The Jacquerie and Social Crisis

The peasant uprising known as the Jacquerie (May-June 1358) revealed the social tensions underlying political crisis. Triggered by noble failures to protect peasant communities from routiers (unemployed soldiers turned brigands), the rebellion spread rapidly through the Île-de-France and surrounding regions. Peasants attacked noble manors, destroying records of obligations and killing aristocratic families with savage brutality.

The Jacquerie's suppression proved equally brutal. Nobles temporarily set aside political differences to crush the common threat. Charles of Navarre, despite his opposition to the dauphin, led noble forces that massacred peasant bands. The rebellion's failure reinforced social hierarchy while demonstrating its fragility. Noble military incompetence against the English had not translated into successful peasant resistance to aristocratic dominance.

The rebellion's impact on royal policy proved complex. While the monarchy sided with nobles in suppressing peasants, it also recognized that aristocratic failures justified stronger royal authority. The dauphin's propaganda emphasized royal responsibility to protect all subjects, implicitly criticizing nobles who had failed this duty. The monarchy positioned itself as the arbiter between competing social groups rather than simply the apex of noble hierarchy.