My British Empire

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Speaking of the Kate Rebellion, 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 Lord Protector Cromwell.

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

King Henry II of England appointed Thomas Becket as Archbishop of Canterbury, which was appointed by the Pope at that time, but he did not refuse 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.

However, Pope Alexander III recognized his performance very much, thinking that he was a truly devout believer, and canonized him as a saint. He was also called: St. Thomas Beckett, and there were 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 Wyndham town still hold commemorative events every year.

At this time, John Flowerdu appeared on the stage, and these celebrating residents rushed to his house in a rush, 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 supervisor and demolished Wyndham Abbey.

More importantly, as a lawyer, on the way to become a squire, he wantonly encloses land in his hometown, and his reputation in the village is 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 with so many enclosurers, they unanimously turned their goals to the notorious Sir John Flowerdu, he deserved it!

And 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 could be said to have been ruined once, and his stink was indescribable.

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

But at this time, the bad nature of our human beings came, and he didn't dare to blame those villagers, after all, there were so many of them.

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 had a lot of land, otherwise they wouldn't be famous for their wealth.

In response, Sir John bribed the humiliating rioters for fortypence each to go to Robert Kate's house, while he stayed at home and waited for some exciting news.

However, the news he waited for made his jaw drop in shock.

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

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

Kate, who is already fifty-seven years old, has a pleasant face towards those who dismantle their own fences, discusses them sentence by sentence, and listens carefully to their complaints.

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

And, under his leadership, the peasant masses tore down all the landowner 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 joined, and the number rapidly expanded to more than 20,000.

The rebel army drew up 29 programs in the jungle camp on Moshhold Hill near Norwich, and sent them to the king, that is, the "Letter of Petition" 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 fence, fill the ditches, let everyone have 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.

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

Of course, despite this, 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, he will develop ambitions and 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, who is fifty-seven years old this year, is already considered old in this age, but he did not hesitate to revolt. There is no doubt that he is an idealist.

An old man at the end of his life abandoned his wealthy family and led the family into an abyss.

Edward admired this kind of idealist, but, often, this kind of idealist died the fastest.

And Robert sat in the meeting room with no worry on his face. Instead, because he achieved his goal and occupied Norwich, even with silver sideburns, he was still radiant and full of 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, compassion is born with him!"

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!"