Jacquerie

American  

[zhahk^uh-ree] / ʒɑkəˈri /

noun

1. the revolt of the peasants of northern France against the nobles in 1358.

2. (lowercase) any peasant revolt.

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Jacquerie British  

/ ʒakri /

noun

1. the revolt of the N French peasants against the nobility in 1358

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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

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

Time has not wiped, time never will wipe from the French memory the fear of a Jacquerie.

From The Abbess Of Vlaye by Weyman, Stanley J.

Thus the insurrection of the Jacquerie in France about the year 1358 had the same character, and resulted in a great measure from the same causes, as that of the English peasants in 1382.

From View of the State of Europe during the Middle Ages, Vol. 3 by Hallam, Henry

What but the Jacquerie was the red spectre?

From Napoleon the Little by Hugo, Victor

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