The British nation a history / by George MWrong . nd to rule the state. The first four years of thereign had passed when a ter-rible revolt showed the ele-ments of discontent lurking The outbreak of ^ England, and confirmed the old woe to theland whose king is a Edward III was dyingwar with France had broken Ek hard ii. out again, and the south-eastern shores of England suffered terribly from Frenchpillaging expeditions. John of Gaunts government wastoo weak to stop them. He himself was very unpopularand the upper classes, demoralized by war, were selfishand extravagant. There was dis
The British nation a history / by George MWrong . nd to rule the state. The first four years of thereign had passed when a ter-rible revolt showed the ele-ments of discontent lurking The outbreak of ^ England, and confirmed the old woe to theland whose king is a Edward III was dyingwar with France had broken Ek hard ii. out again, and the south-eastern shores of England suffered terribly from Frenchpillaging expeditions. John of Gaunts government wastoo weak to stop them. He himself was very unpopularand the upper classes, demoralized by war, were selfishand extravagant. There was discontent in the towns, formany artisans chafed under the tyranny of the powerful trade guilds, and were esj)ecially jealous ofstruggle Flemings and other foreigners who still con- between capital trolled an extensive trade in England. Owing and labour. » i • • i i to the contrast ol their own poverty with thewealth and power of the prelates and the rich monas-teries, even the parish clergy were restless. England was the PeasantsRevolt, 188 THE BRITISH NATION indeed ripe for the first serious conflict between capitaland labour. The most numerous of the discontented classes werethe peasants. During thirty years a struggle had been going on between the labourer and his The pestilence of 1349 made labour scarce and wages high. Parliament, which rejjre-sented, not the labourer, but his master, took action, andthe Statutes of Labourers, begun in 1349, provided thatevery labourer not already engaged must take the workoffered to him, at the wages which had prevailed before theplague, and imposed heavy penalties upon those payinghigher wages. By a later atrocious provision the labourerwho violated these conditions might be branded on theforehead with the letter F (for Falsity). Legislation toregnlate prices has nearly always proved futile. Englandwas at the time experiencing a considerable expansion oftrade; the pillage of France had bronght much money intothe
Size: 1511px × 1654px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, bookidc3britishnatiowest00wron
