An alluring enigma from this period related to the Carlton family involvement with Freemasonry is connected to the Peasant's Revolt of 1381. Although the Freemason Lodge records are sketchy and secret, we know that David Henry Carlton, Edward Arthur Carlton, and David Raleigh Carlton achieved the highest possible rankings in their lodge at Long Point, Illinois (33rd degree). It is easily possible that David Henry's father, Edward Carlton the Immigrant, was a Freemason and that his father, Edward the Carpenter, was also a Freemason in England. The question arises as to how far back Carlton Freemasonry actually goes. It is well understood that Freemasonry existed as a secret society in England long before it announced itself publicly in 1717. There is probably no answer to this question due to the secrecy (and subsequent lack) of appropriate records.

However, it is entertaining to consider the admittedly high level of speculation in John J. Robinson's Born in Blood: The Lost Secrets of Freemasonry. Robinson has speculated that the Peasant's Revolt of June 7, 1381 that was led by Wat Tyler was actually organized and carried out by the English Freemasons. As evidence, he cites several references in the literature of the Peasant's Revolt that mention a "Great Society" with no name that could have been behind the obvious organization of the Revolt. There is certainly no question that the Revolt was well planned and executed. Barbara Tuchman, the winner of two Pulitzer Prizes, in A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century, says the rebellion spread "with some evidence of planning." The Encyclopedia Britannica refers to the Revolt as a "curiously spontaneous" rebellion. And no less a personage than Winston Churchill, in his Birth of Britain, said, "Throughout the summer of 1381 there was a general ferment. Beneath it all lay organization. Agents moved round the villages of central England, in touch with a 'Great Society' which was said to meet in London."

Robinson theorizes that the Freemasons were actually the remnants of the medieval Knights Templar who had gone underground in England when they were suppressed 74 years earlier in 1307 by Pope Clement V and King Philip IV (Philip The Fair) of France. Their supression may have been prompted by the huge war debts owed the Templars by the King along with the Pope's desire to eliminate the Templars in favor of the Knights Hospitallers (now the Maltese Knights of St. John). The suppression cumulated with the burning of 70 year old Knights Templar Grand Master Jacques De Molay at Paris in 1314.

Wat Tyler exploded into English History with his mysterious uncontested appointment as the supreme commander of the Peasant's Revolt only 8 days before he was killed on June 15, 1381, thus ending the revolt. Nothing is known of his existence before June 7th (although there are not normally records of common people from this period of English history). Robinson speculates that Tyler was not using his real name but instead was using his Masonic title. The Tyler is the sentry, the sergeant-at-arms, the enforcer of a Masonic Lodge. His duty is to screen visitors for credentials, secure the meeting place, and then stand guard outside the door with a drawn sword in hand. Robinson claims that "Tyler" would be an appropriate title for a Masonic commander.

On June 10th Tyler and his contingent arrived at Canterbury, where thousands of rebels crowded into the Cathedral during high mass. After kneeling, they shouted to the monks to elect one of their number to be the new archbishop of Canterbury because the current one "is a traitor and will be beheaded for his iniquity." After asking for the names of traitors, locating three men so named, and beheading them, the rebels left, allowing 500 Canterbury men to join them but leaving many sympathizers to defend Kent in the event of attack by the French.

Because the Carltons first appear near Canterbury in the 1500s it is not impossible that Carltons were not only living in the immediate area at the time, but that they joined the Peasant's Revolt because they were members of the "Great Society" that surfaced four centuries later as Freemasonry. Whether they were involved in the revolt, and if so, whether they continued with Tyler's men to London on June 11th and the historical meeting with Richard II on June 14th or whether they remained in Canterbury will probably never be known.

On June 14th Wat Tyler led the takeover of the Tower of London (where he found the gate wide open) and the subsequent beheading of Sir Simon Sudbury, the Archbishop of Canterbury, and Sir Robert Hales, Prior of the Order of the Knights Hospitaller, on Tower Hill. The rebels followed the ancient tradition of mounting the heads on poles and displaying them on the London Bridge. They then carried out what Robinson calls a selective destruction of Hospitaller sites in the city.

While this was going on the majority of the rebels had met with the 14 year old King Richard II at Mile End, outside the city beyond the Aldgate. The rebels reportedly asked for the right to hunt down and execute all traitors to the King and common people and that no man should be bound to another in serfdom or villeinage, in other words that every Englishman should be a free man. The King agreed to both demands and ordered his clerks to begin producing writs of manumission on the spot. However, it is worth remembering that Richard II was only 14 at the time and it is extremely unlikely that he acted as heroically as recorded by history. In fact, he was so timid and slothful that he was dominated by his regents well past the age of 23, when he finally mustered the courage to assert that he could rule as King himself. The apparent ruse at Mile End worked as many of the rebels took their manumissions and returned to their villages the same day.

Another meeting was set to include Wat Tyler and Richard II at Smithfield the next day. Accounts of this famous meeting seem to indicate that Tyler read a list of similar demands to the King but he was interrupted when he was attacked and wounded by two of the King's men. Some accounts claim that Tyler insulted the King when he rinsed his mouth with beer. Richard II is then credited with singlehandedly riding to face the rebels and calming them while they could still see their stricken leader. At any rate, Tyler was later found having his wounds attended at St. Bartholemew's Hospital, where the King's men dragged him outside, beheaded him, and stuck his head on a pole on the London Bridge, replacing the heads of the Archbishop and Prior of the Hospitallers. The Peasant's Revolt continued for several days as the mob burned and pillaged Hospitaller sites throughout Kent and Essex.

Whether or not Carltons were involved in the "Great Society" of the Peasant's Revolt or were even living in the Canterbury and Kent area at the time will probably never be known. However, the speculation on the possible convergence of these historical events is certainly entertaining to members of the family.

This page was updated on 2-21-98. If you have queries or comments, email rcarlton@arkansas.net