Guillaume de Nangis (died 1300), also known as William of Nangis , was a French chronicler.
39-628: The Jacquerie ( French: [ʒakʁi] ) was a popular revolt by peasants that took place in northern France in the early summer of 1358 during the Hundred Years' War . The revolt was centred in the valley of the Oise north of Paris and was suppressed after over two months of violence. This rebellion became known as "the Jacquerie" because the nobles derided peasants as "Jacques" or "Jacques Bonhomme" for their padded surplice , called
78-506: A " jacque ". The aristocratic chronicler Jean Froissart 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 . The word jacquerie became a synonym of peasant uprisings in general in both English and French. After the capture of the French king ( John II , Froissart's bon roi Jean "good king John") by
117-509: 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
156-432: A knight, put him on a spit, and roasted him with his wife and children looking on. After ten or twelve of them raped the lady, they wished to force feed them the roasted flesh of their father and husband and made them then die by a miserable death". 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 , an aristocrat who
195-408: A local scale. This changed in the 14th and 15th centuries when new downward pressures on the poor resulted in mass movements of popular uprisings across Europe. For example, Germany between 1336 and 1525 witnessed no fewer than sixty instances of militant peasant unrest. Most of the revolts expressed the desire of those below to share in the wealth, status, and well-being of those more fortunate. In
234-404: A peasant meant being next to God , just like the other orders. The main reasons cited for these mass uprisings are: an increasing gap between the wealthy and poor, declining incomes of the poor, rising inflation, taxation, the external crises of famine, plague, war, and religious conflict. The social gap between rich and poor had become more extreme, the origins of this change can be traced to
273-448: A profit) and engaging in frequent acts of rape, looting and murder. Their ability to do so was exacerbated by the lack of an efficient government authority in many parts of France, which left the French peasantry disillusioned with France's nobility that was perceived as failing to meet its feudal obligations. This combination of problems set the stage for a brief series of bloody rebellions in northern France in 1358. The uprisings began in
312-450: A village of St. Leu near the Oise river, where a group of peasants met 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, "peasants killed
351-596: Is notable that churches were not generally the targets of peasant fury, with the possible exception of some clerics in Champagne. The revolt was suppressed by French nobles and gentry led by the Dauphin and Charles 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 ,
390-468: Is threatened with a Jacquerie. Popular revolt in late-medieval Europe Popular revolts in late medieval Europe were uprisings and rebellions by peasants in the countryside, or the burgess in towns, against nobles , abbots and kings during the upheavals between 1300 and 1500, part of a larger " Crisis of the Late Middle Ages ". Although sometimes known as ' peasant revolts ',
429-480: Is typically a term used to denote the rural agrarian poor, while many uprisings involved tradesmen and occurred within towns and cities, thus the term does not fully encompass events as a whole for the period. For historical writing purposes, many modern historians will use the word peasant with care and respect, choosing other phrases such as "Popular" or "from below" or "grassroots", although in some countries in central and eastern Europe where serfdom continued up to
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#1732780692512468-532: The Grandes Chroniques de France are based, William wrote a long Chronicon , dealing with the history of the world from the creation until 1300. For the period before 1113 this work merely repeats that of Sigebert of Gembloux and others; but after this date it contains some new and valuable material. The chronicle had later continuations by other authors, though the so-called "second continuation", by Jean de Venette , which takes events up to 1368,
507-780: The Chronicon . This work from 1113 to 1300, with continuations to 1368, has been edited by H. Géraud for the Société de l'histoire de France (Paris, 1843), and practically all William's writings are found in the twentieth volume of Martin Bouquet 's Recueil des historiens des Gaules et de la France (Paris, 1738–1876). A French translation of the Chronicon is in Guizot's Collection des mémoires relatifs à l'histoire de France (Paris, 1823–1835). The World Chronicle of Guillaume de Nangis: A Manuscript’s Journey from Saint-Denis to St. Pancras
546-577: The feudal system, so as the price of goods and services rose from inflation, the income of those nobles remained stagnant, effectively dropping. To make matters worse, the nobles had become accustomed to a more luxurious lifestyle that required more money. To address this, nobles illegally raised rents, cheated, stole, and sometimes resorted to outright violence to maintain this lifestyle. Kings who needed money to finance wars resorted to devaluing currency by cutting silver and gold coins with less precious metal, which resulted in increased inflation and, in
585-532: The 12th century and the rise of the concept of nobility . Dress , behaviour, courtesy, speech , diet , education – all became part of the noble class, making them distinct from others. By the 14th century the nobles had indeed become very different in their behaviour, appearance and values from those "beneath". The nobles however also faced a crisis of declining income. By 1285 inflation had become rampant (in part due to population pressures ) and some nobles charged rent based on customary fixed rates, based on
624-449: The 14th century, has had a pejorative meaning. However, it was not always that way; peasants were once viewed as pious and seen with respect and pride. As nobles increasingly lived better quality lives, there arose a new consciousness of those on top and those below, and the sense that being a peasant was not a position of equality. This new consciousness coincided with the popular uprisings of the 14th century. Research by Rodney Hilton in
663-574: The 1970s showed that the Peasants' Revolt (or Great Rising) was led not by peasants, but by those who would be the most affected by increased taxation: the merchants who were not wealthy, but not poor either. Indeed, these revolts were often accompanied by landless knights, excommunicated clerics and other members of society who might find gain or have reason to rebel. Although these were popular revolts, they were often organized and led by people who would not have considered themselves peasants. Peasants
702-555: The 19th century in places, the word peasant is still used by some historians as the main description of these events. Guillaume de Nangis William was a monk in the Abbey of St.-Denis to the north of Paris. About 1285 he was placed in charge of the abbey library as custos cartarum , and he died in June or July 1300. Having doubtless done some work on the Latin manuscripts on which
741-633: The English during the Battle of Poitiers in September 1356, power in France devolved fruitlessly among the Estates-General and John's son, the Dauphin, later Charles V . The Estates-General were too divided to provide effective government and their alliance with King Charles II of Navarre , another claimant to the French throne, provoked disunity amongst the nobles. Consequently, the prestige of
780-462: The French nobility sank to a new low. The century had begun poorly for the nobles at Courtrai (the " Battle of the Golden Spurs "), where they fled the field and left their infantry to be hacked to pieces; they were also accused of having given up their king at the Battle of Poitiers . The passage of a law that required the peasants to defend the châteaux that were emblems of their oppression
819-401: The Jacquerie that a general flight ensued. Historian Barbara Tuchman 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 letter of general amnesty,
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#1732780692512858-542: 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
897-579: The absence of a charismatic king was detrimental to the still- feudal state. The Dauphin had to contend with roaming free companies of out-of-work mercenaries, 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 after the murder of the leader of the Estates General Étienne Marcel , prevôt des marchands on 31 July 1358. It
936-477: 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, and 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
975-495: 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. The bourgeoisie of Beauvais , Senlis , Paris, Amiens , and Meaux , sorely pressed by
1014-417: 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 County of Hainaut , County of Flanders , and Duchy of Brabant 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
1053-406: The court party, accepted the Jacquerie, and the urban underclass were sympathetic. Village notables often 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,
1092-422: The end, increased tax rates. The 14th century crises of famine , plague , and war put additional pressures on those at the bottom. The plague in particular drastically reduced the numbers of people who were workers and producing the wealth. Finally, layered on top of this was a popular ideological view of the time that property, wealth and inequality were against the teachings of God, as expressed through
1131-459: The end, they were almost always defeated by the nobles. A new attitude emerged in Europe, that "peasant" was a pejorative concept, it was something separate, and seen in a negative light, from those who had wealth and status. This was an entirely new social stratification from earlier times when society had been based on the three orders, those who work, those who pray, and those who fight, when being
1170-409: The ensuing Battle of Mello and in a campaign of terror throughout Beauvais , knights, squires, men-at-arms and mercenaries roamed the countryside lynching peasants. Another major battle transpired at Meaux , 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
1209-431: The grain crisis and famine of 1315 . In addition, as a result of the temporary lull in hostilities of the Hundred Years' War due to the French defeat at Poitiers, thousands of soldiers and mercenaries on both sides of the conflict found themselves "without commanders or wages". Many of them responded by forming free companies , attacking both military and civilian targets such as castles and villages (often to ransom for
Jacquerie - Misplaced Pages Continue
1248-438: 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. The now leaderless army, which Froisart claimed to be 100,000 strong in his narrative heavily influenced by chivalric romance , was ridden down by divisions of mounted knights. In
1287-523: The leadership of Etienne Marcel to support the rising. 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 the Prussian Crusade , were at Châlons: Gaston III, Count of Foix and his noble Gascon cousin, Jean III de Grailly . The approach of their well-armed lancers encouraged
1326-542: The phenomenon of popular uprisings was of broad scope and not just restricted to peasants. In Central Europe and the Balkan region, these rebellions expressed, and helped cause, a political and social disunity paving the way for the expansion of the Ottoman Empire . Before the 14th century, popular uprisings (such as uprisings at a manor house against an unpleasant overlord), though not unknown, tended to operate on
1365-541: The teachings of the Franciscans . The sentiment of the time was probably best expressed by preacher John Ball during the English Peasant Revolt when he said, "When Adam delved and Eve span, who was then the gentleman?", criticizing economic inequality as human-made rather than a creation of God. Different historians will use different terms to describe these events. The word peasant , since
1404-428: 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
1443-572: Was a compiler rather than an author, and with the exception of the latter part of the Chronicon his writings do not add materially to our knowledge of the time. In his Gesta Ludovici IX he included a letter from Sempad the Constable to Henry I of Cyprus . Among his major sources for the reign of Louis IX was the lost Latin chronicle of Primat of Saint-Denis . Both his chronicles, however, became very popular and found several continuators, Jean de Joinville being among those who made use of
1482-474: Was not a continuation of the Chronicon but rather an independent chronicle that happened to be bound into the same manuscript as the Nangis chronicle. William's other writings are: Gesta Ludovici IX ; Gesta Philippi III, sive Audacis ; Chronicon abbreviatum regum Francorum ; and a French translation of the same work written for the laity. Making use of the large store of manuscripts at Saint Denis, William
1521-406: Was particularly unsympathetic to the peasants. Among the chroniclers, the one sympathetic to their plight is Jean de Venette, sometimes (but erroneously) known as the continuator of the chronicle of Guillaume de Nangis . 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
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