Basil the Copper Hand is famous for leading a peasant revolt in Byzantium in the early tenth century. The Byzantine Peasant’s Revolt was caused by catastrophic famine and despised agrarian land reforms.

The Jacquerie is the name most commonly used to refer to a peasant revolt in France in the fourteenth century. The Jacquerie was crushed relatively quickly and had less impact than the more famous Peasants Revolt in England in the same time period.

The Jacquerie took place in northern France in 1358, during the Hundred Years’ War with England. The Jacquerie was a popular revolt by peasants who were living in northern France and who were tired of the suffering and poverty caused by the prolonged conflict with England.

The English Peasants’ Revolt of 1381 was eventually quashed by forces loyal to the crown and the vast majority of the demands made by the peasants were ignored. There were some limited socioeconomic consequences, however, including the slight elevation of peasants in the social hierarchy and a growing disinclination in Parliament to levy taxes on peasants for fear of a reprisal.

The Red Turban Rebellion broke out in Yuan China in the mid-fourteenth century. It was primarily motivated by two factors. The first was that the ruling Yuan dynasty had repeatedly failed to organize countermeasures to prevent the seasonal flooding of the Yellow River. This had devastating consequences for the rural population, not to mention contributed to urban famine. The second factor was that the foreign Mongol government conscripted a large portion of the population to defend its vast empire.

The Magna Carta, signed in 1215, was of great significance because it marked the first time that the Barons of England united to restrict the King's power through legal, rather than militant, tactics. It would go on to establish a precedent for the Barons collectively bargaining to limit the King's authority, and eventually lead to the establishment of the Parliament as we know it today. 

The Chinese Emperor Yongle was the second ruler of the Ming dynasty and probably its most famous and influential. He ordered the construction of the Forbidden City and transformed Beijing into a prosperous imperial capital. He also re-established imperial legitimacy after the rule of the Mongol Yuan and the rebellion that overthrew them. Finally, he was an important force in the centralizing of imperial authority in China.

In 1628 Parliament passed the Petition of Right, which set out guidelines for subjects on which the king had limited or no authority. The Bill of Rights refers to the first ten amendments to the American Constitution. Declaration of Rights refers to the 1776 American political document. The Treaty of Paris refers to the document that ended the American Revolutionary War.

In the wake of the English Civil War, Parliament invited William and Mary to rule over the nation, but insisted that they agree to the Declaration of Right, which outlined rights of the people, before they could take the throne.

King James II was dethroned and William, Prince of Orange and his wife Mary, daughter of James II, were made co-regents, king and queen. This change in power also resulted in the English Bill of Rights, which predates the American Bill of Rights by about 100 years.