While I was happy to see something this weekend other than Practical Magic 2, it was made all the more enticing by the fact that it was a historical film. What I am referring to is The Uprising, which also billed itself as the basis for the Robin Hood legend. Thus, given my commitment to seeing every film about the mythical archer of England’s medieval period, I was duty-bound to see it over pretty much any other choice. Also, because it is history, I decided to take along my dad, the one who first got me into studying the past. I do not think he realized going into this just how much actual history would be on display here. For me, having listened to nearly every episode of the Gone Medieval (2021-present) podcast, I knew that what we were about to see dealt with the very real Peasants’ Revolt. I cannot claim to be any expert on the matter, knowing only the barest of facts about it, but my Catholic antenna was definitely up throughout, as you will see.

That Catholic antenna has plenty to detect as The Uprising begins in England in 1381, a country still scarred by the Black Death and burdened by war, labor restrictions, and taxation. Ploughman (Andrew Garfield), known only by his occupation, works land he does not own while grieving the wife and children he lost to plague. When royal tax collectors arrive demanding a new poll tax, their efforts to determine whether young women are old enough to pay become abusive, and Ploughman finally attacks the king’s men. What begins as one farmer’s refusal quickly becomes collective rebellion. Tax records are burned, a surviving official is sent back with demands for the king, and Ploughman joins a growing movement marching toward London. The rebels want an end to serfdom and the poll tax, along with punishment for the royal counselors they blame for their misery. Their cause soon brings Ploughman together with the historical Wat Tyler (Cosmo Jarvis), a soldier who becomes the uprising’s practical leader, and John Ball (Jamie Bell), a radical priest whose preaching supplies its religious tone. John insists that social distinctions cannot be reconciled with the equality of God’s children and increasingly speaks of divine wrath against the powerful. There is something distinctly Catholic in insisting upon the dignity of poor laborers, but considerably less so in appointing oneself God’s executioner, and Ploughman grows uneasy as righteous grievance begins turning into vengeance. Alyce (Thomasin McKenzie), a former nun who says she was abused by a monk, also joins the rebels and forms a bond with Ploughman. Meanwhile, fourteen-year-old King Richard II (Woody Norman) is surrounded by advisers including Archbishop of Canterbury Simon Sudbury (Stephen Dillane), Treasurer Sir Robert Hales (Tom Hollander), and Mayor William Walworth (Jonny Lee Miller). The court initially treats the uprising as a problem to be contained, but the rebels’ numbers swell as villagers, workers, and Londoners join them. Ploughman still believes that if Richard can hear their grievances directly, the king will act justly. The rebels enter London, where their disciplined protest increasingly gives way to looting, destruction, and bloodshed. Ploughman is disturbed by the violence, while John and others argue that the corrupt order itself must be torn down. The Tower of London is breached, and officials associated with the hated government become targets, leaving the movement caught between a demand for justice and a hunger for revenge. Richard, despite the fears of his council, agrees to meet the rebels at Mile End. The encounter seems miraculous to men and women who have spent their lives regarding the king as almost unimaginably distant. Richard listens to their demands and promises concessions, including freedom from serfdom and pardons for those who joined the revolt. Many rebels believe they have won and begin returning home, but Wat and the remaining leaders press for more. Ploughman wants to trust the king’s word, even as events make that trust increasingly difficult. A further confrontation is arranged at Smithfield, where Wat meets Richard and the royal party. The negotiations collapse into violence, and Mayor Walworth attacks Wat. The rebel leader is killed, leaving the crowd shocked and leaderless. Richard then presents himself as their leader and draws the remaining rebels away, but the film transforms what historically followed into something much darker. The Crown’s promises prove worthless as the charters of freedom Ploughman had overseen are burned. Next, royal forces close in, and the uprising is brutally crushed. Ploughman survives the resulting massacre while many of those who followed the rebellion do not. John is also killed in the resulting trap, the movement’s hopes apparently dying with him and Wat. The young king who had seemed capable of hearing his subjects’ suffering instead reasserts royal power, while the institutions that helped create the revolt remain standing. Ploughman retreats with the survivors into the woods with Alyce, returning to a burned village and farmstead. Yet the story is not quite finished. One year later, Ploughman is leading a small band in the woods, including Alyce. The final sequence sees Ploughman stop a royal procession, killing the king’s guards save for Mayor Walworth. Ploughman then challenges Mayor Walworth to single combat, getting revenge for Wat’s death. He drags out Richard and is about to kill the king when the Queen Mother, Joan of Kent (Katherine Waterston), intervenes. The two had interacted before, and Ploughman can see that she is as unhappy with her son’s behavior as the rest. Instead, Ploughman lets Richard go free but with the warning that he and his followers shall live out the rest of their lives as free men in the woods, and that the former rebel will haunt the king for the rest of the ruler’s life. The last scene is an exterior shot of Windsor Castle with screams rising from its ramparts, meant to be Richard’s nightmares about Ploughman.

If you are not a fan of history, then watching The Uprising might be a nightmare for you. Since I am a historian, I found it a little more enjoyable, although there were a couple of moments at which I had to shake my head. For example, the crop you see being cultivated in much of the film appears to be maize, or corn, which would not have been seen in Europe in the fourteenth century. This is a small concern. A bigger one is the shift from Ploughman being just another member of the Peasants’ Revolt to being the basis for Robin Hood. Within the context of the movie, it makes some sense. After all, the famous archer’s modus operandi was to rob from the rich and give to the poor. Catholicism accomplishes the latter without doing any robbing. This is what was so difficult about John’s character. Historically speaking, members of the clergy have often taken the side of popular movements because they are among those living and working every day with common folk. Thus, it makes sense to have a priest be part of the rebel effort. One thing further to keep in mind is just how much Faith in God informed how virtually everyone in fourteenth-century Europe viewed the world. Usually, movies make this only about elites and how they use religion to control the masses. There is an element of that here with Archbishop Sudbury, who calls the Church a representation of Heaven on Earth. That is not an entirely inaccurate statement, but he places the burden for maintaining it on the people. To be fair, Catholics today are also obliged to provide for the material needs of the Church, but the Catechism specifies that each does so according to his or her abilities. The problem lies in how people perceive Catholicism as not having changed in over six centuries. This is demonstrably not true. While the truths of the Faith do not simply change with the times, disciplines, practices, and the Church’s understanding and articulation of those truths can develop. One of my biggest criticisms of the film is that it does little to dispel stereotypes that ignore this distinction.

Given the quality of the production values and most of the history in The Uprising, it almost seems unfair to say that there are stereotypes present. A common thing said about them, and I suspect this is mainly from those who want to believe them, is that there is always a kernel of truth to them. Was the Catholic Church perfect, then or now? Of course not. Her members are human and sinful, though the Church herself is also the Mystical Body of Christ, a reality that is both human and divine. I make that distinction because I do not wish either to deny the mistakes Catholics have made over the years or to reduce the Church to a merely human institution. What is equally true is that the Faith calls her members continually to repentance and conversion. In a sense, this is what John and many of the rebels desire of their king and the institutions that govern them: those in revolt simply want better. Their revolt is not solely about revenge for their ill treatment, but about speaking truth to power. This is a key aspect of Catholicism. There are plenty of examples in the Bible of people wielding not political might, but highlighting their apparent weakness in order to humble the strong. This is what almost happens with the Peasants’ Revolt, and should have happened given the promises made by Richard. That it does not is a tragedy, but God remains with His people. It is a realization that John comes to before he dies, laying down his life so that the others can escape. Early on, those involved in the titular movement believe they are going to force God to act on their behalf, forgetting that we do not get to decide how He responds to events. When matters get out of hand, Ploughman wonders whether God has abandoned them. He has not, and never will. Ploughman’s survival is not proof of God’s presence, since divine providence does not promise earthly survival, but his continued life gives him another opportunity to decide what he will do with the suffering he has endured.

That I made it to the conclusion is a testament to The Uprising being watchable. Ploughman is not a godly man, but nor is he bloodthirsty. He may not have bought into John’s final words about the presence of God, but he is apparently given the opportunity to live out his days in peace. Considering everything he endured, that is a gift in itself.