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Remembering John Ball and the 1381 English Uprising
The peasants’ leader has inspired centures of reformers and revolutionaries since his execution in the Middle Ages following the failed revolt with his vision of an England freed from the Church and aristocracy, writes JAMES CROSSLEY
HERO THROUGH HISTORY: John Ball depicted in an illustration in the Daily Worker, 1938

THIS summer marks the 640th anniversary of the 1381 English uprising, often known as the Peasants’ Revolt.

The uprisings in the south-east have become the most famous. On their arrival in London, the (largely) disciplined rebels selected political, legal and ecclesiastical targets associated with the ruling class.

Remarkably, rebels managed to get into the Tower of London and decapitate some of the most powerful people in England, including the Archbishop of Canterbury (and Chancellor of England), Simon Sudbury.

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