Jacquerie
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The Jacquerie was a popular revolt in late medieval Europe that took place in northern France in 1358, during the Hundred Years' War. The revolt centred in the Oise valley north of Paris. This rebellion was known as the Jacquerie after its peasant revolutionary leader Guillaume Caillet, popularly known as Jacques Bonhomme ("Jack Goodfellow") or Callet.
After the capture of the French King John II the Good by the English during the Battle of Poitiers in 1356, power in France devolved to the States General. However, the States General were too divided to provide effective government. To secure their rights, the French privileged classes forced the peasantry to pay ever-increasing taxes (for example, the taille) and to repair their war-damaged properties without compensation. This was particularly problematic as many common people already blamed the nobility's corruption for the defeat at Poitiers. The chronicle of Jean de Venette articulates the perceived problems of the nobility.
In addition, bands of English, Gascon, German and Spanish routiérs were looting, raping and plundering the lands of Northern France almost at will, the States-General totally powerless to stop them. Many peasants questioned why they should work for a government which clearly couldn't protect its citizens. This combination of problems resulted in a series of bloody rebellions in several regions beginning in 1358.
The peasants involved in the rebellion seem to have lacked any real organisation, instead coming together as a shapeless mass. 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 them as mindless thugs bent on destruction, which they wreaked on over 150 noble houses and castles, murdering the families in horrendous ways. Outbreaks occurred in Rouen and Rheims, while Senlis and Montdider were sacked by the peasant army.
The Jacquerie must be seen in the context of this period of internal instability. In this period of personal government the absence of the king was detrimental to the state. The Dauphin had to contend with roaming free companies, the plotting of Charles the Bad 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 Étienne Marcel in July 1358. Marcel had joined Caillet's rebellion somewhat inadvisedly, and it cost him the city, when his wealthy supporters deserted him in response.
The revolt was suppressed by French nobles led by Charles the Bad of Navarre. Guillaume Cale, the leader of the rebellion, was invited to truce talks near the town of Mello on the 10th July, and was seized by the French nobles (who apparently believed that the rules of chivalry and truce did not apply to one of such low birth) and executed. His army, which some contemporaries claimed was 20,000 strong, was ridden down by a charge of knights in the ensuing Battle of Mello, which was followed by a campaign of terror throughout the Beauvais region.
The word "Jacquerie" later became a synonym for French peasant uprisings, and for centuries the nobility lived in fear of a repeat performance, and reacted ruthlessly to any future outbreaks.
This article incorporates text from the public domain 1907 edition of The Nuttall Encyclopaedia.
