La Jacquerie à Meaux

This miniature depicts an episode of the Jacquerie at Meaux in 1358, in the context of the major social and political violence that shook the kingdom of France in the mid-fourteenth century. The scene shows the assault on the town and the repression that followed: fighters clash on the ramparts and bridges, while several bodies are hurled or fall into the waters below the fortifications. On the left also appear noble and armed figures, recalling the intervention of aristocratic forces against the peasant insurgents. Through its dense and spectacular composition, the image emphasizes disorder, brutality, and the exemplary character of the repression. As is often the case in medieval illuminations, it does not aim at exact realism, but at a striking visual narration of a major episode in the unrest of the reign of John II the Good.