King Edward III ruled England well for fifty years, made great development in Parliament, and started the Hundred-year War with France. He and his son, the Black Prince, were both masterful military tacticians and under their leadership the first phase of the Hundred-year War, known as the Edwardian War, went very well for England. After the two monumental battles of Crécy and Poitiers the Treaty of Brétigny was signed. In 1376 Edward the Black Prince, Prince of Wales, eldest son of King Edward III, and heir to the throne of England, died of chronic dysentery. After his death his son Richard II became heir to his grandfather King Edward III. On June 21, 1377, at age 64, Edward III died of a stroke and the throne of England was left to ten-year-old Richard II.

Over time the common people’s unrest had been growing. It started in 1347 with the arrival of The Black Death, a plague that tore through the land and devastated the population. For four years the population had suffered and as a result labor had become expensive. With fewer options the rich were willing to pay large sums of money for their laborers. But the government saw the potential problem of the continued raise in profit and they instituted The Statute of Laborers in 1351, which limited the income of the common folk to two pence a day. After losing almost a third of the population, having their income raised significantly, then having the government restrict it back to how it was before greatly infuriated the people. And yet, they loved their king, Edward III, and so this alone was not enough to cause a revolt.

The war with France was taxing and had cost the people much wealth and many men. The coastal towns in particular suffered and lost most of their revenue as their ships had been surrendered to the navy. On top of this Richard II was only a boy so the kingdom was ruled by his uncle, John of Gaunt. John of Gaunt was already unpopular among the people, for after the huge victories won by Edward III and the Black Prince, they both took ill and the war with France was continued by John of Gaunt. Just as he arrived on the battlefield England began to run out of men and money. France’s superior economic power began to kick in, resulting in England quickly losing ground. As France continued mounting victories and John of Gaunt continued retreating the people compared John of Gaunt’s constant losses to Edward III’s constant victories. John of Gaunt did not help the situation, for as soon as he returned to England he enforced the poll tax of 1377. The poll taxes were taxes that taxed the poor and rich equally. Later in the year 1379 John of Gaunt invoked a second poll tax further igniting the people’s rage.

Finally, John of Gaunt introduced a third poll tax, the poll tax of 1381. The poll tax of 1381 was much higher than the two previous taxes and was per person, not measured by property as the others had been. Between January and March 1381 hundreds of people hid family members in an effort to not pay the tax. But John of Gaunt needed the money to continue the war with France and so he was thorough. Investigators discovered many of the deceptions and made people pay by force.

Enter John Ball. John Ball was a radical priest who argued that all mankind was equal. His preaching was banned, and after being caught preaching he was thrown into prison in April 1381. But in May rebels released him and he immedinetly preached to a large mass of people telling them that they should “cast off the yoke of bondage, and recover liberty!”

Later that May the king’s commissioners demanded the payment of taxes from several villages in Kent. When demanding payment from the people of Fobbing they were refused. A riot broke out and the commissioners were killed.

Word spread quickly and soon neighboring villages decided to band together. They met at Maidstone and soon elected a rebel leader, Wat Tyler. Wat Tyler and John Ball planned the next steps for the rebels. The Peasants' Revolt had begun.

On June 7th, 1381 the rebels marched through Kent and Suffolk towards London. Throughout the five day march the rebel forces steadily grew. Word traveled fast and people from all across the country joined the rebellion. By the time they reached London they were 30,000 strong and a sympathizer opened one of the gates and many of the rebels stormed into London. The first thing they did was find John of Gaunt's house, loot it, and then burn it to the ground. Next Tyler negotiated a meeting with fourteen-year-old King Richard II.

642 years ago, on June 14 1381 the young king met with Wat Tyler at Mile End. After hearing the peasants' demands King Richard II agreed and signed the charter giving the peasants the rights that they requested. Later that day a group of armed rebels stormed a castle called The Tower of London. Once they had gained entrance they killed the king's treasurer, and The Archbishop of Canterbury. At the tower they also found the young Henry of Lancaster, who was destined to be their future king. His life was spared because he was so young.

On the next day an army of Londoners loyal to King Richard II was assembled and Richared II asked to speak with Tyler again at Smithfield. Tyler and his men met Richard II and Tyler made more demands. The Mayor of London, who was present, got into an argument with Wat Tyler. Therein Tyler appeared to wave something at the king and the angry mayor lept forward and stabbed Tyler. With their leader dead the king asked the peasents to leave London and personally led them through the gate.

After these events, on the 23rd of June, Richard II withdrew all of the agreements regarding the peasants’ rights that he had promised Wat Tyler. Shortly after the king had the rebels from Fobbing executed. In the weeks that followed aproximetly 1,500 rebels were arrested, sent to trial, sentenced, and executed. On July 13th, 1381 John Ball was captuerd, tried for treson, found guilty, and was hung, drawn, and quartered on the 15th.

By Josiah Patrick

Plot Overview:

Author Chuck Black paints an amazing tale of medieval adventure in the first installment of his 'Kingdom Series'. But more than just deadly duels, gripping adventure, and fascinating plots, 'Kingdom’s Dawn' is a profoundly Christian allegorical book. Written in some ways similarly to 'The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe', 'Kingdom’s Dawn' is a direct mirror of the stories in Genesis 1-Exodus 4, set in a medieval world.

The book is stuffed full of good Christian beliefs, wonderful role models, Christ honoring stories, and of course, amazing sword battles.

It centers around the character of Leinad. Leinad is a simple farm boy with a simple past…or so he thinks. He is raised, by his father Patan like almost any other farmer, except of course for the constant teachings on honor, integrity, and trust. And then there are the lessons on the King, a man so good, so powerful, so true, so faithful, and so loving that it seems almost foolish for Leinad to swear his unfailing loyalty to anyone else. And strangest of all are the sword lesson. Even at such a young age Leinad is a skilled swordsman able to hold his own against almost any opponent. All this is thanks to Leinad’s father’s teaching, but one question is always at the back of Leinad's mind: What does sword fighting have to do with farming?

It’s not until his father’s confession about his true history, how he and Leinad's mother were tasked with ruling the Kingdom of Arrethrae, and how they failed the King and disobeyed his direct command, thereby letting Lucius into the kingdom. This revelation from his father comes not a moment too soon as the next day they come face to face with Lucius himself.

Soon Leinad and his friend Tess are thrust into an adventure beyond their wildest dreams. But as the trials mount Leinad is forced to question his beliefs about the King, who He is, and whether He truly loves the people of Arrethrare.

Positive Elements:

I could go on and on with this because there are so many. I will attempt to touch on as many of them as I can in the following section.

For one 'Kingdom’s Dawn' shows a clear example of a biblical relationship between a father and his son. Above we have already mentioned that in addition to sword fighting Patan teaches Leinad many other things that over time shape him into a good man ready to follow the King.

Throughout the book Patan offers several words of profound wisdom to Leinad I will list two such statements below:

“Observation and experience build prediction, for if you study the past, you will know the future.”

And, “Do not become impatient with the fight. Impatience breeds recklessness, and recklessness will end in defeat against a skilled opponent. It is the patient perfecting of the fundamentals that wins battles. That is why I have worked with you to improve your strength and focus your mind, but you must decide that you will discipline yourself to use them.”

A very close bond exists between father and son as emphasized by another quote form the book. “Leinad also learned from his father, that sword training alone was more devastating than helpful to young men were they not tempered with discipline, honor, integrity, loyalty, and honesty, the very qualities his father demonstrated each day.”

The book speaks of how his father teaches Leinad how to honor the King and that he should always be ready to serve Him. It also talks about how Leinad understands his father’s love for him and how he responds with respect and loyalty.

Leinad shows great bravery and loyalty throughout the course of the book. But many other characters also display positive elements. Tess in particular shows great bravery, courage, and loyalty as she stands by Leinad throughout the harrowing adventure.

Even Lord Fairos is not without his positive elements. Although it is quite twisted, it is still obvious that he loves his son greatly and that his son adores his father.

Spiritual Elements:

As mentioned above the book, 'Kingdom’s Dawn', is an allegory of the Bible. Throughout the course of the story Leinad plays the roles of first Seth, then Noah, Abraham, Joseph, and finally Moses.

The entire book series stays completely free from magic. This includes 'Kingdom’s Dawn', which has zero magic.

Language:

None.

Romance:

None.

Violence and Gore:

In this epic medieval novel violence abounds as the forces of good, and evil collide in ferocious sword duels, and deadly battles.

The book opens with an intense ten paragraph sword duel that is described in great detail. (Although it should be noted that there are no injuries in this particular battle.) A second sword battle takes place with each competitor getting painfully wounded.

Lord Fairos picks three of his slaves to fight to the death as a means for entertainment. In the book’s longest and most detailed sword fight, Fairos maims one in the shoulder and comes very close to killing the other two.

Although these are the only one-on-one battles in the book there is plenty more medieval violence to go around. We’ll mention them all briefly below.

A woman is threatened with a knife at her throat. An entire village is destroyed in seconds. One large scale battle takes place in which Lord Fairos triumphs.

Spoiler: In a confrontation with the Dark Knight Leinad's father is stabbed through and left to bleed to death in front of his burning house. As for gore there is a good deal to go around here as well, although most of it is only mentioned and remans pretty non-descriptive. One character runs until his feet bleed and the book briefly describes them oozing blood. A horse is devoured by insects that crawl up his body and eat him bite by bite as he writhes in pain. Leinad has the soles of his feet devoured by the same insects mentioned above. The book describes the excruciating pain Leinad felt (again the description is very brief.)

Spoiler: Leinad is staked to the ground in the middle of a desert. Small rodent like creatures slowly encircle him and begin taking bites out of his flesh. (It is mentioned how a previous slave was completely devoured in such a way and how his screams could be heard far off.)

Spoiler: In the goriest scene in the whole book Leinad is strapped to a castle gate and whipped painfully in front of all Fairos’s slaves. The painful description of Leinad’s whipping lasts for eight paragraphs and describes not only the terrible pain but how his bound arms pull the cuts in his back even farther apart. It goes on to describe children weeping as they are forced to watch the horrible whipping.

Darkness:

Lucius represents Satan in this allegorical story and accordingly both he and his soldiers (Shadow Warriors) are portrayed as very evil and dark. It should be noted that the scenes involving the Dark Knight and his Shadow Warriors are rather short and not mentioned in much detail.

Other Negative Elements:

A young female servant is treated as a slave and is nearly starved each day. It is mentioned that a man has the smell of wine on his breath after emerging from a wedding celebration.

By Josiah Patrick

My name is Megan Erath, and I have a story to tell; it begins when I was four years old. For as long as I could remember I had lived high in the mountains with my guardian. I never left that mountain. It was my world. I thought I owned it. I roamed freely over the mountain. I played, walked, climbed, and swam wherever I wished. I was completely free. Free in the wildness of the land.

In the innocence of my childhood it was joyful. It was harmless. Only when I grew up did I realize there was any danger. I suppose the danger was always there, but it seems to me that the danger multiplies whenever you pay attention to it and look for it.

You might say that this story is entirely improbable, a toddler roaming a mountain and never getting hurt. And as I look back I agree, except for my guardian. I have a feeling that he always had an eye on me. I believe there was a reason that I never saw the wolves and bears that are supposed to roam those mountains. I believe that they stayed away from that mountain because they stayed away from my guardian. You see my guardian was very powerful. Almost everyone feared him. I feared him.

My guardian didn’t like to leave the mountain during the day. Though he left at night. I didn’t know where he went but he was gone almost every night. Most mornings he brought back food for me, along with other things.

A grew I watched the animals and learned which plants could be eaten. So even though my guardian didn’t always bring enough food, I never went hungry.

One day I was following a stream looking for ripe waplish fruit on the banks. The stream I was following suddenly joined a great river. The stream poured over the bank and into the river as a waterfall. The river was only five feet down from the edge of bank, but to me it was an eternity.

I stood there rooted to the spot staring at the raging river. It fascinated me. It was beautiful. The trees overhead stretched out their boughs as shade. Breaking through the canopy the soft sunlight reflected gentle off the clear water, making it look like a shining jewel. Sitting on the soft grass, I dangled my feet over the edge. I took a deep breath, a multitude of smells enveloped me, the subtle sweet smell of the wild flowers, the musky odor of mushrooms, the age of the tall trees, and above all, the clean fresh scent of the river, like a spring day after it rains. I smiled and began to listen.

At first all was silent except for the rushing of the river, but then, slowly at first, I began to hear it. Pure and wild, the song of the forest was being sung and I got to taste of its majesty. Each with its own melody but somehow so simple and sweet, the birds sang. Whistling through the forest the wind added to the song with quaking leaves, and rustling grass. The croak of a frog, the splash of fish in the river, and even the buzz of insects, they all added to the song in a unique way and somehow, they all blended into something so beautiful it hurt.

I could have sat there forever listening to the music and enjoying the peace of that place but suddenly everything went completely still. I froze, instinct yelling at me to find a safe place to hide. Looking frantically for somewhere hidden, I felt a cool shadow pass over me and heard something behind me. Turning I found myself facing my guardian. I shrank back, I wasn’t normally scared around him but that day I saw something horrible in him, something that had always been there but I had never recognized before now.

Anger and disgust were in his eyes along with something else, something deeper, something I couldn’t understand. He looked me steadily in the eye waiting for me to say something.

“I’m sorry,” I apologized, “Don’t hurt me. I’ll be very good, I promise.”

“Good,” he said in his deep rumbling voice, “But what exactly are you sorry for? What did you do wrong?”

“I-I don’t know.” I stammered, “But I’m very sorry and if you tell me what I did wrong I won’t ever do it again. Please.” I burst into tears. I was so scared I didn’t know what else to do.

Leaning down, his hot breath in my face he growled, “Ignorant child, have I not told you never to leave the mountain. Yet here you are, off the mountain and about to cross the border into the land of men, where bad things will happen to you. You will be punished.”

“S-sorry, I didn’t mean to.” I defended myself, “I didn’t know I left the mountain. I was just following the creek looking for waplish fruit because I was hungry.”

“You were hungry you say; do I not provide for you?”

“No, of course you do I didn’t mean...”

“Come,” he turned and gestured for me to follow, “I know just what you shall do to make up for your ingratitude.” Sulkily I followed him, not knowing what he had in store for me and how much it would change my life.

By Susanna Patrick