Ball, John (died c. 1381)

English priest. He was one of the leaders of the Peasants' Revolt of 1381, known as ‘the mad priest of Kent’. A follower of John Wycliffe and a believer in social equality, he was imprisoned for disagreeing with the archbishop of Canterbury. During the revolt he was released from prison, and when in Blackheath, London, incited people against the ruling classes by preaching from the text ‘When Adam delved and Eve span, who was then the gentleman?’ When the revolt collapsed he escaped but was captured near Coventry and executed.