Hidden Graffiti

It is more likely to have been written by a Flemish worker employed to plaster or panel the room, who may not have intended the texts to be seen. The persecution of Protestants in France and Holland had led to a steady stream of immigrants seeking safety - and employment - in England. It seems that these texts may have been concealed as soon as they were written, making their dark tone seem subversive. The Adam and Eve text was taken from a sermon given by the Lollard priest, John Ball, at the time of the peasants' revolt in 1381. Having asked the question 'when Adam dug, and Eve span, were there then any nobility?', Ball exhorted his listeners to 'cast off the yoke of bondage, and recover liberty'.