John Ball's Sermon to the People | The Peasants' Revolt 1381
2 Video Views·Feb 29, 2024
While the Peasants' or Great Revolt of 1381 was sparked by an attempt to collect taxes in Essex, its underlying causes went much deeper, to a sense of natural justice, as articulated here in John Ball's sermon.
Performed by Andrew David.
Music License: MB019UBGP2JOGHL
[Music]
[Music]
[Music]
my good people things cannot go well in
England nor ever shall till everything
be made common and there are neither
villains nor gentlemen but we shall all
be united together and the lords shall
be no greater masters than ourselves
what have we deserved that we should be
kept the since late we are all descended
from one father and mother Adam and Eve
what reasons can they give to show that
they are greater Lords than we say by
making us toil and labor so that they
can spend they are clothed in velvet and
soft leather furred with ermine while we
wear cause cloth they have their wine
spices and good bread while we have the
drawings of the chaff and drink water
they have handsome houses and manners
and we the pain and travail the rain and
wind in the fields and that is from our
labor that they get the means to
maintain their estates we are called
their slaves and if we do not serve them
readily we are beaten and we have no
sovereign to whom we may complain or who
will hear us or do us justice let us go
to the king he is young and tell him of
our slavery and tell him we shall have
it otherwise or else we will provide a
remedy ourselves and if we go together
all manner of people that are now in
bondage will follow us with the intent
to be made free and when the King sees
us we shall have some remedy either by
justice or otherwise
you