This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: The Uprising, a medieval drama directed by Paul Greengrass and starring Andrew Garfield, is set to hit theaters this fall. The film draws its inspiration from the Peasants' Revolt of 1381 in England.
The studio's synopsis presents the uprising as a "rebellion against the tyranny of King Richard II," with Garfield leading "an army of the people to face the king's might in a fight for justice and survival." Yet medieval accounts of the uprising describe the rebels as loyal to Richard. The Anonimalle Chronicle, an anonymous 14th-century account written at St Mary's Abbey in York by a probable eyewitness to the revolt, reported that the rebels had a watchword among themselves. The challenge was "with whom haldes [holds] yow?"—to which the appropriate reply was said to be "Wyth kynge Richarde and wyth the trew communes [commoners]." Anyone who provided the wrong answer was said to have been put to death.
What, then, were the aims of the rebels portrayed in the film, and why were they seemingly so loyal to the king? The uprising of 1381 was caused in part by widespread discontent over government corruption. Richard succeeded to the throne in 1377 at just 10 years old.
His young reign was largely overseen by his uncle, John of Gaunt, and royal councilors. The Hundred Years' War (1337–1453) between England and France was going badly for the English cause, and the crown needed to raise money. It turned to a new form of taxation.
The deeply unpopular "poll taxes" were raised three times in five years (1377, 1379 and 1381)—the last of which triggered the uprising. Medieval chroniclers had little sympathy for the rebels. Yet even the Anonimalle Chronicle reported that it seemed the taxation "had not been properly or honestly collected, but had been raised from the poor people and not the rich to the great profit and advantage of the collectors." The rebels did not blame the king himself, but rather those around him who had misspent this money.
This was a common political tactic in medieval England: Critics of the government blamed the king's corrupt advisers. During a parliament in Edward III's reign in 1376, it had been claimed that various people "have in their hands without the king's knowledge his wealth and treasure." Similar complaints were made in 1381. The Anonimalle Chronicle reported that the rebels said they had risen to save the king "and to destroy traitors to him and the kingdom." Discover the latest in science, tech, and space with over 100,000 subscribers who rely on Phys.org for daily insights. d research that matter—daily or weekly.
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