I am a history student and have been working on a term paper regarding the labour shortages in England following the Black Death and it is strikingly similar to the labour movement occurring right now. Here is a basic introduction of the topic, but a Google search will bring up plenty of results.
EDIT: Okay, you guys got me going so I'll add to this.
What's even more similar is the response for lords and other elites. They were getting nervous that no one would work for them and they were losing money. King Edward III first issued the Ordinance of Labourers (1349) which was an attempt to freeze wages at pre-plague levels and ordered every able-bodied individual to work, or else face prison.
"The king to the sheriff of Kent, greeting. Because a great part of the people, and especially of workmen and servants, late died of the pestilence, many seeing the necessity of masters, and great scarcity of servants, will not serve unless they may receive excessive wages, and some rather willing to beg in idleness, than by labor to get their living; we, considering the grievous incommodities, which of the lack especially of ploughmen and such laborers may hereafter come, have upon deliberation and treaty with the prelates and the nobles, and learned men assisting us, of their mutual counsel ordained:
That every man and woman of our realm of England, of what condition he be, free or bond, able in body, and within the age of threescore years, not living in merchandise, nor exercising any craft, nor having of his own whereof he may live, nor proper land, about whose tillage he may himself occupy, and not serving any other, if he in convenient service, his estate considered, be required to serve, he shall be bounden to serve him which so shall him require; and take only the wages, livery, meed, or salary, which were accustomed to be given in the places where he oweth to serve..."
Except the terminology was pretty loose, so the local sheriffs had no idea who to punish and just started making up their own definitions of suitable wages. Then the king issued The Statute of Labourers (1351) during British parliament's first session following the Black Death.
Basically, rich people have always hated poor people
https://preview.redd.it/crz2vh2fi3681.jpg?width=608&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=11b4d251974a556dca38c301dc7fe10b3fad4133
History repeats itself⦠and we have learned nothing!
It's my impression that rebellions, civil wars, and coups really only work if there are people with power at the helm: nobles, military leaders, or other elites. As in the title, I only know of one exception.
In the eras that you study, are there other successful rebellions that were primarily moved by the lower class, without much elite assistance?
I see France, my enemy, is being punished by her Occitan peasants, yet in the skirmishes along our border I see those loyal future subjects be massacred by the vile hordes of their demon king. Supporting those noble savages would be in my interests, as it would weaken France and fragmentate it, making it more easily brought under my glorious rule.
My rivals should be able to support my peasants too, for the sake of fairness.
Take notes everyone:
When Medieval Peasants Revolted Against The Establishment | Peasants' Revolt Of 1381 | Timeline
England was on its knees economically after dealing with the Black Death (the plague) and the government issued a harsh poll tax. Wat Tylerβs efforts, although unsavory by todayβs standards (they killed a lot of aristocratics) meant that the poll tax was not instated. Unfortunately for Wat he was trapped by King Richard II and killed a month later.
This movement feels like history repeating itself.. be wary of traps!
Some have a problem or two with Tony Robinson but I enjoy his stuff. This one he goes to the places where it happened. Remind anyone of more recent things?
Sanitation has three main advantages over the peasant revolt
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Polish Militarism (2.5% recruitable population)
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all the focuses actually improve your country instead of just preparing it for a civil war
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said civil war just cuts your total guns in half and makes you kill off more of your limited man power
Peasant revolt has
- Colonize Liberia
- ???
Is there a way you can switch on notifications for vassal wars. My daughter just died in a peasant revolt which I could easily have put down. I'm internally allied with that duchy too but only spotted it at the last minute.
These kind of revolts occurs when civilians are dissatisfied with the government. With this, there should also be new features that affects loyalty which is "population is satisfied" (+45) and "population not satisfied"(-45). This very much depends on the leader's traits, the economy and food. If the government fails to provide for the population and the people are getting more angrier, majority of the civilians in the cities where populations are dissatisfied will start rioting. Soldiers in said cities will try to fight the rebels, however, some of them may join the rebellion. If the city is captured, the leader, if survive the battle, will get executed by the mob. After that, the rebels will try to attack other cities and possibly influence other civilians to join them, which is very unlikely if they are satisfied with the government. The government will also try to respond by sending armies to suppress the revolt. As a result, the peasants will sometimes get support by rival kingdoms and used guerilla warfare, making revolts last longer. If the revolt was ever a success, a new kingdom will be founded. If it failed, the kingdom would have suffered economically depending on how much damage the rebels had inflicted.
