ZVEZDA Medieval Peasants RR 1/72

In the medieval Europe peasantry was the main productive class which mainly had been depended upon nobles, church or towns. At the same time peasantry was the most indigent class. Every last thing had been taken from serfs. Depended peoples had been laid upon new exactions and duties on various pretexts and names. Corvée, rent-in-kinds, overtaxes, dues for changing of master, posthumous duties, guard money etc. had been increased arbitrarily, despite all longstanding agreements.

 They had been refused in justice, moreover courts were venal. Further, if a knight could not receive money from a peasant by some way then he can throw him into prison without ceremony and force to pay ransom. Of course, people's patience was not endless, that is why armed revolts against oppression were rather often during all history of the Europe. Badly armed, without any armours and regular military training peasant armies nevertheless were able to withstand against skilled professional groups of knights and burgesses.

Substantially, it was supported by the spiritual character of many protests. Ideological leaders of peasantry (Thomas Muntzer, Wat Tyler, Hans Boheim), while demanding abolition of obligations had been proven it by originally equal rights of people in the face of God. Unfortunately, absence of long traditions of collective unity, incapacity for establishing of administrative work had been caused soon or lately to discords between rebels, and ruling clique was always able to take profit by that. Suppressions of revolts were always cruel and bloody. None of popular uprisings before French Revolution can be considered as successful.