William Morris

A Dream of John Ball (Illustrated) William Morris

"A Dream of John Ball (1888) is a novel by English author William Morris about the Great Revolt of 1381, conventionally called ""the Peasants' Revolt"". It features the rebel priest John Ball, who was accused of being a Lollard. He is famed for his question ""When Adam delved and Eve span, who was then the gentleman?"". Like the novel's close contemporary - A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (1889) by Mark Twain - it describes a dream and time travel encounter between the medieval and modern worlds. However unlike Twain's vision of a violent and chaotic ""Dark Age"", Morris describes a positive image of the Middle Ages, seeing it as a golden, if brief, a period when peasants were prosperous and happy and guilds protected workers from exploitation."