t>l!ASANT REVOLTS 135 



had received, the " Commons of Essex decreed either 

 to enjoy the Hberty they had gotten by force or to 

 die in fighting for the same." They sent special 

 messengers to the king asking if "he thought good 

 to permit them to enjoy their permitted liberty." The 

 answer given to these messengers in the name of the 

 king was a brutal and, seemingly, a hopeless one : 

 " Miserable men, not worthy to live, doe ye require to 

 be equal to your lords ? Declare our answers to your 

 fellowes on the kino's behalf : husbandmen and bond- 

 men they were, so shall they remain in bondage, not 

 as before, but more vile beyond comparison ... so 

 that your service may be an example to posteritie."^ 



Barons, prelates, and monastic communities were 

 unanimous in the declaration that neither by "per- 

 suasion or violence " would they be deprived of the 

 services of the serfs and villeins. 



The most severe laws were passed after what 

 Hallam calls " this tremendous rebellion." To prevent 

 the recurrence of the rising it was enacted that even 

 mere riots should be treated as treason punishable by 

 death. ^ In appearance, but only in appearance, the 

 outlook of the peasantry was more gloomy than ever. 



Succeeding events showed that a mighty change 

 had been wrought in the rural life of England. The 

 rebellion had struck terror into the hearts of the 

 landlord class, and dread lest the uprising should be 



^ Stow's "Chronicles," p. 292. 



2 See 5 Richard II, chap, vi : "Manumission releases and other 

 bonds made in the last tumult by compulsion shall be void. . . ." " It 

 shall be treason from henceforth to make or begin any manner of riot 

 and rumour nor other like ... all such deeds with any copies shall be 

 restored so that they may not be used in any future time and all entries 

 in lands and tenements all feoffments made in compulsion and menace 

 shall be void." 



