6o HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE 



counsellors and abettors, who made it appear by ' colour of 



certain exemplifications made out of the Book of Domesday ' 



that they were discharged from their services, and moreover 



gathered themselves in great routs and agreed to aid each 



other in resisting their lords, so that justices were appointed 



to check this evil. But there were other ' counsellors and 



abettors ' of the Peasants' Revolt than the new landlords. 



One of its most interesting features to modern readers is its 



thorough organization. Travelling agents and agitators like 



John Ball were all over the country, money was subscribed and 



collected, and everything was ripe for the great rising of 138 1, 



which was brought to a head by the bad grading of the poll 



tax of King Richard. It has been said that the chief grievance 



of the villeins was that the lords of manors were attempting 



to reimpose commuted services, but judging by the petition to 



the King when he met them at Mile-end there can be no doubt 



that the chief grievance was the continuance of existing 



services. ' We will ', said they, ' that ye make us free for ever, 



and that we be called no more bond, or so reputed.' Als"o, 



as Walsingham says,^ they were careful to destroy the rolls 



and ancient records whereby their services were fixed, and to 



put to death persons learned in the law. 



As every one knows, the revolt was a failure ; and whether 



it ultimately helped much to extinguish serfdom is doubtful. 



It probably, like the pestilence, accelerated a movement which 



had been for some time in progress and was inevitable. There 



is ample evidence to prove that there was a very general 



continuance of predial services after the revolt, though they 



went on rapidly decreasing. One of the chief methods 



adopted by the villeins to gain their freedom was desertion, 



and so common did this become that apparently the mere 



threat of desertion enabled the villein to obtain almost any 



^ Hist. Angl., Rolls Series, i. 455. The other political and social 

 causes of the revolt do not concern us here. The attempt to minimize its 

 agrarian importance is strange in the light of the words and acts above 

 mentioned. 



