Jacquerie
Americannoun
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the revolt of the peasants of northern France against the nobles in 1358.
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(lowercase) any peasant revolt.
noun
Etymology
Origin of Jacquerie
< French, Middle French, equivalent to jaque ( s ) peasant (after Jacques, a name thought to be typical of peasants) + -rie -ry
Explanation
A jacquerie is an insurrection or revolt, especially by peasants against the ruling class. The original jacquerie was an organized uprising by working class farmers in 14th-century France. Chaos among the nobility had left these peasants charged with risking their lives to defend the palaces against invading English soldiers. They rebelled violently for months, but ultimately lost to the aristocrats. Jacquerie derives from the nobles' mocking nickname for peasants, Jacques, a reference to the padded jackets, or jacques, they wore.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
This, combined with the soaring fiscal burden of near-constant war, set off a series of uprisings, most notably the French Jacquerie of 1358 and the English Peasants' Revolt of 1381.
From Salon • Apr. 26, 2020
Returning to France about 1357 he delivered some noble ladies from the attacks of the adherents of the Jacquerie at Meaux, and was soon at war with the count of Armagnac.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 10, Slice 5 "Fleury, Claude" to "Foraker" by Various
The atrocious cruelties and mad excesses of the revolted Jacquerie could only have been committed by those who had been so long treated as brutes that they had acquired brutish passions and instincts.
From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 18, No. 109, November, 1866 by Various
The Maillotins of Paris found imitators in other great towns; and in Auvergne and Vivarais the Tuchins renewed the Jacquerie.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 10, Slice 7 "Fox, George" to "France" by Various
Our talk of his exploits brought us to Meaux, at the time of the Jacquerie, in the twelfth century.
From Everyman's Land by Williamson, A. M. (Alice Muriel)
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
