Battle of Billericay | |||||||
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Part of Peasant's Revolt | |||||||
"The Peasant War" by Constantin Meunier | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Royal Forces | Rebel Forces | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Thomas Percy | Unknown | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
Unknown | Unknown | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
Unknown, Minimal | Around 500 |
The Battle of Billericay took place on 28 June 1381 when the boy King Richard II's soldiers defeated the Essex rebels adjacent to a wood north-east of Billericay, part of the Peasants' Revolt. This is likely to have been Norsey Wood, which maps of 1593 show to cover the same extent as in the early 20th century.
After the death of Wat Tyler and dispersal of the main rebel army, a summons was sent out in Essex for a mobilisation of rebels at Great Baddow and Rettendon, at threat of arson. Hundreds met and gathered in North-East Billericay on 27 June, digging trenches and chaining carts together. [1]
The King's forces were led by Thomas of Woodstock, the Earl of Buckingham and Sir Thomas Percy. They charged the defensive line as broke it, as the rebels struggled to form a defensive line. Some stayed behind and formed a Saxon fighting ring, as many ran and fled into the woods itself.
It is thought that 500 Essex men were killed and buried at Great Burstead churchyard, [2] and 800 horses were captured. The few survivors who didn't desert tried in vain to rally the people of Colchester to fight, and then to Sudbury, only to find hostile Royal forces. The last survivors then made their way to Huntingdon before making a last stand at Ramsey Abbey where 25 were slain and the remainder became outlaws.
The details comprising this overview have been summarised from a piece written for the Norsey Wood Society [3] newsletter by Billericay historian Julian Whybra. [4]
His ultimate sources were the Westminster Chronicle attributed to Robert of Reading, and the Historia Anglicana by Thomas Walsingham.
Year 1381 (MCCCLXXXI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar.
Richard II, also known as Richard of Bordeaux, was King of England from 1377 until he was deposed in 1399. He was the son of Edward, Prince of Wales, and Joan, Countess of Kent. Richard's father died in 1376, leaving Richard as heir apparent to his grandfather, King Edward III; upon the latter's death, the 10-year-old Richard succeeded to the throne.
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 Death in the 1340s, the high taxes resulting from the conflict with France during the Hundred Years' War, and instability within the local leadership of London.
Cavendish is a village and civil parish in the Stour Valley in Suffolk, England.
Walter "Wat"Tyler 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. While the brief rebellion enjoyed early success, Tyler was killed by officers loyal to King Richard II during negotiations at Smithfield, London.
Jack Straw was one of the three leaders of the Peasants' Revolt of 1381, a major event in the history of England.
Billericay is a town and civil parish in the Borough of Basildon in Essex, England. It lies within the London Basin and is 25 miles (40 km) east of Central London. The town has a wide variety of open spaces. The town is thought to have been occupied since the Bronze Age.
John Ball was an English priest who took a prominent part in the Peasants' Revolt of 1381. Although he is often associated with John Wycliffe and the Lollard movement, Ball was actively preaching "articles contrary to the faith of the church" at least a decade before Wycliffe started attracting attention.
Norsey Wood is a 67.2-hectare (166-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Billericay, Essex. It is also a Local Nature Reserve and a Scheduled Monument.
Great Burstead is an urban settlement and former civil parish, now in the parish of Great Burstead and South Green, in the Basildon district, in Essex, England. It is contiguous with the town of Billericay.
Richard of Wallingford, constable of Wallingford Castle and landowner in St Albans, played a key part in the English peasants' revolt of 1381. Though clearly not a peasant, he helped organise Wat Tyler’s campaign, and was involved in presenting the rebels’ petition to Richard II. The petition called for an end to feudal serfdom, the ending of services to a feudal lord, to abolish market monopolies and restrictions on buying and selling goods. Tyler refused to accept a charter offered by the king, despite Richard of Wallingford's encouragement.
Events from the 1380s in England.
Henry le Despenser was an English nobleman and Bishop of Norwich whose reputation as the 'Fighting Bishop' was gained for his part in suppressing the Peasants' Revolt in East Anglia and in defeating the peasants at the Battle of North Walsham in the summer of 1381.
A Dream of John Ball (1888) is a novel by English author William Morris about the Great Revolt of 1381, conventionally called "the Peasants' Revolt". It features the rebel priest John Ball, who was accused of being a Lollard. He is famed for his question "When Adam delved and Eve span, who was then the gentleman?"
Buttsbury is a village and former 2,079-acre (8.4 km2) civil parish now in the parish of Stock, in the Chelmsford district of Essex, England. Its name is a contraction of Botulph's Pirie, a major saint who died in 680. It is sometimes surmised that the name refers to a tree under which St Botolph preached. In 1931, the civil parish had a population of 1709.
St John's Fields, London were fields owned by the church of St John of Clerkenwell and were used as a gathering point outside the city walls of medieval London.
The Battle of North Walsham was a medieval battle fought on 25 or 26 June 1381, near the town of North Walsham in the English county of Norfolk, in which a large group of rebellious local peasants was confronted by the heavily armed forces of Henry le Despenser, Bishop of Norwich. The battle is significant for being the last occurrence of any major resistance during the English Peasants' Revolt.
Essex is a ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the south, Greater London to the south-west, and Hertfordshire to the west. The largest settlement is Southend-on-Sea, and the county town is Chelmsford.
William Grindecobbe or Grindcobbe was one of the peasant leaders during the English Peasants' Revolt of 1381. A Townsman of St Albans, he was a substantial property owner there and has been described as a 'hero' of the revolt.
St Mary Magdalene is a Grade I-listed parish church in the village of Great Burstead, about 1.5 mi (2.4 km) south of Billericay, Essex, England. The present building dates to the 12th century, but a wooden church may have been built on the site during the seventh century. The church is part of the Great Burstead Conservation Area, which was designated as such in 1983.