A closer look
Robert Kett led a massive medieval peasant revolt in 1549 because local wealthy landowners were aggressively enclosing public grazing fields and destroying the livelihood of poor English farmers. The rebel army miraculously managed to capture the entire city of Norwich using pitchforks and sheer, terrifying peasant rage, completely humiliating the highly trained royal soldiers sent to stop them. Kett set up a surprisingly functional democratic court system under a massive oak tree, where he actively put the captured wealthy nobles on trial for violently exploiting the working class. The rebellion was eventually crushed by a massive mercenary army, but not before proving that a mob of heavily armed, furious agricultural workers can absolutely govern better than the rich aristocracy






