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adam_mcphee 's review for:
The Jacquerie of 1358: A French Peasants' Revolt
by Justine Firnhaber-Baker
The author does a fantastic job of deepening the story of the Jacquerie of 1358, showing us that Froissart's iconic account is mostly aristocratic propaganda. There's a ton of original research, mostly using remissions (pardons) from after the ruckus.
So after the Black Death, there's the disaster of the Battle of Poitiers, the blame for which falls entirely on the nobles, who dismissed the communal levies of Jacques Bonhommes, the non-noble soldiers. The King is taken hostage by the English. His son, the Dauphin, becomes regent and needs to raise a ransom. For this, some reform is needed. Etienne Marcel leads a party of reformers in Paris against the party of the reactionary nobles. He seems to have some contact with certain leaders in the provinces. The King of Navarre lurks all the while in the background, seen by many as a threat or an alternative to the Dauphin's rule of France.
Etienne and a mob of Parisian non-nobles (who should not be conflated with the non-nobles in the towns and countryside) gives a rousing speech, has everyone put on matching hoods, and then go and murder two marshals of France while the Dauphin watches. He even puts a hood on the Dauphin.
Shit starts kicking off. The author does a good job of showing that it was not a spontaneous, undisciplined revolt. The captains and subcaptains were in contact with each other, and Paris. The destruction of certain castles at such speed must have been planned. At the same time, the Jacques often took matters into their own hands and ignored strategic opportunities to murder nobles. And yet the author makes a convincing case that the accusations of peasants raping noblewomen (and allegedly committing cannibalism, in one case!) was almost certainly noble hysteria.
In the end, the Jacques just didn't have what it took to win. Still, they are too numerous to punish them all. A counter-Jacquerie takes place for a bit with nobles attacking peasants. The Dauphin, after merking a few choice enemies, issues a general pardon to both Jacques and non-Jacques (excluded are those who tried to put Navarre on the throne), though people could still sue each other in civil court for damages (if they could afford it). The remissions (pardons) helped the Dauphin reestablish control, reinforce the Crown's authority, and establish a narrative of the Jacquerie being spontaneous.
So after the Black Death, there's the disaster of the Battle of Poitiers, the blame for which falls entirely on the nobles, who dismissed the communal levies of Jacques Bonhommes, the non-noble soldiers. The King is taken hostage by the English. His son, the Dauphin, becomes regent and needs to raise a ransom. For this, some reform is needed. Etienne Marcel leads a party of reformers in Paris against the party of the reactionary nobles. He seems to have some contact with certain leaders in the provinces. The King of Navarre lurks all the while in the background, seen by many as a threat or an alternative to the Dauphin's rule of France.
Etienne and a mob of Parisian non-nobles (who should not be conflated with the non-nobles in the towns and countryside) gives a rousing speech, has everyone put on matching hoods, and then go and murder two marshals of France while the Dauphin watches. He even puts a hood on the Dauphin.
Shit starts kicking off. The author does a good job of showing that it was not a spontaneous, undisciplined revolt. The captains and subcaptains were in contact with each other, and Paris. The destruction of certain castles at such speed must have been planned. At the same time, the Jacques often took matters into their own hands and ignored strategic opportunities to murder nobles. And yet the author makes a convincing case that the accusations of peasants raping noblewomen (and allegedly committing cannibalism, in one case!) was almost certainly noble hysteria.
In the end, the Jacques just didn't have what it took to win. Still, they are too numerous to punish them all. A counter-Jacquerie takes place for a bit with nobles attacking peasants. The Dauphin, after merking a few choice enemies, issues a general pardon to both Jacques and non-Jacques (excluded are those who tried to put Navarre on the throne), though people could still sue each other in civil court for damages (if they could afford it). The remissions (pardons) helped the Dauphin reestablish control, reinforce the Crown's authority, and establish a narrative of the Jacquerie being spontaneous.