Although the rebellion linked to a revolt led by Étienne Marcel in Paris, the Jacquerie was a distinct, peasant-led movement that arose in the Beauvaisis which spread to implicate Picardy, some of Normandy, Champagne and the southern Île-de-France.
These peasant bands attacked surrounding houses, many of which were only occupied by women and children, the men being with an army gathering to recapture Paris from Marcel's rebellion.
According to the chronicler Froissart, they were joined by Count Gaston Phoebus and Lord Jean III de Grailly returning from crusading with the Teutonic Knights .
On the morning of 10 June 1358, the peasant army was lined up on the hillside near Mello, archers in the front rank, infantry behind them and cavalry forming an emergency reserve.
Significantly, even against such inferior opposition, the main body of the French noble army fought on foot demonstrating that they had learnt the lesson of the ineffectiveness of cavalry against archers in a secure position taught at the Battle of Crécy twelve years before.
They were joined by the town's populace, who also feared vengeance for their support of the peasants, and the cavalry simply hacked their way through the masses, killing dozens if not hundreds of people for the loss of just one of their own.
Refugees from the Jacquerie army and Meaux spread out across the countryside where they were exterminated along with thousands of other peasants, many innocent of any involvement in the rebellion, by the vengeful nobles and their mercenary allies.