ERO Presents: Women in medieval revolt

The extent of the involvement of women in medieval revolts is a controversial subject, and one that has been much discussed in recent years. A new project on the Peasants’ Revolt of 1381, which brings together an unprecedented number of legal and manorial records, enables us to re-examine women’s roles as rebels, victims and bystanders in the rising.

In contrast to previous work which has focussed on a handful of prominent individuals, most notably Johanna Ferrour, this new evidence illustrates the complexities of female involvement in the revolt, and the limitations of the sources in revealing their motives. To what extent did women rise up in 1381 in the same way as men, and what does this mean for our understanding of medieval revolt in general?