Medieval Meaux

Meaux in the Middle Ages

During the late Middle Ages the rural town of Meaux – located about 40 km from the centre of Paris – turned into an important part of the greater region of Paris. In order to describe this shift from rural town to important suburb a new book focuses on the late medieval history of the town as well as the people, who lived there.

Economically medieval Meaux was dependant on textile production as well as the local vineyards. Fortunes were made delivering goods to the elites in Paris creating the foundation for a vibrant economic and political milieu; but it also turning Meaux into the central focus for a large peasant revolt – the Jacquerie – in 1358 as well as the constant warring in the 14^th and 15^th century.

The Jacquerie was a revolt centered in the Oise Valley north of Paris. These rebellions were known as the Jacquerie after the peasant revolutionary Guillaume Caillet, popularly known as Jacques Bonhomme (“Simple Jack”) or Caillet. French nobles, led by Charles the Bad of Navarre, captured Caillet in the end and tortured him to death by use of red-hot irons, suppressed the revolt. The word “Jacquerie” became a synonym for peasant uprisings, and for centuries the nobility lived in fear of a repeat performance.

The book not only traces the history of Meaux, but also discusses the construction of Ile-de-France as a wider Parisian region and thus presents the reader with part of the socio-economic background for the uprising in 1358.

Mickaël Wilmart is a historian, working at l’EHESS

Meaux au Moyen Âge. Une ville et ses hommes du XIIe au XVe siècle, Montceaux-les-Meaux
By Mickaël Wilmart
Editions Fiacre, 2013, 404 p.
ISBN : 978-2-917231-35-7.
28 euros.

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