BattlefieldsKett Rebellion — Wymondham Fair Fight Origin 1549
Tudor

Kett Rebellion — Wymondham Fair Fight Origin 1549

1549
Norfolk, England
Era
Tudor
Battle Type
Pitched Battle
Location
Norfolk, England
Status
Unregistered
The Combatants

Who Fought

Forces
Not recorded in historical accounts
Forces
Local authority
VS
Victor
Not recorded in historical accounts
Forces
Wymondham levellers, several hundred rising to thousands
Outcome
Enclosures pulled down at Wymondham; Kett assumed leadership; host marched on Norwich via Mousehold Heath
The Battle

History & Significance

The rebellion that bears Robert Ketts name began at Wymondham fair on 6-7 July 1549 when a crowd that had gathered for the fair turned to pulling down the enclosures of a local gentleman John Flowerdew. Robert Kett, himself a tanner who had his own dispute with Flowerdew, sided with the commons and offered to lead the levellers. The Wymondham fair fight was an impromptu beginning that rapidly escalated into the most serious English revolt of the sixteenth century after the Pilgrimage of Grace.

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