Person
John Ball
John Ball was an English priest whose preaching on the equality of all people made him one of the leaders of the Peasants' Revolt of 1381. Excommunicated and imprisoned several times for sermons attacking the wealth of the Church and the lords, he was freed from Maidstone prison by the Kentish rebels and preached to them at Blackheath on the text 'When Adam delved and Eve span, who was then the gentleman?'. After the revolt collapsed he was captured at Coventry and executed at St Albans on 15 July 1381.
Great speeches
Cite this entry
- APA
- The Epoch Institute. (2026). John Ball. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/john-ball
- MLA
- “John Ball.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/john-ball. Accessed .
- Chicago
- The Epoch Institute. “John Ball.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/john-ball.
- Harvard
- The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘John Ball’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/john-ball (Accessed: ).
Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻