What began as a dispute between the town's inhabitants for control of the civic government escalated into a rebellion against royal authority and the overbearing influence of Bartholomew de Badelesmere, the constable of Bristol Castle. Edward II was left with no other option other than to send an army to Bristol in 1316 to bring the rebellion to an end.
Origins of the Bristol Rebellion
Rather surprisingly given the longevity of the incident, the anonymous author of the was one of the few chroniclers to devote any attention to the Bristol rebellion. Other evidence can be found in the January 1316 Parliament Roll, the royal letters sent to the protagonists, and the petitions in the National Archives of the United Kingdom. Although they provide detailed accounts of the incident, these records nevertheless omit how the origins of Bristol's rebellion can be traced to the 1260s when Henry III withdrew the townsmen's charters following their support for the rebel baron, Simon
