An innovative new research project is set to produce the most comprehensive interpretation of the Peasants’ Revolt to date after being awarded almost £1 million in funding. The revolt was the most widespread popular rebellion in English history and rocked the country in the summer of 1381, and central to The People of 1381 project is the creation of a database to provide the first overview of events, places and individuals involved. Judicial and manorial documents will be combined with central, local and poll tax records and more, to reconstruct collective biographies of the people caught up in the rising.
Led by Professor Adrian Bell from Henley Business School at the University of Reading, the three-year project will shed new light on the complex economic, social and political dynamics of the rebellion, to enhance understanding of its cultural impact.
In addition to forming case studies of individual rebels and their victims, the project will research participation of social groups whose role has been little investigated, such as household servants, soldiers and women. It will use Geographic Information Systems to map the development and structure of the revolt, to identify differing levels of community protest and examine how these fitted together.