THE PEASANTS' REVOLT SERIES

Episode 2: The Corruption Machine (1351-1377 ) The Statute of Labourers wasn't just an economic regulation—it was a new kind of law that turned everyday negotiations into crimes. And the men enforcing it? The same men who employed workers. In this episode, we trace how thirty years of systematic legal corruption built the architecture of discontent. From the 94% prosecution rate against workers to...

Episode 1: The Black Death's Golden Age In June 1348, a ship arrived at England's southern coast carrying a disease that would kill half the population. But for the survivors, the Black Death created something unexpected: power. This episode examines how the demographic catastrophe of 1348-1350 inverted England's economic order, giving common workers unprecedented bargaining power—and how the elit...

Episode 3 — Æthelstan and the Architecture of Power In this episode, we examine the most consequential succession crisis in early medieval England — and the quiet political machinery that resolved it. After the death of Edward the Elder , England does not pass smoothly to a single heir. Instead, the nobility of Mercia makes a radical choice: they proclaim Æthelstan king — not of Mercia, and not of...