The Egyptian Peasant Revolts
Ancient Egypt saw peasant revolts especially during times of weak central authority. For example, during the First Intermediate Period (c. 2181–2055 BCE), local officials abused peasants, leading to localized revolts recorded in hieroglyphic texts.
The Roman Slave and Peasant Uprisings
In Roman history, the Servile Wars were significant slave revolts, but peasants also participated in various disturbances. The Bacchanalian Affair and some rural unrest highlighted tensions between peasants and landowners.
The most famous is the Bagaudae revolts in late Roman Gaul (3rd–5th centuries CE). These were peasants and bandits resisting heavy taxation and Roman officials.
Peasant Revolts in Medieval Europe
The medieval period witnessed some of the most influential and numerous peasant revolts in history, occurring in the context of feudalism.
The Jacquerie (1358)
One of the earliest and most famous peasant revolts was the Jacquerie in France during the Hundred Years’ War. War and plague devastated the French countryside. Burdened by taxes to finance the war, peasants rebelled violently against the nobility. Though brutally suppressed, it exposed the fragility of feudal control. shutdown123