The Great Rumour was a protest movement that emerged in south-east and south-west

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

during 1377. During 1377, protests began to break out in south-east and south-west England. Rural workers organised themselves into protest groups and refused to work for their lords, arguing that, according to the

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

, they were exempt from requests for

feudal Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was the combination of the legal, economic, military, cultural and political customs that flourished in Middle Ages, medieval Europe between the 9th and 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a wa ...

labour services. This argument depended on the legal concept of '' ancient demesne'', and their belief that the Domesday Book was an accurate reflection of early land tenure agreements. Unsuccessful appeals and petitions were made both to the law courts and to King

Richard II Richard II (6 January 1367 – ), also known as Richard of Bordeaux, was King of England from 1377 until he was deposed in 1399. He was the son of Edward the Black Prince, Prince of Wales, and Joan, Countess of Kent. Richard's father died ...

. The events of the Great Rumour closely resembled much of the subsequent

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.

References

Bibliography

* Protests in England 1377 in England Conflicts in 1377 {{England-hist-stub