A March on London

A March on London

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Title: A March on London
Author: G. A. Henty
Release Date: December, 2004 [EBook #7061] [Yes, we are more than
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[Illustration: "EDGAR STRUCK HIM A BUFFET ON THE FACE
WHICH SENT HIM REELING BACKWARDS."]

A MARCH ON LONDON BEING A STORY OF WAT TYLER'S
INSURRECTION
BY G. A. HENTY

PREFACE
The events that took place during the latter half of the fourteenth
century and the first half of the fifteenth are known to us far better than
those preceding or following them, owing to the fact that three great
chroniclers, Froissart, Monstrelet, and Holinshed, have recounted the
events with a fulness of detail that leaves nothing to be desired. The
uprising of the Commons, as they called themselves--that is to say,
chiefly the folk who were still kept in a state of serfdom in the reign of
Richard II.--was in itself justifiable. Although serfdom in England was
never carried to the extent that prevailed on the Continent, the serfs
suffered from grievous disabilities. A certain portion of their time had
to be devoted to the work of their feudal lord. They themselves were
forbidden to buy or sell at public markets or fairs. They were bound to
the soil, and could not, except under special circumstances, leave it.
Above all, they felt that they were not free men, and were not even
deemed worthy to fight in the wars of their country. Attempts have
been made to represent the rising as the result of Wickliffe's attack
upon the Church, but there seems to be very small foundation for the
assertion. Undoubtedly many of the lower class of clergy, discontented

with their position, did their best to inflame the minds of the peasants,
but as the rising extended over a very large part of England, and the
people were far too ignorant to understand, and far too much irritated
by their own grievances to care for the condition of the Church, it may
be taken that they murdered the Archbishop of Canterbury and many
other priests simply because they regarded them as being wealthy, and
so slew them as they slew other people of substance. Had it been
otherwise, the Church would not have been wholly ignored in the
demands that they set before the king, but some allusion would have
been made for the need of reforms in that direction.
The troubles in Flanders are of interest to Englishmen, since there was
for many years an alliance, more or less close, between our king and
some of the great Flemish cities. Indeed, from the time when the first
Von Artevelde was murdered because he proposed that the Black
Prince should be accepted as ruler of Flanders, to the day upon which
Napoleon's power was broken forever at Waterloo, Flanders has been
the theatre of almost incessant turmoil and strife, in which Germans
and Dutchmen, Spaniards, Englishmen, and Frenchmen have fought
out their quarrels.
G. A. HENTY.

CONTENTS
I. TROUBLED TIMES
II. A FENCING BOUT
III. WAT TYLER
IV. IN LONDON
V. A RESCUE
VI. A CITY MERCHANT
VII. DEATH TO THE FLEMINGS!
VIII. A COMBAT IN THE TOWER
IX. DEATH OF THE TYLER
X. A FIGHT IN THE OPEN
XI. AN INVITATION
XII. THE TROUBLES IN FLANDERS
XIII. A STARVING TOWN
XIV. CIVIL WAR
XV. A CRUSHING DEFEAT

XVI. A WAR OF THE CHURCH
XVII. PRISONERS
XVIII. A NOBLE GIFT
XIX. WELL SETTLED

ILLUSTRATIONS
"EDGAR STRUCK HIM A BUFFET ON THE FACE WHICH SENT
HIM REELING BACKWARDS."
EDGAR TALKS