Public or Plebs: the Changing Meaning of 'the Commons', 1381-1549

A distinctive feature of English history from the later 14th century to the middle of the 16th is the recurrence of mass popular insurrections presenting collective grievances to the king. In 1381, 1450, and 1497, the rebels, or petitioners, marched on London to obtain redress. Similar moves were planned, but headed off, in 1536 and perhaps also 1549. In each rising the leaders stressed their loyalty to the king, their concern with the common welfare of the realm, and their representation of common opinion. After 1381 they also enunciated a clear sense of public duty. While the government responded punitively in the aftermath of each insurrection, its initial reactions were typically more muted. In part, this was pragmatism — a reflection of the sheer difficulty of countering popular revolt when the whole political and military apparatus depended so heavily on the compliance of local people; but it was also a tacit recognition that displays of common dissatisfaction possessed some legitimacy. If remedy was sought by the ‘commons’, or ‘commoners’, or ‘community’, whether they rose for truth, freedom, the honour and welfare of the king, or the common weal or the commonwealth, the ruler might feel an obligation to listen. This chapter focuses on the claim on the part of the participants to be, and to represent, the ‘commons’. It argues that the full significance of this claim has not been widely appreciated; that the changing meanings of ‘common’ terminology have gone unrecognized; and that the consequences of these changes have been under-explored.