England, Arise: the People, the King, & the Great Revolt of 1381 by Juliet Barker. I am about a third of a way finished with the book. Many of the legal details and all the various taxes and fees is a bit confusing, but it has interested me so far. I am usually sympathetic to the underdog, and I have found a new appreciation for John Balle. One of the famous things he wrote was "When Adam delved and Eve span, who THEN was a gentleman?"
He was kind of a cool guy, and applied for a writ of protection from the Crown since he said people were trying to beat him up from prosecuting his business. He got his writ, but it was later rescinded when the law found out that the business Balle was prosecuting was going around preaching things against the Catholic church and the people beating him up were clergy.
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Prelude (1443)
7 years ago
That sounds intriguing!
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PlaintiveMelody (245)
7 years ago
It is nonfiction, so a little bit of a slog. The various laws were not so fun to read, but necessary to lay down the foundation of why the Peasants revolted in 1381.
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Prelude (1443)
7 years ago
I love history -- even when the facts can be a little dry, still it's intriguing to learn about events that happened; I prefer it to fiction!
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PlaintiveMelody (245)
7 years ago
I generally prefer fiction. I love history, too. The preliminary part of the book was setting the foundation of why they revolted. Now, I'm getting to the actual revolt, and it's pretty interesting. I like to alternate fiction and nonfiction. I have a book about the history of salt I am looking forward to reading as my next nonfiction choice.
That probably sounds as stuffy as anything, lol.
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Prelude (1443)
7 years ago
Not stuffy at all -- I'm also into a balance of fiction and non-fiction! I love non-fiction because I love to read about real-life things I'm interested in and want to learn more about, everything from events in history to specific subjects, wildlife, etc.
I like fiction too in order to have some escapism, but I tend to be very picky about my fiction, as it has to be really well-written and a worthwhile story for me to not feel like I'm wasting my time.
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PlaintiveMelody (245)
7 years ago
I'm not very discriminating in choosing my fiction. I pretty much read whatever comes to hand. I have "old" tastes. So I generally read older books I have bought from book sales and thrft stores. Nonfiction when really well written is excellent- but so is fiction!
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