Never was a country in such jeopardy as this was at that period, and all through the too great comfort of the commonalty. Rebellion was stirred up as it was formerly done in France by the Jacques Bons-hommes, who did much evil, and sore troubled the kingdom of France. It is marvellous from what a trifle this pestilence raged in England. In order that it may serve as an example to mankind, I will speak of all that was done, from the information I had at the time on the subject.
It is customary in England, as well as in several other countries, for the nobility to have great privileges over the commonalty, whom they keep in bondage: that is to say, they are bound by law and custom to plough the lands of gentlemen, to harvest the grain, to carry it home to the barn, to thresh and winnow it; they are also bound to harvest the hay, and carry it home. All these services they are obliged to perform for their lords, and many more in England than in other countries. The prelates and gentlemen are thus served. In the counties of Kent, Essex, Sussex, and Bedford, these services are more oppressive than in all the rest of the kingdom.
The evil-disposed in these districts began to rise, saying they were too severely oppressed; that at the beginning of the world there were no slaves, and no one ought to be treated as such unless he had committed treason against his lord as Lucifer had done against God; but they had done no such thing, for they were neither angels nor spirits, but men formed after the same likeness with their lords, who treated them as beasts. This they would not longer bear, but had determined to be free; and, if they labored or did any other works for their lords, they would be paid for it.
A crazy priest in the county of Kent, called John Ball, who for his absurd preaching had been thrice confined in the prison of the Archbishop of Canterbury, was greatly instrumental in inflaming them with those ideas. He was accustomed every Sunday after mass, as the people were coming out of the church, to preach to them in the market-place, and assemble a crowd around him, to whom he would say, “My good friends, things cannot go on well in England, nor ever will, until every thing shall be in common; when there shall neither be vassal nor lord, and all distinctions levelled; when the lords shall be no more masters than ourselves. How ill they have used us! and for what reason do they thus hold us in bondage? Are we not all descended from the same parents, Adam and Eve? And what can they show, or what reasons give, why they should be more the masters than ourselves, except, perhaps, in making us labor and work for them to spend? They are clothed in velvets and rich stuffs ornamented with ermine and other furs, while we are forced to wear poor cloth; they have wines, spices, and fine bread, when we have only rye and the refuse of the straw, and, if we drink, it must be water; they have handsome seats and manors, when we must brave the wind and rain in our labors in the field: but it is from our labor they have wherewith to support their pomp. We are called slaves, and if we do not perform our services we are beaten; and we have not any sovereign to whom we can complain, or who wishes to hear us and do us justice. Let us go to the king, who is young, and remonstrate with him on our servitude; telling him we must have it otherwise, or that we shall find a remedy for it ourselves. If we wait on him in a body, all those who come under the appellation of slaves, or are held in bondage, will follow us in the hopes of being free. When the king shall see us, we shall obtain a favorable answer, or we must then seek ourselves to amend our condition.”
These promises stirred up those in the counties of Kent, Essex, Sussex, and Bedford, and the adjoining country, so that they marched toward London; and, when they arrived near, they were upward of sixty thousand. They had a leader called Wat Tyler, and with him were Jack Straw and John Ball: these three were their commanders, but the principal was Wat Tyler. This Wat had been a tiler of houses, a bad man, and a great enemy to the nobility. When these wicked people first began to rise, all London, except their friends, were very much frightened. The mayor and rich citizens assembled in council on hearing they were coming to London, and debated whether they should shut the gates, and refuse to admit them; but, having well considered, they determined not to do so, as they should run the risk of having the suburbs burnt.
The gates were therefore thrown open, when they entered in troops of one to two hundred, by twenties or thirties, according to the populousness of the towns they came from; and as they came into London they lodged themselves. But it is a truth that full two-thirds of these people knew not what they wanted, nor what they sought for: they followed one another like sheep, or like the shepherds of old who said they were going to conquer the Holy Land, and afterwards accomplished nothing. In such manner did these poor fellows and vassals come to London from distances of a hundred and sixty leagues, but the greater part from those counties I have mentioned, and on their arrival they demanded to see the king. The gentlemen of the country, the knights, and the squires began to be alarmed when they saw the people thus rise; and if they were frightened they had sufficient reason, for less causes create fear. They began to collect together as well as they could.
The same day that these wicked men of Kent were on their road toward London, the Princess of Wales, mother to the king, was returning from a pilgrimage to Canterbury. She ran great risks from them; for these scoundrels attacked her car, and caused much confusion, which greatly frightened the good lady lest they should do some violence to her or to her ladies. God, however, preserved her from this; and she came in one day from Canterbury to London without venturing to make any stop by the way. Her son Richard was this day in the Tower of London: thither the princess came, and found the king attended by the Earl of Salisbury, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Sir Robert de Namur, the Lord de Gommegines, and several more, who had kept near his person from suspicions of his subjects who were thus assembling without knowing what they wanted. This rebellion was well known to be in agitation in the king’s palace before it broke out, and the country people had left their homes, to which the king applied no remedy, to the great astonishment of every one. In order that gentlemen and others may take example, and correct wicked rebels, I will most amply detail how this business was conducted.