The Jacquerie was a Popular revolt in late medieval Europe that took place in northern France in 1358, during the Hundred Years' War. The revolt centered in the Oise Valley north of Paris. These rebellions were known as the Jacquerie after the peasant revolutionary Guillaume Caillet, popularly known as Jacques Bonhomme ("Simple Jack") or Callet.
After the capture of the French King John II the Good by the English during the Battle of Poitiers in 1356, power in France devolved to the States General. However, the States General were too divided to provide effective government. To secure their rights, the French privileged classes forced the peasantry to pay ever-increasing taxes (for example, the Taille) and to repair their war-damaged properties without compensation. This ill-treatment resulted in a series of bloody rebellions in several regions beginning in 1358.
The revolt was suppressed by French nobles led by Charles the Bad of Navarre. Caillet, who was the leader of the rebellion, was captured by the French nobles and tortured to death by use of red-hot irons.
The word "Jacquerie" became a synonym for Peasant uprisings, and for centuries the Nobility lived in fear of a repeat performance.
This article incorporates text from the Public domain 1907 edition of The Nuttall Encyclopaedia.