Jack Cade's Rebellion or Cade's Rebellion was a popular revolt in 1450 against the government of England, which took place in the south-east of the country between the months of April and July. It stemmed from local grievances regarding the corruption, maladministration and abuse of power of the king's closest advisors and local officials, as well as recent military losses in France during the Hundred Years' War. Leading an army of men from south-eastern England, the rebellion's leader Jack Cade marched on London in order to force the government to reform the administration and remove from power the "traitors" deemed responsible for bad governance. Apart from the Cornish rebellion of 1497, it was the largest popular uprising to take place in England during the 15th century.
Despite Cade's attempt to keep his men under control, once the rebel forces had entered London they began to loot. The citizens of London turned on the rebels and forced them out of the city in a bloody battle on London Bridge. To end the bloodshed the rebels were issued pardons by the king and told to return home. Cade fled but was later caught on 12 July 1450 by Alexander Iden, a future High Sheriff of Kent. As a result of the skirmish with Iden, the mortally wounded Cade died before reaching London for trial. The Jack Cade Rebellion has been perceived as a reflection of the social, political, and economic issues of the time period and as a precursor to the Wars of the Roses, which saw the decline of the Lancaster dynasty and the rise of the House of York.
Very little is known about the identity and origins of Jack Cade. Given that the rebel leader did not leave behind any personal documents, and the use of aliases was common among rebels, historians are forced to base their claims on rumour and speculation. According to Mark Antony Lower, Jack (or John) Cade was probably born in Sussex between 1420 and 1430 and historians agree for certain that he was a member of the lower ranks of society.
During the rebellion of 1450, Cade took on the title of "Captain of Kent" and adopted the alias "John Mortimer". The name "Mortimer" had negative connotations for King Henry VI and his associates because Henry's main rival for the throne of England was Richard, Duke of York, who had Mortimer ancestry on his mother's side and thus descent from Edward III. The possibility that Cade may have been working with York was enough to prompt the king into moving against the rebels without delay. At the time of the rebellion the Duke of York was out of the country serving as Lieutenant of Ireland. To date, no evidence has been found indicating that he was involved in funding or inciting the uprising. It is more likely that Cade used the name "Mortimer" as propaganda to give his cause more legitimacy. When the rebels were issued a pardon on 7 July 1450, Cade was issued a pardon under the name "Mortimer", but once it was discovered that he had lied about his identity, the pardon was rendered void.
Among his followers, Cade's dedication to having the people's complaints heard and restoring order within both local and central governments earned him the nickname "John Mend-all" or "John Amend-all". It is not known whether Cade himself chose the name or not.
One tale of the time claimed that Cade was the doctor John Alymere who was married to the daughter of a squire in Surrey. Another rumour suggested that he enjoyed dabbling in the dark arts and had once worked for Sir Tomas Dacres before fleeing the country after murdering a pregnant woman.
Origins of the Jack Cade Rebellion
In the years preceding the Jack Cade Rebellion, England suffered from both internal and external difficulties and the animosity of the lower classes toward Henry VI was on the rise. Years of war against France had caused the country to go into debt and the recent loss of Normandy caused morale to decline and led to a widespread fear of invasion. Already the coastal regions of England such as Kent and Sussex were seeing attacks by Norman soldiers and French armies. Ill-equipped by the government, English soldiers took to raiding towns along the route to France with their victims receiving no compensation. Henry's call to set warning beacons along the coastline confirmed peoples' suspicions that an attack by the French was possible. These fears and continuous unrest in the coastal counties inspired many Englishmen to rally in an attempt to force the King to address their problems or abdicate his throne in favour of someone more competent.
At court the different opinions on how England should proceed in the war with France led to party divisions. Henry favoured peace while his uncle the Duke of Gloucester and other nobles felt England should continue to fight for England's claim to the French throne. Internecine fighting in court eventually led to the banishment of the king's closest friend and advisor William de la Pole, 1st Duke of Suffolk.
To add to England's troubles many believed that the king had surrounded himself with advisors who were ineffective and corrupt. At the heart of the corruption scandal was the Duke of Suffolk. When the duke's body washed up on the shores of Dover the people of Kent feared retaliation. Rumours emerged claiming that the king intended to turn Kent into a Royal forest in retaliation for the duke's death. Tired of the exploitation that the Duke of Suffolk had come to represent, the commons of Kent led by Jack Cade marched on London. It is estimated that about 5,000 people took part in the uprising. In the spring of 1450, Cade organised the creation and distribution of a manifesto entitled The Complaint of the Poor Commons of Kent. The manifesto represented not only the grievances of the people but of several MPs, lords and magnates as well. The document included a list of fifteen complaints and five demands to be brought before the king for scrutiny and dictated the causes of the revolt. The first issue to be addressed was that Cade's followers from Kent were being unjustly blamed for the death of the Duke of Suffolk. Despite the well-known anger of the peasants towards the Duke, the Bill of Complaints dismissed the idea that the rebels were responsible. In addition the rebels called for inquiries into cases of corruption within local and national governments and for the removal of corrupt high officials. Cade's list of complaints goes on to charge King Henry with injustice for not choosing to impeach his underlings and lords even though they were guilty of treasonous and unlawful acts. The king's counsellors and officials were accused of rigging elections, extortion, manipulating the king for their own gains and using their close position to the king to oppress those below them. Besides the Duke of Suffolk, the rebels explicitly called out James Fiennes, 1st Baron Saye and Sele and officials Crowmer, Isley, St Leger and Est for extortion. Affiliates of Suffolk, Lord Saye and his son-in-law Crowmer held prominent positions within the king's household and in the local administration of Kent. Both had served several terms as High Sheriffs of Kent and as members of the king's council. Furthermore, in 1449, Saye was appointed to the prestigious office of Lord High Treasurer. Isley and St Leger also served as Sheriffs and MPs in the county of Kent.
When the king failed to remedy their grievances the rebels marched on London.
In May 1450, the rebels began to join together in an organised fashion and began to move towards London. Cade sent out delegates to the surrounding counties to elicit aid and additional men. By early June more than 5,000 men had assembled at Blackheath, 6 miles (9.7 km) south-east of the City of London. They were mostly peasants but their numbers were swelled by shopkeepers, craftsmen, and some landowners (the list of pardoned shows the presence of one knight, two MPs, and eighteen squires). Several soldiers and sailors returning via Kent from the French wars also joined in the fray.
Hoping to disperse the rebellion before any real damage could be done, the king sent a small host of his royal contingents to quell the rebellion. The royal forces were led by Sir Humphrey Stafford (d. 1450), of Grafton in the parish of Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, and his second cousin William Stafford (d. 1450), of Southwick, Wiltshire (father of Humphrey Stafford, 1st Earl of Devon).