The Hospitallers, lordship and the Peasants' Revolt

Kane, Bronach ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5796-6701 2025. The Hospitallers, lordship and the Peasants' Revolt. Edbury, Peter and Webster, Paul, eds. Military Orders and Crusades: Essays Presented to Helen Nicholson, Routledge, (10.4324/9781003376286-16) Item availability restricted.

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Abstract

Bronach Kane emphasizes the value of shared historiographies of manorial society and religious orders, building on Helen’s work on the Hospitallers in the “Peasants’ Revolt” (1381) and on Military Order estates. In exploring how local laity experienced and sometimes resisted Hospitaller lordship, Kane highlights the Order’s protection of its rights and privileges. Aspects of the lordship considered include rent, services, usage rights, responses to theft and criminal damage, custom, advowsons, tithes and taxes. The Order was associated with mercy and protection, although a sense of social hierarchy could fuel resentment. During the Revolt, the Order was not exempt from attacks. The wider laity could view them as over-powerful, even if their tenants did not greatly object to their lordship. Association with government led to the execution of the prior, Robert Hales, destruction of documents and the sack of Clerkenwell, but wider anti-Hospitaller violence was linked to local grievances, rumour, financial demands and desire for improved conditions. The memory of rebellion influenced actions on Hospitaller holdings for decades. However, levels of local anger varied.

Item Type:	Book Section
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	In Press
Schools:	Schools > History, Archaeology and Religion
Subjects:	D History General and Old World > D History (General) D History General and Old World > D History (General) > D111 Medieval History
Publisher:	Routledge
ISBN:	978-1-032-45290-6
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	12 February 2025
Last Modified:	04 Nov 2025 15:21
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/176040

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