On the eve of the May Day festival in 1517, a night of anti-immigrant violence broke out in London. Though pre-modern English historians have frequently invoked Evil May Day, as it came to be called, it has only recently been given concerted scholarly attention. The riot itself was ordinary, one amongst dozens in the first decades of the sixteenth century; it reveals, as a reflection of endemic grievance, a constellation of tensions surrounding labour, immigration, masculine identities, and governance in early Tudor London. More extraordinary, and heretofore not much noticed, was the Crown reaction to the Evil May Day disturbances, on which this article focuses. The insurrectionists were prosecuted for high treason rather than the minor charge of riot; a multi-day pageant of severe justice punctuated by theatrical reprieves followed. At least fifteen were put to death within London’s city walls and there are indications that the final execution toll was much greater, perhaps as high as forty-three. Such a toll following a mild riot could only have been unexpected and shocking, even if in fact ‘only’ fifteen rather than forty or more were executed. This was a message from the Crown both strategically conceived and emotionally driven by the king’s own rage, fury and fear. Though it was the youthful rioters who constituted most of those put to death in the aftermath, the message was meant primarily for the London civic elite, who had dared to question Crown policy and had failed to control the violence in their city.

中文翻译：

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都铎王朝早期伦敦的混乱、骚乱和治理：邪恶的五一劳动节，1517 年

1517年五一节前夕，伦敦爆发了一夜的反移民暴力事件。尽管前现代英国历史学家经常援引“邪恶五一节”（后来被称为“邪恶五一节”），但它直到最近才得到学术界的一致关注。这场骚乱本身很平常，只是 16 世纪头几十年发生的数十起骚乱之一。它反映了普遍存在的不满情绪，揭示了都铎王朝早期伦敦围绕劳工、移民、男性身份和治理的一系列紧张局势。更不寻常但迄今为止并未引起太多关注的是官方对邪恶五一节骚乱的反应，这也是本文重点讨论的。起义者被指控犯有叛国罪，而不是轻微的骚乱罪。随后是一场为期多天的严厉正义盛会，中间不时出现戏剧性的缓刑。伦敦城墙内至少有 15 人被处决，有迹象表明最终处决人数要多得多，可能高达 43 人。即使事实上“仅”有十五人而不是四十人或更多人被处决，在一场轻微的骚乱之后造成如此多的死亡人数只能是出乎意料和令人震惊的。这是来自国王的信息，既是出于战略考虑，也是出于国王自身的愤怒、愤怒和恐惧而在情感上所驱动。尽管事后被处决的人中大部分是年轻的骚乱者，但这一信息主要是针对伦敦公民精英的，他们敢于质疑皇家政策，但未能控制城市的暴力行为。即使事实上“仅”有十五人而不是四十人或更多人被处决，在一场轻微的骚乱之后造成如此多的死亡人数只能是出乎意料和令人震惊的。这是来自国王的信息，既是出于战略考虑，也是出于国王自身的愤怒、愤怒和恐惧而在情感上所驱动。尽管事后被处决的人中大部分是年轻的骚乱者，但这一信息主要是针对伦敦公民精英的，他们敢于质疑皇家政策，但未能控制城市的暴力行为。即使事实上“仅”有十五人而不是四十人或更多人被处决，在一场轻微的骚乱之后造成如此多的死亡人数只能是出乎意料和令人震惊的。这是来自国王的信息，既是出于战略考虑，也是出于国王自身的愤怒、愤怒和恐惧而在情感上所驱动。尽管事后被处决的人中大部分是年轻的骚乱者，但这一信息主要是针对伦敦公民精英的，他们敢于质疑皇家政策，但未能控制城市的暴力行为。