revolts The Zealots of Thessalonica, Byzantine Empire, 1342–1350. The revolt of Cola di Rienzo in central Italy in 1347. The Ciompi Revolt in 1378 in Florence. The Harelle in Rouen and Paris in 1382. The Hvar rebellion on the Dalmatian island of Hvar, Republic of Venice, 1510–1514. Terminology Different historians will use different terms to describe these events. The word peasant, since the 14th century, has had a pejorative meaning. However, it was not always that way; peasants were once viewed as pious and seen with respect and pride. As nobles increasingly lived better quality lives, there arose a new consciousness of those on top and those below, and the sense that being a peasant was not a position of equality. This new consciousness coincided with the popular uprisings of the 14th century. Research by Rodney Hilton in the 1970s showed that the Peasants' Revolt (or Great Rising) was led not by peasants, but by those who would be the most affected by increased taxation: the merchants who were not wealthy, but not poor either. Indeed, these revolts were often accompanied by landless knights, excommunicated clerics and other members of society who might find gain or have reason to rebel. Although these were popular revolts, they were often organized and led by people who would not have considered themselves peasants. Peasants is typically a term used to denote the rural agrarian poor, while many uprisings involved tradesmen and occurred within towns and cities, thus the term does not fully encompass events as a whole for the period. For historical writing purposes, many modern historians will use the word peasant with care and respect, choosing other phrases such as "Popular" or "from below" or "grassroots", although in some countries in central and eastern Europe where serfdom continued up to the 19th century in places, the word peasant is still used by some historians as the main description of these events. See also List of peasant revolts References Further reading Mollat and Wolff, The Popular Revolutions of the Late Middle Ages, 1973 Fourquin, The Anatomy of Popular Rebellion, 1978 Samuel K. Cohn, Jr., ed. and trans., Popular Protest in Late Medieval Europe: Italy, France and Flanders, Selected Sources Translated and Annotated, Manchester University Press, 2004.