"Jacques-simpleton" was not so simple, or What is Jacquerie

What is Jacquerie? This is one of the most mass actions of the peasantry in world history. Within a short time of the uprising under its banners was about 100 thousand people. Including the peasants themselves, the urban poor and craftsmen, not indifferent to the future and destiny of the Motherland.

Prehistory. The Background of the Uprising

To answer the question, what is Jacqueria, you need to go back 700 years ago and understand what the situation was in the world. At the turn of the 13th-14th centuries , Europe was in a rather unsettled situation. Wars were going on, rampant, the plague raged. The royal power was still very weak to cope with the big feudal lords. Therefore, the crown depended on the mood of the landowners.

In 1348, a new wave of plague began, which, according to various estimates, carried away from 1/3 to ½ the population of France. The number of hands has decreased, so the value of labor has increased, but a decision was made to prohibit a rise in wages, which also left a mark on the internal situation. That's why the world learned what Jacquerie is.

In addition, there was a bloody war with England, and in the middle of the fourteenth century France was defeated. The Battle of Poitiers, held in 1356, was an immediate prerequisite for the uprising. The French were defeated, and their king was captured and was forced to sign an unprofitable world, when almost half of the territory of France was retiring into English use. That's why the world learned what Jacquerie is.

The reasons for the Jacquerie uprising

The defeat at Poitiers and the events that followed him, the plight of the common people, the struggle for the French throne ... These are the main causes of the rise of Jacquerius.

After the defeat at Poitiers, the General States were convened to resolve internal political problems and an external threat. The representative body decided to introduce new taxes, which placed a heavy burden on the shoulders of the peasantry and the townspeople. In his head stood Etienne Marcel. In addition, his "line bent" the Dauphin - heir to the throne of Charles. Everyone wanted to get power in their hands. The General States wanted to get rid of the royal power, the Dauphine, on the contrary, as a direct heir, wished to preserve it. The internecine strife began.

In order to understand what Jacquerie is, it is necessary to determine the place of the peasantry in the life of the state. Above mentioned was the fact of population reduction as a result of the plague and an increase in the value of labor due to the reduction of workers' hands. From that moment the peasantry begins to realize its importance in the state system and openly show it. But among the powerful people and wealthy strata behind the peasantry, the nickname "Jacques-simpleton" was fixed. The peasants were treated with mockery and some kind of superiority. Incidentally, it was this humiliating nickname that gave the name - Jacquerie's uprising.

The course of the uprising

The uprising began with the fact that the peasants in Bovezi, in one of the battles with the Dauphin troops, killed several knights in response to coercion to work to strengthen the approaches to the city. The result of this was the wrath of the heir to the throne, released to the whole peasantry. The territory covered by the uprising turned out to be the whole of northern France. The outstanding organizer of the rallying of the masses was Guillaume Calle, who had a military education, but was himself a peasant. Under his leadership began the uprising Jacquerie in 1358. In a short time under his banner passed several tens of thousands of people. Individual chronists call the figure of 100 thousand people, which shows the scope of the movement. The uprising threatened the royal power in the person of the Dauphin and the General States.

E.Marsel even entered into an alliance with Kalim, however, if the latter knew what this union would end, he would not have gone for it. Etienne, in addition to the treaty with Calais, conspired with Karl the Evil (in fact, with the enemy, who was an English feudal lord). Carl the Evil summoned Guillaume to negotiations, and the latter, without even taking to guarantee the hostages, guided by the support of Marcel, went alone to conclude the treaty with Karl. As might be expected, Kalya was seized, tortured for a long time, and finally executed. The insurrection without the organizer sharply declined and a few months later it completely died down. The causes of Jacqueria were peculiar to many cities and states of Europe at that time, but it was in France that the uprising had such a grandiose scope and consequences.

Results and historical significance

Jacquerie was crushed by force. The knights did not hesitate to act: everywhere in the active areas of the uprising, executions took place, the Dauphinian minions committed violence against civilians, the massacre lasted several weeks. But at the same time, it can not be said that the insurrection passed unnoticed. The power after Jacqueria began to reckon with the opinion of the peasantry and the urban poor. After the suppression, a series of reforms began - economic, political, social and changes affecting the army. As a result, France began to gain major victories over the British invaders and Charles V managed to liberate virtually the entire territory from the invaders.

Thus, Jacqueria gave a powerful impetus to the all-round development of the French state.