This article was originally published by Austin Litman on Proofofwork.ca
During the 1300s, England and France did not get along. There were hundreds of years of war, and some called it “The Hundred Years War.”
The elites were getting arrogant and did not view peasants as people anymore. Peasants were being forced to defend against knights on horseback while the noblemen would flee. This was happening in cities all across Western Europe. The elites were even making the middle-class pay for damages to their property caused by the war. Even if they defended and fought bravely. Social unrest was brewing.
They couldn’t afford the war anymore, and France raised taxes on its citizens to fund it. This was the last straw for them.
About 20,000 peasants revolted, and 1,000 of the French middle class supplied them with weapons and helped fight.
One of the first things they did was decapitate all the central bankers.
Today, bankers in France are traumatized by the word “Jacquerie.” It’s like saying “Voldemort” in Harry Potter.
