John Preston (rebel)

John Preston of Hadleigh in Suffolk, was a tenant of St Osyth's Abbey. He was executed for his involvement in the Peasants' Revolt.[1]
On June 25, 1381, Preston delivered a written petition on behalf of the commons to a royal commission meeting in Chelmsford in Essex to punish insurgents:

We the commons beseech of the special grace of our Lord the King that no-one should pay annually for customary land more than 4d an acre or 2d for half an acre or a halfpenny for a rood, with or without buildings, for all services and demands, and also we beseech that if less was paid it should remain as it was before this time. We also beseech that no court should be held in any vill apart from the leet of the Lord King annually and for ever. And also we beseech that if any thief, traitor or malefactor against the peace be captured in any vill, that you will give us a law by which he will be chastised.[2]

Arrested and questioned by the commissioners, Preston admitted to writing the petition and bringing it himself to their court. He was then executed.

What Preston hoped to accomplish by his act remains a question.[3] After the death of Wat Tyler on June 15, the rising's momentum collapsed, the king and gentry were suppressing any resistance and prosecuting associated crimes. The news of Preston's death provoked further disturbance and a threat on the life of the Abbot of St Osyth.[4]

References
  1. Prescott, Andrew. Judicial Records of the Rising of 1381, PhD thesis, Univ. of London 1984. link
  2. Prescott, Andrew (1998). "Writing About Rebellion: Using the Records of the Peasants' Revolt of 1381". History Workshop Journal. 45 (45): 13–14. JSTOR 4289548. Prescott's translation from the Latin of the commission's roll preserved in the National Archives (KB 145/3/6/1): "Nos communes petimus de speciali gracia domini Regis nostri ut qualibet acre terre native non solvat plus nisi quatuor denarios per annum et dimidum acre terre id et una roda terre id et dimidum roda terre obol’ si sit edificatus vel non pro omnibus serviciis et demandis ac eciam petimus quod minus solvebat quod modo stet in suo robore ... Et eciam petimus quod non sit aliqua curia tenta in aliqua villa nisi leta domini Regis per annum in perpetuum. Et eciam petimus quod si sit aliquis latro vel tretor capta in aliqua villa vel malefactor contra pacem ut decernere nobis lex per quam posset castigari ..." [transcribed by Eiden, Herbert. "In der Knechtschaft werdet ihr verharren--" : Ursachen und Verlauf des englischen Bauernaufstandes von 1381. Trier : Verlag Trierer Historische Forschungen, 1995. p. 287 n. 145]
  3. Prescott, Writing, p. 14.
  4. Prescott, Judicial Records, p. 141.
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