| Description | John Ball (died 1381): English preacher, although some are not sure that he was actually ordained. His message was socialist and egalitarian; he used as a catch phrase, "When Adam delved and Eve span, who then was the gentleman?" A letter to the peasants of Essex, purporting to be his, is extant. He was accused of being one of the ringleaders of Wat Tyler's Revolt in 1381, and was executed with torture in its aftermath. |
