Ball, John
Ball, John (d. 1381). Contemporary chroniclers saw John Ball as the evil genius behind the Peasants' Revolt of 1381. Very little is known about this man, who in a letter ascribed to him referred to himself as formerly a priest of St Mary's, York, and then of Colchester. A member of the ecclesiastical underworld, he had been formally prohibited from preaching in 1366. Early in 1381 his attacks on the established church order led to his excommunication and imprisonment at Maidstone in Kent, from where the rebels released him. He was soon linked by chroniclers with lollardy, but his preaching during the revolt, with its egalitarian message, was in a well-established tradition. After the rising, Ball was sentenced to be hanged, drawn, and quartered.
Michael Prestwich
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Ball, John
