Person    | Male  Born 1338  Died 15/7/1381

John Ball

Born St Albans. As a priest he followed the Lollard doctrine which advocated social equality and hence was imprisoned several times. This was where he was when the Peasants' Revolt began. The Kentish rebels freed him and he responded with a sermon on Blackheath which included 'When Adam delved and Eve span, who was then the gentleman?' meaning that as there were no lords at the beginning of time, why should there be any now? 

This, not surprisingly, led to his reimprisonment, trial and execution. He was hung, drawn and quartered at St Albans, in front of Richard II. His quarters were distributed across four towns for display and his head ended up on a spike on London Bridge. Other rebels suffered the same fate and at least one of them was sent, piecemeal, to Norwich, Harwich, Lynn and Yarmouth but we can't discover Ball's final destinations.

We've heard that in the modern meat trade the "fifth quarter" means the offal, whereas in medieval England it could have been used to mean the head. Nice.

This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
John Ball

Commemorated ati

The Great Rising / Peasants' Revolt

Matthew Bell realised that The Great Rising lacked a proper memorial and that...

Read More

Other Subjects

George Robinson, 1st  Marquess of Ripon

George Robinson, 1st Marquess of Ripon

Born 10 Downing Street. Politician, son of Prime Minister, Frederick John Robinson. He served in every Liberal cabinet from 1861 until his death. Knighted 1869 and created 1st Marquess of Ripon in ...

Person, Politics & Administration, India

2 memorials
Mr  Robert S. Watlin

Mr Robert S. Watlin

Administrator and Trustee of the Putney Pest House Charity, 1862.

Person, Politics & Administration, Social Welfare

1 memorial
Institute of Taxation

Institute of Taxation

In 1932 the Institute was formally incorporated and also created the first widely accepted professional qualification in the subject.   In 1994 it was granted a Royal Charter.

Group, Politics & Administration

1 memorial
D. Williams

D. Williams

A commissioner of Limehouse Library in 1900.

Person, Politics & Administration

1 memorial