My British Empire

  Chapter 242 The beginning of Kate's uprising

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   Talking about the Kate uprising, I have to talk about Sir John Flowerdu and Robert Kate. These two are the most important roles in this uprising, no, the rebellion.

how to say! One is the fuse of this matter, and the other is the leader of this matter.

  Their relationship is like the later Charles I and Cromwell, Lord Protector.

  The cause of the matter also has something to do with Henry VIII, and even involves some royal history.

  England King Henry II appointed Thomas Beckett as Archbishop of Canterbury, which was appointed by the Pope at the time, but he did not reject Henry II's appointment to him.

  However, after he became the Archbishop of Canterbury, the largest bishop in England, he often opposed Henry II, and the original purpose of using him to achieve the expansion of kingship failed.

  But Pope Alexander III recognized his performance very much, thinking that he was a truly devout believer, and canonized him as a saint. He is also called: St. Thomas Becket, and there are special festivals in the calendar.

  When we Henry VIII saw a saint who was very unpleasant after the Reformation, he was disgusted by this kind of saint who restricted the royal power.

   And our Majesty Henry VIII cannot exempt him from the title of saint, but can only exempt this celebration from the calendar.

   But this year, the residents of Windham Town still held commemorative events every year.

   At this time, John Flowerdu appeared on the stage, and these celebrating residents rushed to his house in a fit of anger, demolished the hedges and fences of his house, and humiliated him severely.

   And this has something to do with Henry VIII. John Flowerdu acted as a government monitor and demolished Wyndham Abbey.

  More importantly, as a lawyer, on the way to become a squire, he wantonly enclosed land in his hometown, and his reputation in the village was very bad.

  And we all know that reputation is very important in this period in England. Even if you have a lot of wealth, if your reputation is not enough, then the possibility of you being a government official is very low.

   But so many enclaveers have unanimously turned their goals to the notorious Sir John Flowerdu, he deserved it!

   Sir John Flowerdu was insulted and humiliated by the villagers after the fence was destroyed by the villagers. He was very unbalanced, and his reputation in the countryside was ruined once, and it stinks.

  Why do so many enclosurers only scold me, and the others also enclose land? I have only gone too far, thought Sir John indignantly.

   At this time, the bad nature of our human beings came, and he didn't dare to blame those villagers, after all, there are so many people.

   Instead, he was going to let his deadly enemy, Robert Kate, have a taste of being humiliated.

   And Robert Kate is also a nearby farmer with great influence. After all, he has little influence and cannot lead the uprising to command tens of thousands of people.

  As a well-known large farmer, Robert Kate's family certainly encloses a lot of land, otherwise they wouldn't be famous for their wealth.

   In this regard, Sir John bribed the rioters who humiliated him for forty pence each to go to Robert Kate's house to make trouble, while he stayed at home and waited for a good news that excited him.

  However, the news that he was waiting for made his jaw drop in shock.

  Robert Kate, like him, is also a jazz. It can be said that his status is the same as that of a knight, and he belongs to the gentleman class, but at the bottom.

   But it is also much higher than those who hold public books (owner farmers) and land renters (tenant households).

  Kate, who was already fifty-seven years old, was kind to those who dismantled their own fences, discussed each sentence in detail, and listened carefully to their complaints.

  After learning that they were dismantling the fence of his house because of the land enclosure, he resolutely agreed with the villagers' move, and he also strongly supported it, calling for more people to participate.

   And, under his leadership, the peasant masses tore down all the landowner enclosure fences in Windham Township.

   Later, the huge team attracted more and more landless farmers and land renters. Afterwards, a large number of unemployed workers and bankrupt craftsmen in Norwich participated, and the number rapidly expanded to more than 20,000.

  The rebel army drew up 29 programs in the jungle camp on Moshhold Mountain near Norwich, and sent them to the king, which is the "Letter of Love" in Edward's hand.

  As an uprising team, of course, it must have its own program, such as the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's "Equal Land Rights", etc., and it must have appeal to encourage more people to join.

   proposed: "Tear down the fences, fill the ditches, and give everyone the opportunity to use the pastures of the commune, hoping to use everything freely, equally, and equally."

The detailed rules require: "No one shall enclose land in the future", "No manor lord shall be free to purchase land"; farmers "can share the benefits of the manor common land, and have the right to use the common land"; "All farmers shall receive Freedom"; "From now on, no tithes shall be levied on residents", as well as restrictions on the amount of monetary ground rent, etc.

According to the words of the Chinese textbooks of later generations: this is an incomplete and relatively moderate program. It does not propose the abolition of feudal land ownership and the removal of the peasants' attachment to the land. It only reflects the interests of small nobles and wealthy peasants. Can not meet the requirements of the vast number of poor peasants and urban poor.

   reflects the weakness and compromise of the peasant class, so its failure is doomed.

  Of course, having said that, Edward still needs to face it seriously. History is history. Who knows what he will become. Maybe this time it is an uprising, and after a while, ambition will arise, and it will become a rebellion?

   Moreover, France has always been eyeing England. It will not give up such a good opportunity. If it were him, he would not give up either.

  Robert Kate is fifty-seven years old this year. In this era, he is already considered old age, but he did not hesitate to revolt. There is no doubt that he is an idealist.

   An old man who is dying, abandons his wealthy family and leads the family into an abyss.

  Edward admires this kind of idealist, but, often, this kind of idealist dies the fastest.

  Robert was sitting in the conference room with no worry on his face. Instead, because he achieved his goal and occupied Norwich, even with silver sideburns, he was still full of vigor and vitality.

   Seeing the leader like this, the flustered hearts of other high-level officials who were worried about the government's suppression gradually calmed down.

   "Don't worry, my sir, I think His Majesty the King will definitely agree with the program. He is so kind. As God's agent in the world, love is innate!"

   As he spoke, Robert said confidently, confident that the king would agree to their request.

   "Besides, so many of us have occupied Norwich, His Majesty the King will definitely negotiate with us!"

  (end of this chapter)