Johanna Ferrour

Johanna Ferrour, also known as Joanna Ferrour or Joan Marchall, was a leader of the 1381 Peasants' Revolt in England. Originally from Rochester, she led a group of rebels that burned the Savoy Palace, stormed the Tower of London, and she ordered the execution of Archbishop Simon Sudbury and Robert Hales. Ferrour, like many others who participated in the revolt, rose after the implementation of the much-hated poll taxes of 1376–1381. Despite her violent deeds, there is no record that she was ever convicted of any charges brought against her after the revolt.

Name Ferrour is attested as both Johanna Ferrour and Joan Marchall in official documents. Johanna and Joan are variants of the same name while the surnames Ferrour and Marchall both suggest that her husband John was a shoer of horses. Ferrour is a Middle English word meaning a blacksmith who makes horseshoes. Similarly, Marchall is a form of Marshal which in Middle English sometimes referred to a farrier or master of horses. In an era where surnames were not concrete and were commonly a nod to one's profession the usage of Ferrour and Marchall interchangeably is not surprising.

Background Little is known about Ferrour's life before the revolt. Most of the knowledge on Ferrour is from King's Bench Court Rolls from her case after the revolt. Evidence points to Ferrour's origins in Rochester, Kent. She is listed as the wife of John of Rochester in both the Court Rolls that detail the charges brought against her after the revolt, and a Close Roll in 1386. Ferrour was recorded as the "chief perpetrator and leader" of a group of peasants who burned the Savoy Palace and attacked the Tower of London. Figures such as Archbishop Simon Sudbury and Treasurer Robert Hales were targeted by Ferrour and the other peasants due to their roles in passing and collecting the hated poll tax of 1380. Ferrour's plunder of £1,000 was a large sum: the Bank of England equates £1,000 in 1381 to over £900,000 in 2025. Both of the Ferrours' names show up in an aforementioned property settlement from 1386 which is evidence they survived their trials and were not executed, which would have been the punishment for a guilty verdict. Federico notes that Ferrour's husband John was acquitted of the charges brought against him. This favour is said to have been repaid by Henry as he pardoned the same John Ferrour after Ferrour rebelled against him twenty years later. The John Ferrour who saved the life of future King Henry IV is often named "John Ferrour of Southwark" but Given-Wilson suggests that Henry's saviour may have been John Ferrour of Rochester. While only conjecture, the one "John Ferrour of Rochester" who is certainly known to have been in the Tower of London during the attack is the husband of Johanna. John Ferrour also had a history of violence when in 1380 he was pardoned of murder. Therefore, it is possible that the Ferrours played much more of a consequential role in English history than just being members of the Revolt of 1381.

Significance Johanna Ferrour's role in the Peasants' Revolt of 1381 not only shows that women participated in social revolt in medieval England, but shows that on occasion women were even leaders of revolt. Her story is one of a common woman leading others to fight against what they deemed as unjust taxation and governance. Stories like hers are rarely seen in medieval Europe as women rarely led riots or revolts in the Middle Ages.

Representations in popular culture In the audio drama I Cannot Sleep, a 2017 episode of the podcast Outliers: Stories from the Edge of History, Ferrour featured as the narrator of the episode. She opened with the line "my name is Johanna Ferrour, you do not know me" and told the story of her leadership of the Peasants' Revolt. She is also the central protagonist in the Marie-Fleur Albecker's novel Et j'abattrai l'arrogance des tyrans (And I will bring down the arrogance of tyrants).