Jack Straw (probably the same person as ''John Rakestraw'' or ''Rackstraw'') was one of the three leaders (together with John Ball and

Wat Tyler Wat Tyler (c. 1320/4 January 1341 – 15 June 1381) was a leader of the 1381 Peasants' Revolt in England. He led a group of rebels from Canterbury to London to oppose the institution of a poll tax and to demand economic and social reforms. Wh ...

) of the

Peasants' Revolt The Peasants' Revolt, also named Wat Tyler's Rebellion or the Great Rising, was a major uprising across large parts of England in 1381. The revolt had various causes, including the socio-economic and political tensions generated by the Black ...

of 1381, a major event in the

history of England England became inhabited more than 800,000 years ago, as the discovery of stone tools and footprints at Happisburgh in Norfolk have indicated.; "Earliest footprints outside Africa discovered in Norfolk" (2014). BBC News. Retrieved 7 February ...

Biography

Little is known of the revolt's leaders. It has been suggested that Jack Straw may have been a preacher. Some have argued that the name was in fact a pseudonym for

or one of the other peasants' leaders; all of them appear to have used pseudonyms, adding to the confusion.See Brie, F. W. 'Wat Tyler and Jack Straw', in ''The Historical Review'', v.21, 81 (January, 1906). Brie states that "the Continuator of Knighton held this view ..and that two or three ballads and several fifteenth-century chroniclers ..speak of Jakke Straw being killed by

Walworth Walworth () is a district of south London, England, within the London Borough of Southwark. It adjoins Camberwell to the south and Elephant and Castle to the north, and is south-east of Charing Cross. Major streets in Walworth include the Old ...

at Smithfield .e. in the same manner as Wat Tyler" Several chroniclers, including

Henry Knighton Henry Knighton (or Knyghton) (died c. 1396, in England) was an Augustinian canon at the abbey of St Mary of the Meadows, Leicester, England, and an ecclesiastical historian (chronicler). He wrote a history of England from the Norman conquest u ...

, mention Straw, though Knighton erroneously confuses him with Tyler.

Thomas Walsingham Thomas Walsingham (died c. 1422) was an English chronicler, and is the source of much of the knowledge of the reigns of Richard II, Henry IV and Henry V, and the careers of John Wycliff and Wat Tyler. Walsingham was a Benedictine monk who sp ...

stated that Straw was a priest and was the second-in-command of the rebels from

Bury St Edmunds Bury St Edmunds (), commonly referred to locally as Bury, is a historic market town, market, cathedral town and civil parish in Suffolk, England.OS Explorer map 211: Bury St.Edmunds and Stowmarket Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – ...

and Mildenhall.Preest, D. (ed., transl.) ''The Chronica Maiora of Thomas Walsingham, 1376-1422'', Boydell, 2005, p.148 This story is most likely a result of confusion with a John Wrawe, an unbeneficed priest who was formerly the vicar of Ringsfield near

Beccles Beccles ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the English county of Suffolk.OS Explorer Map OL40: The Broads: (1:25 000) : . The town is shown on the milestone as from London via the A145 and A12 roads, north-east of London as the crow fli ...

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...

, and who seems to have led the Suffolk insurgency.Walsingham, p.142 Walsingham also states that Straw and his followers murdered both notable local figures in Bury and, after reaching the capital, several of its

Flemish Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to Flanders, a historical region in northern Belgium; ...

residents, an accusation also made by

Froissart Jean Froissart (Old and Middle French: ''Jehan'', – ) (also John Froissart) was a French-speaking medieval author and court historian from the Low Countries who wrote several works, including ''Chronicles'' and ''Meliador'', a long Arthurian ...

. However, according to information in the church of St Mary in

Great Baddow Great Baddow is an urban village and civil parish in the Chelmsford borough of Essex, England. It is close to the city of Chelmsford, and, with a population of over 13,000,Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

, England, Jack Straw led an ill-fated crowd from the churchyard there to the risings, and he is elsewhere referred to as the leader of the men from Essex (as opposed to Tyler, who led the rebels from Kent). Straw is generally supposed to have been executed in 1381 along with the other main figures of the Revolt. Froissart states that after Wat Tyler's death at Smithfield, Straw (along with John Ball) was found "in an old house hidden, thinking to have stolen away", and beheaded.
The Chronicles of Froissart
' ed. Macaulay, transl. Bourchier, p.82 Walsingham gives a lengthy (and most likely invented) confession in which Straw states that the insurgents' plans were to kill the king, "all landowners, bishops, monks, canons, and rectors of churches", set up their own laws, and set fire to London.Walsingham, pp.147-148 The later chronicles of Raphael Holinshed and

John Stow John Stow (''also'' Stowe; 1524/25 – 5 April 1605) was an English historian and antiquarian. He wrote a series of chronicles of English history, published from 1565 onwards under such titles as ''The Summarie of Englyshe Chronicles'', ''The C ...

, in addition to detailing the confession, repeat a story, originating in the 15th-century account of Richard Fox, that Jack Straw, alias John Tyler, was provoked into his actions by an assault perpetrated on his daughter by a tax collector.Archer, I. W. 'Discourses of History in London', in Kewes, P. (ed) ''The Uses of History in Early Modern England'', University of California Press, 2006, p.218

Jack Straw in English culture

Whether Straw was a real person, a pseudonym for Tyler, or simply a result of confusion on the part of chroniclers remote from the events they were describing, he went on to become a part of the popular narrative of the revolt. Jack Straw and the other rebel leaders are introduced in John Gower's '' Vox Clamantis'' Book I Chapter XI. The defeat of the rebels is covered in Chapter IXX. Macaulay's notes to ''Vox'' include Thomas Fuller's translation of the Chapter XI passage. Gower's lines were parodied by

Geoffrey Chaucer Geoffrey Chaucer (; – 25 October 1400) was an English poet, author, and civil servant best known for ''The Canterbury Tales''. He has been called the "father of English literature", or, alternatively, the "father of English poetry". He wa ...

. Straw is mentioned in ''

The Nun's Priest's Tale "The Nun's Priest's Tale" (Middle English: ''The Nonnes Preestes Tale of the Cok and Hen, Chauntecleer and Pertelote'') is one of ''The Canterbury Tales'' by the Middle English poet Geoffrey Chaucer. Composed in the 1390s, it is a beast fable ...

'' of ''

The Canterbury Tales ''The Canterbury Tales'' ( enm, Tales of Caunterbury) is a collection of twenty-four stories that runs to over 17,000 lines written in Middle English by Geoffrey Chaucer between 1387 and 1400. It is widely regarded as Chaucer's ''Masterpiece, ...

'', as the leader of a mob targeting foreign workers:Geoffrey Chaucer, ''The Canterbury Tales'' (Penguin Classics, 2005), p. 618. Straw was central to an anonymous 1593 play dramatising the events of the Rising, ''

The Life and Death of Jack Straw ''The Life and Death of Jack Straw'' is a late 16th-century play, possibly written by playwright George Peele. The play tells the story of Jack Straw, a rebel leader in the Peasants' Revolt The Peasants' Revolt, also named Wat Tyler's Rebel ...

''. In the modern era, the rather confused reporting of events was briefly satirised in Sellar and Yeatman's parody of

Edwardian The Edwardian era or Edwardian period of British history spanned the reign of King Edward VII, 1901 to 1910 and is sometimes extended to the start of the First World War. The death of Queen Victoria in January 1901 marked the end of the Victori ...

-era popular history, ''

1066 and All That ''1066 and All That: A Memorable History of England, Comprising All the Parts You Can Remember, Including 103 Good Things, 5 Bad Kings and 2 Genuine Dates'' is a tongue-in-cheek reworking of the history of England. Written by W. C. Sellar and R. J ...

'', stating that the peasants revolted "in several reigns under such memorable leaders as Black Kat, Straw Hat, John Bull and What Tyler?", with objectives including "to find out ..which of them was the Leader of the Rebellion".p. 43. The names are presumably a humorous garbling of those of 15th-century rebel Jack Cade, Straw, John Ball, and

. Straw was commemorated in the name of a

pub A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

on the edge of

Hampstead Heath Hampstead Heath (locally known simply as the Heath) is an ancient heath in London, spanning . This grassy public space sits astride a sandy ridge, one of the highest points in London, running from Hampstead to Highgate, which rests on a band o ...

, London, which closed in 2002. The

Jack Straw's Castle Jack Straw's Castle may refer to: * a place associated with Jack Straw's Lane, Oxfordshire * Jack Straw's Castle, Hampstead {{disambiguation ...

, reputed to be the highest pub in London, took its name from a story that Straw addressed groups of rebels on the Heath from a hay wagon which became known as "Jack Straw's Castle".
Full Pint Issue 6
'', CAMRA North London. Retrieved 21-10-08. Jack Straw's Castle - geograph

The British politician Jack Straw (born John Whitaker Straw, 1946) adopted the name "Jack", allegedly after the rebel leader.O' Grady, S.
Jack Straw: Diplomatic hard man
' (para 8), ''The Independent'', 29-09-01.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Straw, Jack 1381 deaths 14th-century English people English rebels English revolutionaries Peasants' Revolt People whose existence is disputed Year of birth unknown