The People of 1381

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The People of 1381 will produce the most detailed and comprehensive interpretation to date of the Peasants' Revolt of 1381, one of the most dramatic moments in English history. By creating a comprehensive database of the thousands of people and places caught up in the rising, the project will enable for the first time the development of a holistic overview of the revolt. This will shed light on the complex economic and social relations of the revolt and help us understand the role of violence and insurgency in pre-modern politics. The records of the revolt offer a remarkable opportunity to explore the lives, aspirations and frustrations of those usually hidden from view so that we can understand their political motivations and the way in which they viewed government and politics. The English 1381 Revolt forms part of a wider upsurge in European political unrest and revolt in the later middle ages. The People of 1381 by providing the first comprehensive analysis of the participants of a medieval European revolt will assist in understanding the nature and significance of insurgency in later medieval Europe more generally.The People of 1381 is a methodologically innovative project. Drawing on the exceptionally detailed archival records of the prosecutions arising from the 1381 revolt, we will create a database providing the first overview of events, places and people in the rising. By linking this to other databases, such as the Medieval Soldier database and records of the Poll Taxes, we will identify patterns of involvement in the rising. The creation of a database will enable us to explore in considerable detail such questions as: who was involved in the rising; what were the strategies and method of protest; and what motives, discourses and identities were articulated. The use of Geographic Information Systems will allow us to dynamically map the development and structure of the rising, so that we can identify differing community levels of protest and see how these fitted together into a revolt that threatened at one stage to topple the government. By exploring the textuality of the records generated by the rising, we will enhance understanding of the political and cultural impact of the revolt and the way it shaped popular polity and the political community.By recreating the biographies of thousands of people who became caught up in the rising of 1381 and by reconstructing the role of different places, we will offer a new type of 'history from below' for medieval studies. We will examine the lives of hundreds of people usually hidden from view and understand their political motivations and the way in which they related to government. Our emphasis on the importance of exploring the lives of forgotten social groups and people give our impact activities a particular relevance and vibrancy. We will use the people of 1381 to develop a new and exciting approach to the Middle Ages for those who might previously have believed this to be an inaccessible period of history. At the heart of the preoccupations of those involved in the rising of 1381 were ideas of community and how communities should be protected and nurtured. Correspondingly, we believe that the study of the rising of 1381 can help foster a modern sense of community and engagement with the past, and the impact activities associated with The People of 1381 will help foster such community histories.