Great bodies of brigands devastated the country, and the whole of France was thrown into confusion.

So terrible was the disorder that the inhabitants of every village were obliged to fortify the ends of their streets, and keep watch and ward as in the cities.

The proprietors of land on the banks of rivers spent the night in boats moored in the middle of the stream, and in every house and castle throughout the land men remained armed as if against instant attack.
Then arose the terrible insurrection known as the Jacquerie.

For centuries the peasantry of France had suffered under a bondage to which there had never been any approach in England.

Their lives and liberties were wholly at the mercy of their feudal lords.