Jack Straw (rebel leader)
Encyclopedia
For other uses, see Jack Straw (disambiguation)
Jack Straw (probably the same person as John Rakestraw or Rackstraw) was one of the three leaders (together with John Ball
and Wat Tyler
) of the Peasants' Revolt
of 1381, a major event in the history of England
.
or one of the other peasants' leaders; all of them appear to have used pseudonyms, adding to the confusion.
Several chroniclers, including Henry Knighton
, mention Straw.
Thomas Walsingham
stated that Straw was a priest and was the second-in-command of the rebels from Bury St Edmunds and Mildenhall
. This story is most likely a result of confusion with a John Wrawe, an unbeneficed priest who was formerly the vicar of Ringfield near Beccles
in Suffolk
, and who seems to have led the Suffolk insurgency. Walsingham also states that Straw and his followers murdered both notable local figures in Bury and, after reaching the capital, several of its Flemish
residents, an accusation also made by Froissart. However, according to information in the church of St Mary in Great Baddow
, in Essex, England, Jack Straw led an ill-fated crowd from the churchyard there to the risings, and he is elsewhere referred to as the leader of the men from Essex (as opposed to Tyler
, who led the rebels from Kent).
Straw is generally supposed to have been executed in 1381 along with the other main figures of the Revolt. Froissart states that after Tyler
's death at Smithfield, Straw (along with John Ball) was found "in an old house hidden, thinking to have stolen away", and beheaded. Walsingham gives a lengthy (and most likely invented) 'confession' in which Straw states that the insurgents' plans were to kill the king, "all landowners, bishops, monks, canons, and rectors of churches", set up their own laws, and set fire to London.
The later chronicles of Raphael Holinshed
and John Stow
, in addition to detailing the 'confession', repeat a story, originating in the 15th century account of Richard Fox
, that Jack Straw, alias John Tyler, was provoked into his actions by an assault perpetrated on his daughter by a tax collector.
's The Canterbury Tales
, in the Nun's Priest's Tale, as the leader of a mob targeting foreign workers:
Straw was central to an anonymous 1593 play dramatising the events of the Rising, The Life and Death of Jack Straw. In the modern era, the rather confused reporting of events was briefly satirised in Sellar and Yeatman's parody of Whig history
, 1066 And All That
, stating that the peasants revolted "in several reigns under such memorable leaders as Black Kat, Straw Hat, John Bull
and What Tyler?", with objectives including "to find out [...] which of them
was the Leader of the Rebellion".
Straw was commemorated in the name of a pub on the edge of Hampstead Heath
, London. The Jack Straw's Castle, reputed to be the highest pub in London, took its name from a story that Straw addressed groups of rebels on the Heath from a hay wagon which became known as "Jack Straw's Castle".
The British politician Jack Straw
(born John Whitaker Straw,1946) adopted the name "Jack", allegedly after the rebel leader.
Jack Straw (probably the same person as John Rakestraw or Rackstraw) was one of the three leaders (together with John Ball
John Ball (priest)
John Ball was an English Lollard priest who took a prominent part in the Peasants' Revolt of 1381. In that year, Ball gave a sermon in which he asked the rhetorical question, "When Adam delved and Eve span, who was then the gentleman?".-Biography:Little is known of Ball's early years. He lived in...
and Wat Tyler
Wat Tyler
Walter "Wat" Tyler was a leader of the English Peasants' Revolt of 1381.-Early life:Knowledge of Tyler's early life is very limited, and derives mostly through the records of his enemies. Historians believe he was born in Essex, but are not sure why he crossed the Thames Estuary to Kent...
) of the Peasants' Revolt
Peasants' Revolt
The Peasants' Revolt, Wat Tyler's Rebellion, or the Great Rising of 1381 was one of a number of popular revolts in late medieval Europe and is a major event in the history of England. Tyler's Rebellion was not only the most extreme and widespread insurrection in English history but also the...
of 1381, a major event in the history of England
History of England
The history of England concerns the study of the human past in one of Europe's oldest and most influential national territories. What is now England, a country within the United Kingdom, was inhabited by Neanderthals 230,000 years ago. Continuous human habitation dates to around 12,000 years ago,...
.
Biography
Little is known of the Rising's leaders. It been suggested that Jack Straw may have been a preacher. Some have argued that the name was in fact a pseudonym for Wat TylerWat Tyler
Walter "Wat" Tyler was a leader of the English Peasants' Revolt of 1381.-Early life:Knowledge of Tyler's early life is very limited, and derives mostly through the records of his enemies. Historians believe he was born in Essex, but are not sure why he crossed the Thames Estuary to Kent...
or one of the other peasants' leaders; all of them appear to have used pseudonyms, adding to the confusion.
Several chroniclers, including Henry Knighton
Henry Knighton
Henry Knighton was an Augustinian canon at the abbey of St. Mary of the Meadows, Leicester, England. He was a canon at the Abbey since at least 1363, when he was recorded as being present during a visit from the King.-The chronicle:He wrote a four-volume chronicle, first published in 1652,...
, mention Straw.
Thomas Walsingham
Thomas Walsingham
- Life :He was probably educated at St Albans Abbey at St Albans, Hertfordshire, and at Oxford.He became a monk at St Albans, where he appears to have passed the whole of his monastic life, excepting a period from 1394 to 1396 during which he was prior of Wymondham Abbey, Norfolk, England, another...
stated that Straw was a priest and was the second-in-command of the rebels from Bury St Edmunds and Mildenhall
Mildenhall, Suffolk
Mildenhall is a small market town and civil parish in Suffolk, England. It is run by Forest Heath District Council and has a population of 9,906 people. The town is near the A11 and is located north-west of county town, Ipswich. The large Royal Air Force base, RAF Mildenhall as well as RAF...
. This story is most likely a result of confusion with a John Wrawe, an unbeneficed priest who was formerly the vicar of Ringfield near Beccles
Beccles
Beccles is a market town and civil parish in the Waveney District of the English county of Suffolk. The town is shown on the milestone as from London via the A145 Blythburgh and A12 road, northeast of London as the crow flies, southeast of Norwich, and north northeast of the county town of...
in Suffolk
Suffolk
Suffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...
, and who seems to have led the Suffolk insurgency. Walsingham also states that Straw and his followers murdered both notable local figures in Bury and, after reaching the capital, several of its Flemish
Flemish people
The Flemings or Flemish are the Dutch-speaking inhabitants of Belgium, where they are mostly found in the northern region of Flanders. They are one of two principal cultural-linguistic groups in Belgium, the other being the French-speaking Walloons...
residents, an accusation also made by Froissart. However, according to information in the church of St Mary in Great Baddow
Great Baddow
Great Baddow is an urban village in the Chelmsford borough of Essex, England. It is close to the county town, Chelmsford and, with a population of over 13,000, is one of the largest villages in the country....
, in Essex, England, Jack Straw led an ill-fated crowd from the churchyard there to the risings, and he is elsewhere referred to as the leader of the men from Essex (as opposed to Tyler
Wat Tyler
Walter "Wat" Tyler was a leader of the English Peasants' Revolt of 1381.-Early life:Knowledge of Tyler's early life is very limited, and derives mostly through the records of his enemies. Historians believe he was born in Essex, but are not sure why he crossed the Thames Estuary to Kent...
, who led the rebels from Kent).
Straw is generally supposed to have been executed in 1381 along with the other main figures of the Revolt. Froissart states that after Tyler
Wat Tyler
Walter "Wat" Tyler was a leader of the English Peasants' Revolt of 1381.-Early life:Knowledge of Tyler's early life is very limited, and derives mostly through the records of his enemies. Historians believe he was born in Essex, but are not sure why he crossed the Thames Estuary to Kent...
's death at Smithfield, Straw (along with John Ball) was found "in an old house hidden, thinking to have stolen away", and beheaded. Walsingham gives a lengthy (and most likely invented) 'confession' in which Straw states that the insurgents' plans were to kill the king, "all landowners, bishops, monks, canons, and rectors of churches", set up their own laws, and set fire to London.
The later chronicles of Raphael Holinshed
Raphael Holinshed
Raphael Holinshed was an English chronicler, whose work, commonly known as Holinshed's Chronicles, was one of the major sources used by William Shakespeare for a number of his plays....
and John Stow
John Stow
John Stow was an English historian and antiquarian.-Early life:The son of Thomas Stow, a tallow-chandler, he was born about 1525 in London, in the parish of St Michael, Cornhill. His father's whole rent for his house and garden was only 6s. 6d. a year, and Stow in his youth fetched milk every...
, in addition to detailing the 'confession', repeat a story, originating in the 15th century account of Richard Fox
Richard Fox (chronicler)
Richard Fox was a lay clerk at the abbey of St Albans, where he served as chamberlain to Abbott John Whethamstede. He is notable for compiling, amongst other texts, an expanded version of the Brut chronicle, which is especially important for including contemporary accounts of the Parliament of...
, that Jack Straw, alias John Tyler, was provoked into his actions by an assault perpetrated on his daughter by a tax collector.
Jack Straw in English culture
Whether Straw was a real person, a pseudonym for Tyler, or simply a result of confusion on the part of chroniclers remote from the events they were describing, he went on to become a part of the popular narrative of the revolt. Straw is mentioned in Geoffrey ChaucerGeoffrey Chaucer
Geoffrey Chaucer , known as the Father of English literature, is widely considered the greatest English poet of the Middle Ages and was the first poet to have been buried in Poet's Corner of Westminster Abbey...
's The Canterbury Tales
The Canterbury Tales
The Canterbury Tales is a collection of stories written in Middle English by Geoffrey Chaucer at the end of the 14th century. The tales are told as part of a story-telling contest by a group of pilgrims as they travel together on a journey from Southwark to the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket at...
, in the Nun's Priest's Tale, as the leader of a mob targeting foreign workers:
- Certes, he Jakke Straw and his meinee
- Ne made nevere shoutes half so shrille,
- Whan that they wolden any Fleming kille.
Straw was central to an anonymous 1593 play dramatising the events of the Rising, The Life and Death of Jack Straw. In the modern era, the rather confused reporting of events was briefly satirised in Sellar and Yeatman's parody of Whig history
Whig history
Whig history is the approach to historiography which presents the past as an inevitable progression towards ever greater liberty and enlightenment, culminating in modern forms of liberal democracy and constitutional monarchy. In general, Whig historians stress the rise of constitutional government,...
, 1066 And All That
1066 and All That
1066 and All That: A Memorable History of England, comprising all the parts you can remember, including 103 Good Things, 5 Bad Kings and 2 Genuine Dates is a tongue-in-cheek reworking of the history of England. Written by W. C. Sellar and R. J. Yeatman and illustrated by John Reynolds, it first...
, stating that the peasants revolted "in several reigns under such memorable leaders as Black Kat, Straw Hat, John Bull
John Bull
John Bull is a national personification of Britain in general and England in particular, especially in political cartoons and similar graphic works. He is usually depicted as a stout, middle-aged man, often wearing a Union Flag waistcoat.-Origin:...
and What Tyler?", with objectives including "to find out [...] which of them
was the Leader of the Rebellion".
Straw was commemorated in the name of a pub on the edge of Hampstead Heath
Hampstead Heath
Hampstead Heath is a large, ancient London park, covering . This grassy public space sits astride a sandy ridge, one of the highest points in London, running from Hampstead to Highgate, which rests on a band of London clay...
, London. The Jack Straw's Castle, reputed to be the highest pub in London, took its name from a story that Straw addressed groups of rebels on the Heath from a hay wagon which became known as "Jack Straw's Castle".
The British politician Jack Straw
Jack Straw (politician)
John Whitaker Straw is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Blackburn since 1979. He served as Home Secretary from 1997 to 2001, Foreign Secretary from 2001 to 2006 and Lord Privy Seal and Leader of the House of Commons from 2006 to 2007 under Tony Blair...
(born John Whitaker Straw,1946) adopted the name "Jack", allegedly after the rebel leader.