ABSTRACT
The keynote of Richard II,'s reign was struck by the chronicler's obituary notice of Edward III. "Unprofitable things continued long after" the death of the old king in 1377. It was indeed an unenviable heritage that was handed on to the unfortunate boy of eleven. At home, political parties were at daggers drawn. The problems of the day, serious enough in themselves, were complicated by the antipapal attitude of so many Englishmen. The most useful event for the English was the revolt of Brittany in 1378 and the return of their old ally John de Montfort to his duchy in 1379. The first overt signs of the great revolt, which resulted, occurred in Essex on May 30th, 1381, when one of the Commissioners appointed to inquire into the evasions of the poll-tax was driven away by the men of Fobbing.
