Publisher's Synopsis
Jack Cade's rebellion of 1450 was one of the most important popular uprisings to take place in England during the Middle Ages. It began as an orchestrated demonstration of political protest by the inhabitants of south-eastern England against the corruption, mismanagement and oppression of Henry VI's government. When no assurance of any remedy came from the king, the rising soon collapsed into violence.;This is the first study of Cade's revolt to be published this century. I.M.W.Harvey charts the course of the rebellion and its associated troubles during the early 1450s, and explores the nature of the society which gave rise to these upheavals. She makes use of the available contemporary evidence, as well as the work of subsequent historians, in order to uncover the identities of the rebels, explain their actions, assess their relations with the magnates and to examine their achievements. Dr Harvey's analysis of Jack Cade's rebellion seeks to help make intelligible the eventual collapse of Henry VI's reign into the war of the Roses.
