Peasants Revolt - History Learning Site History Learning Site historylearningsite.co.uk . The History Learning Site , 5 Mar 2015. 20 Oct 2016. Medieval England experienced few revolts but the most serious was the Peasants’ Revolt which took place in June 1381. A violent system of punishments for offenders was usually enough to put off peasants from causing trouble. Most areas in England also had castles in which soldiers were garrisoned, and these were usually enough to guarantee reasonable behaviour among medieval peasants. An army of peasants from Kent and Essex marched on London. They did something no-one had done before or since – they captured the Tower of London. The Archbishop of Canterbury and the King’s Treasurer were killed. The king, Richard II, was only 14 at the time but despite his youth, he agreed to meet the peasants at a place called Mile End. What were the peasants angry about and why had they come to London ? 1. After the Black Death , many manors were left short of workers.

To encourage those who had survived to stay on their manor, many lords had given the peasants on their estates their freedom and paid them to work on their land. Now, nearly 35 years after the Black Death, many peasants feared that the lords would take back these privileges and they were prepared to fight for them. 2. Many peasants had to work for free on church land, sometimes up to two days in the week. This meant that they could not work on their own land which made it difficult to grow enough food for their families. Peasants wanted to be free of this burden that made the church rich but them poor. They were supported in what they wanted by a priest called John Ball from Kent. 3. There had been a long war with France. Wars cost money and that money usually came from the peasants through the taxes that they paid. In 1380, Richard II introduced a new tax called the Poll Tax. This made everyone who was on the tax register pay 5p. It was the third time in four years that such a tax had been used. By 1381, the peasants had had enough. 5p to them was a great deal of money.

If they could not pay in cash, they could pay in kind, such as seeds, tools etc., anything that could be vital to survival in the coming year. In May 1381, a tax collector arrived at the Essex village of Fobbing to find out why the people there had not paid their poll tax. He was thrown out by the villagers. In June, soldiers arrived to establish law and order. They too were thrown out as the villagers of Fobbing had now organised themselves and many other local villages in Essex had joined them. After doing this, the villagers marched on London to plead with the young king to hear their complaints. One man had emerged as the leader of the peasants – Wat Tyler from Kent. As the peasants from Kent had marched to London, they had destroyed tax records and tax registers. The buildings which housed government records were burned down. They got into the city of London because the people there had opened the gates to them. By mid-June the discipline of the peasants was starting to go. Many got drunk in London and looting took place. It is known that foreigners were murdered by the peasants. Wat Tyler had asked for discipline amongst those who looked up to him as their leader. He did not get it.

On June 14th, the king met the rebels at Mile End. At this meeting, Richard II gave the peasants all that they asked for and asked that they go home in peace. Some did. Others returned to the city and murdered the archbishop and Treasurer – their heads were cut off on Tower Hill by the Tower of London. Richard II spent the night in hiding in fear of his life. On June 15th, he met the rebels again at Smithfield outside of the city’s walls. It is said that this was the idea of the Lord Mayor (Sir William Walworthe) who wanted to get the rebels out of the city. Medieval London was wooden and the streets were cramped. Any attempt to put down the rebels in the city could have ended in a fire or the rebels would have found it easy to vanish into the city once they knew that soldiers were after them. At this meeting, the Lord Mayor killed Wat Tyler. We are not sure what happened at this meeting as the only people who could write about it were on the side of the king and their evidence might not be accurate. The death of Tyler and another promise by Richard to give the peasants what they asked for, was enough to send them home.

Walworth, bottom left hand corner, killing Tyler. Richard II is just behind Tyler and also addressing the peasants after Tyler’s death By the summer of 1381, the revolt was over. John Ball was hanged. Richard did not keep any of his promises claiming that they were made under threat and were therefore not valid in law. Other leaders from both Kent and Essex were hanged. The poll tax was withdrawn but the peasants were forced back into their old way of life – under the control of the lord of the manor. However, the lords did not have it their own way. The Black Death had caused a shortage of labour and over the next 100 years many peasants found that they could earn more (by their standards) as the lords needed a harvest in and the only people who could do it were the peasants. They asked for more money and the lords had to give it. Peasants' Revolt | English history | Britannica.com Richard II Peasants’ Revolt, also called Wat Tyler’s Rebellion, (1381), first great popular rebellion in English history.

Its immediate cause was the imposition of the unpopular poll tax of 1381, which brought to a head the economic discontent that had been growing since the middle of the century. The rebellion drew support from several sources and included well-to-do artisans and villeins as well as the destitute . Probably the main grievance of the agricultural labourers and urban working classes was the Statute of Labourers (1351), which attempted to fix maximum wages during the labour shortage following the Black Death . The death of Wat Tyler (left) and Richard II addressing the peasants (right), miniature from a … Reproduced by permission of the British Library The uprising was centred in the southeastern counties and East Anglia , with minor disturbances in other areas. It began in Essex in May, taking the government of the young king Richard II by surprise. In June rebels from Essex and Kent marched toward London. On the 13th the Kentish men, under Wat Tyler , entered London, where they massacred some Flemish merchants and razed the palace of the king’s uncle, the unpopular John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster. The government was compelled to negotiate.

On the 14th Richard met the men of Essex outside London at Mile End, where he promised cheap land, free trade, and the abolition of serfdom and forced labour . During the king’s absence, the Kentish rebels in the city forced the surrender of the Tower of London; the chancellor, Archbishop Simon of Sudbury , and the treasurer, Sir Robert Hales, both of whom were held responsible for the poll tax, were beheaded. United Kingdom: The Peasants’ Revolt (1381) The king met Tyler and the Kentishmen at Smithfield on the following day. Tyler was treacherously cut down in Richard’s presence by the enraged mayor of London. The king, with great presence of mind, appealed to the rebels as their sovereign and, after promising reforms, persuaded them to disperse. The crisis in London was over, but in the provinces the rebellion reached its climax in the following weeks. It was finally ended when the rebels in East Anglia under John Litster were crushed by the militant bishop of Norwich , Henry le Despenser, on about June 25. Similar Topics Wat Tyler Wat Tyler Wat Tyler “There should be equality among all people save only the king.

There should be no serfdom and all men should be free and of one condition.We will be free forever, our heirs and our lands." Little or nothing is known about the early life of Wat Tyler. Some sources claim that in his youth he joined the English army and was cited for bravery at the battle of Poitiers as well as being present at the Battle of Crecy and various naval battles against the Spanish and French. On his return it is said he became something of a community leader and helped rid his local area of a band of robbers who had plagued them for many years. It was not until the summer of 1381 that Wat Tyler, as leader of the so-called “Peasants” Revolt, finally stepped out of the shadows, and when he did he was to rock the establishment to its core. The term “Peasants” Revolt is somewhat misleading as many of the men who were to take up arms that summer were far from what we would today think of as peasants. Many were from the yeoman classes, skilled men and village leaders.

Their fight wasn’t against misery, hunger or poverty, instead it was a call for liberty, justice and an end to the feudal system that still kept many free born Englishmen as mere slaves to the lords of the manor. It was a moral crusaded for emancipation and for what they believed to be right. Resentment had been growing since the imposition of the Statute of Labourers, which tied the English working classes to the land and imposed on them further taxation. The outbreak of plague that had wiped out millions across Europe had brought in its wake wide ranging social upheaval and had led to a shortage of labour and skilled men. The working classes were essentially the English, who due to these shortages, were for the first time able to command higher wages and from that had seen a small rise in living standards. And the ruling classes didn’t like it one bit. The Statute of Labourers sought to reverse all this back again in favour of the ruling classes, who were of Norman stock, by firstly setting a maximum wage that could be paid to the English classes and also for the third time in four years they introduced a poll or head tax that was to be levied on every single person simply because they existed.

At the same time the landlords were constantly increasing the rents on the lands that were paid by the English classes who were now tied to that very same land by the Statute of Labourers. In reality this was no “Peasants Revolt”. This was a working class English uprising against the Norman establishment and ruling classes whom, even well over 200 years since the invasion were still seen as foreign oppressors. The torch of rebellion was first lit in Essex when locals attacked tax collectors as they came to collect the hated poll tax. The trouble soon spread to Kent where Wat Tyler was elected as leader and with other leaders in tow, such as John Ball and Jack Straw, the men of the southeast seized Rochester Castle, Maidstone, and then on 7th June Canterbury. Tyler at the head of 4000 rebels broke into the cathedral, demanding that the Arch-Bishop Simon Sudbery, who was a leading member of the government, be deposed. During the run-up to the revolt John Ball and other renegade English priests had preached radical religious thinking that had gone hand in hand with the social revolution that had sparked the current revolt.

They preached social equality and that men did not need the help of a rich priest in order to find God and that the church was greedy and corrupt. With Canterbury under rebel control they marched on London, their ranks now swelled as every day more men flocked to their banner. On the road to London any symbol of what they saw as state oppression was smashed or burnt and any tax collector or landlord that they happened to come across was dragged aside and killed. On reaching London Arch Bishop Sudbury, who had earlier fled Canterbury, was found by the rebels hiding at the Tower of London. Both he and the Kings Treasurer Sir Robert Hales were dragged out, beheaded and their heads stuck on poles. The mob swept through London plundering and burning any display of state authority including the Savoy Palace, home of John of Gaunt. They cornered the King’s mother Joan who was said to have fainted when one of the rebels asked her for a kiss. At Fleet and Newgate the prisons were stormed and the prisoners released. They attacked only the people and institutions that they deemed to be the supporters of oppressive lordship and the legislation that they saw as exploiting working people.

The Chancellor and the lawyers who made the entire legal system workable, the justices and magistrates who enforced it and any other institute they saw as having gained privilege off the blood and sweat of their own forced labour. On June 14th, with no close military support at hand that could stand in the way of the rebel army, the King agreed to meet with them at Mile End and made vast concessions including the abolition of serfdom, market monopolies and feudal service. The following day the King again met with the rebels, this time at Smithfields, and Wat Tyler bravely rode out from the rebel ranks armed only with a dagger to present their final demands. He demanded that all Englishmen should as treated as equals and that all aristocratic titles and privileges were to be abolished and only the king was to retain a superior title. Wat proclaimed: “There should be equality among all people save only the king.

There should be no serfdom and all men should be free and of one condition.” He demanded that all church property should be confiscated and divided out among the people save for a small amount to provide the clergy with “sufficient sustenance” Finally he demanded for his people “We will be free forever, our heirs and our lands." At some point according to an eyewitness (on the King’s side), Tyler behaves disrespectfully towards young King Richard, he shook the Kings hand roughly and after calling for water, he rinsed his mouth "in a very rude and disgusting fashion”. Wat Tyler, alone and far ahead of the ranks of the rebel army was set upon by the Kings retinue and murdered. On seeing the death of their leader the rebel ranks joined battle formation and began to string their bows until the King rode out in front of them declaring “I will be your Captain” He called for further negotiations and re-affirmed the concessions he had previously made the rebels. Leaderless and with their aims apparently achieved the rebel army gradually faded away. With the rebels dispersed the King acted swiftly. He immediately rescinded every concession he had made and he sent Royal troops out into the country where the remains of the rebellion was mercies crushed.

One chronicler tells us that over 500 leaders of the rebellion were sent to the gallows, including John Ball and Jack Straw who were hanged, drawn and quartered. On a later tour of Essex the King would sneer at his English subjects, “Rustics you were and rustics you are still. You will remain in bondage, not as before, but incomparably harsher” Both Wat Tyler and his rebellion were dead but his name lived on to become a watchword and a rallying cry during public demonstrations and rebellions that his actions inspired throughout the later medieval period and even up to this present day. Wat Tyler and his kinsmen were brave and courageous Englishmen who refused to be intimidated by a political elite who wished to dominate them and refused to have their ideals curbed by the social constraints of the day. What we see in their cry for social justice is the manifestation of an idea that was years ahead of its time.

It is an Anglo-Saxon libertarian instinct, an inherent sense of justice that stretches right back to those first boatloads of warriors who splashed up our beaches all those years ago, a seed of the very idea of personal freedom that has since been planted in every single country that draws its culture and tradition from those very same Anglo-Saxon people. Wat Tyler epitomised something that we very often forget about the English and that is our tradition for radical thought and action – in short people just like Wat Tyler and John Ball who were prepared to think the unthinkable no matter what the consequences. Continetal commentators frequently noted the political volatility of the English and ambassadors from abroad were often fearful of setting foot on English soil. Some writers put this English radicalism down to “the natural aggression of the natives” When Wat Tyler shook the Kings hand and John Ball preached to the crowds "When Adam delved and Eve span.Who was then the gentleman." They were making a point about equality but they were also taking their place among a long line of English radicals – the Lollards and the Levellers, the Diggers to the Suffragettes, the slavery abolitionists to the Trade Union Movement.

We as English people should be proud that these movements first saw the light of day not in Scotland, Wales or Ireland, not in France, Germany or any where else but here in England – our homeland. Sometimes it is only a thin veil that separates us from events that happened many hundreds of years ago. Then as now members of the ruling establishment were far removed from the wider population who they saw as inferior and crude. In 1381 popular action was condemned, as well as “the laziness of working people, their pernicious demands for rights and higher wages” In 2007 popular English sentiment on many issues is condemned as un-PC or racist. In echoes of words spoken all those years ago the supermarket chain Sainsburys told the House of Lords economic affairs select committee that their growing Eastern European workforce “tend to be more willing to work flexibly, and be satisfied with their duties, terms and conditions and productivity requirements.” than the indigenous population. The Statute of Labourers as a method of control has simply been replaced by the mass immigration of people who will work for less money and save the moneymen fortunes in wages – the same moneymen who prop up the establishment and the political status quo.

In modern day England we find a single politically correct uniformity of thought, that encompasses our modern society, and it flies directly in the face of our radical and free thinking tradition that stretches back well over 1000 years. We have a political elite that thinks it knows best and holds the views of ordinary Englishmen and women in contempt. To them we are mere rustics. Whether it is Europe, immigration, GM foods or the all-encompassing political correctness, they know we don’t like it but they plough on regardless. We have, once so called hot beds of radicalism, such as the University campuses or the Trade Unionists who have been reduced to nothing more than robotically repeating the PC mantra spoon-fed to them by the political establishment. We have a collusion of the political classes, no matter what their affiliations, who regularly close ranks to ensure that their dominance is never challenged. It results in a culture of disseat and dishonesty, where the people at the top serve only themselves to maintain their own privilege position, where no one is ever held to account and the politically classes are only ever investigated by the political classes. Wat Tyler was a man who fought and died in order to make things better for his own people.

If only he were to see the way in which his English people have been intimidated and cowed into silence, the way in which they look over their shoulder when they speak of their community while others shout it from the roof tops. If only he could see the establishment that he so despised all but ignore his own working class English people while it falls over itself to attend to the needs of others. He would be thrown into a fit of anger, he would not be intimidated and he would simply not accept the way things are - but then he was a wolf while all we have is so many sheep. He was a man of spirit, courage and conviction – oh how I wish he were here now. Please wait What Was the Peasants Revolt? Essay 8 Footnotes [edit] Events leading to the revolt The revolt was precipitated by heavy-handed attempts to enforce the third poll tax, first levied in 1377 supposedly to finance military campaigns overseas вЂ” a continuation of the Hundred Years' War initiated by King Edward III of England.

The third poll tax, unlike the two earlier, was not levied on a flat rate basis (as in 1377) nor according to schedule (as in 1379), but in a manner that appeared more arbitrary and hence unfair: it was also set at 3 Groat compared with the 1377 rate of 1 groat. The young King, Richard II, was also another reason for the uprising, as he was only 14 at the time, and therefore unpopular men such as John of Gaunt (the acting regent), Simon Sudbury (Chancellor and Archbishop of Canterbury) and Sir Robert Hales (the Lord Treasurer, responsible for the poll tax) were left to rule instead, and many saw them as corrupt officials, trying to exploit the weakness of the King. A longer-term factor was the way the Statute of Labourers of 1351 was enforced. The Black Death that ravaged England in 1348 and 1349 had greatly reduced the labour force, and, as a consequence, labourers were able to demand enhanced terms and conditions.

The Statute attempted to curb this by pegging wages and restricting the mobility of labour, but the probable effect was that labourers employed by lords were effectively exempted, but labourers working for other employers, both artisans and more substantial peasants, were liable to be fined or held in the stocks. There were far fewer labourers to do all the work on the manors of England, so the ones that were not wiped out by the Black Death were left to work alone on the land. These people began to ask for higher wages and fewer hours of work. Some of them asked for their freedom. They often got what they asked for: the lords of the manors were desperate to get their land farmed and their animals looked after. Then, in 1351, King Edward III summoned parliament to make a new law. The law was called the Statute of Labourers and it tried to make sure that the landowners had as may labourers as they wanted - and that they paid them no more than before the Black Death. This angered the peasants greatly. Incidents in the Essex villages of Fobbing and Brentwood triggered the uprising.

On 30th May, John Brampton attempted to collect the poll tax from villagers at Fobbing. The villagers, led by Thomas Baker, a local landowner, told Brampton that they would give him nothing and he was forced to leave the village empty handed. Robert Belknap (Chief Justice of Common Pleas) was sent to investigate the incident and to punish the offenders. On 2nd June, he was attacked at Brentwood. By this time the violent discontent had spread, and the counties of Essex and Kent were in full revolt. Soon people moved on London in an armed uprising.[1] [edit] First protests Title page to William Morris' A Dream of John Ball (1888)In June 1381, two groups of common people from the southeastern counties of Kent and Essex marched on London. The most vociferous of their leaders, Walter, or "Wat" Tyler, was at the head of a contingent from Kent.

When the rebels arrived in Blackheath on June 12, the renegade Lollard priest, John Ball, preached a sermon including the famous question that has echoed down the centuries: "When Adam delved and Eve span, who was then the gentleman?"[2]. (I.e. "when Adam dug, and Eve spun, were there then any nobility?") The following day, the rebels, encouraged by "Nat Turner's Southampton Slave Revolt and How it Paved the Way for the Abolitionist and Civil Rights Movement " Nat Turner was a man with 2,545 Words | 11 Pages 5 years and nearly an entire continent separated King Philip's war from the great pueblo revolt.

Compare and contrast the causes and consequences of these 1,072 Words | 5 Pages Written analysis of the short story “The Revolt of ‘Mother’ ” Shirlley Padia Lopes This work will treat about the short story “The Revolt of 1,184 Words | 5 Pages The Peasants' Revolt, TylerвЂ™s Rebellion, or the Great Rising of 1381 was one of a number of popular revolts in late medieval Europe and is 1,251 Words | 6 Pages Britannia History: The Peasants' Revolt The History of the Peasants' Revolt by Jeff Hobbs P E A S A N T S' R E V O L T 14th Century Poll Tax Riots The Peasants' Revolt of 1381 is one of the most dramatic events of English history. What began as a local revolt in Essex quickly spread across much of the south east of England, while some of the peasants took their grievances direct to the young King, Richard II, in London. The revolt began in Essex when locals in Brentwood reacted to an over-zealous poll-tax collector.

From Brentwood, resistance to tax collectors spread to neighbouring villages, while across counties such as Kent, Suffolk, Hertfordshire and Norfolk, armed bands of villagers and townsmen also rose up and attacked manors and religious houses. It was the rebels of Essex and Kent who marched on London. By 12th June, the Essex men were camped at Mile End, in fields just beyond Aldgate, and on the following day the Kentish men arrived at Blackheath. Incredibly, neither the government nor the city of London authorities seem to have been prepared, although the king was moved from Windsor to the Tower of London. During the next few days, the different bands of rebels from Essex and Kent were joined by some of London's poor, and they set about attacking political targets in the city. They burned down the Savoy Palace, which was the home of John of Gaunt - Richard II's uncle, and probably the most powerful magnate in the realm. They set fire to the Treasurer's Highbury Manor, opened prisons and destroyed legal records. On 14th June, King Richard and a handful of lords and knights met the Essex peasants at Mile End.

The peasants pledged their allegiance to Richard, and handed him a petition which asked for the abolition of villeinage, for labour services based on free contracts, and for the right to rent land at fourpence an acre. The King said he would grant these demands. Remarkably, later that day some peasants entered the Tower itself and invaded the Royal bedchambers and the privy wardrobe. Whilst in the Tower, some rebels took the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Chancellor and John of Gaunt's physician into custody. They then dragged them onto Tower Hill and executed them. The rebels considered these men 'traitors,' perhaps holding them responsible for the various charges of corruption and extravagance that Parliament had aimed at the Royal administration for the past decade or so. Anyway, after these events it seems that many of the Essex rebels began to disperse. The next day, King Richard met the Kentish peasants at Smithfield. They demanded an end to all lordship beyond that of the King, that the Church's estates be confiscated and divided among the wider populace and that there be only Bishops throughout the whole kingdom. The numerous radical preachers who took part in the revolt probably put forward these religious demands.

As before, the King agreed to all the demands put before him. However, the rebel leader, Wat Tyler, apparently addressed the King with insolence and the Mayor of London pulled Tyler from his horse and a squire killed him. The crowd prepared to rush the King and his men, but Richard confronted them, and convinced them to follow him. As he led them away, the Mayor made off to the city where he recruited a force which soon surrounded the rebels. Richard declared that all should be pardoned and should return peacefully to their homes. The London revolt was effectively over. Elsewhere, villages around London, such as Clapham, Chiswick and Twickenham had been plundered and burnt. Even in the north of England, there were at least three isolated outbreaks - in York, Scarborough and Beverley. But the most serious risings outside London were in the eastern counties. In St Albans, the local townsmen drained the Abbot's fishpond, killed his game, sacked the houses of his officials and burned the charters that gave him his manorial rights. In Bury St Edmunds, the Prior was tried and beheaded by rebels.

In Cambridge, peasants and townsmen damaged parts of the University, burned its archives and drew up a document that formally handed over the University's privileges to the town. In Norfolk, a large band of rebels forced the city authorities of Norwich to open the gates and then took over the castle, while rebel detachments plundered parts of the surrounding area. The targets that the peasants attacked, plus the demands that they made to the King, show the pressures they faced at the time. The immediate cause of the revolt was the unprecedented amount of taxation the peasantry faced from the Government. The poll tax of 1380 was three times higher than that of the previous year and, unlike its predecessor, taxed rich and poor at the same rate. Hence, it was very unpopular with the peasantry. However, the main call of the peasant rebels was for the abolition of serfdom. This was because, since the middle of the century, their lords had prevented them from making the most of the changing economic conditions. Visitations of the plague since 1348/9 had reduced the population by between a third and a half.

As a result, labour became more scarce, wages rose and the economy began to suit the peasant more than it suited the landowner. However, the landowners of Parliament legislated to keep wages low and to restrict the free movement of serfs. Locally, landowners in their capacity as manorial lords also tried to tighten the feudal dues that serfs were obliged to carry out for them. Needless to say, the peasantry resented both these measures and there were local revolts both in the decade before and after 1381. Hence, the rebels attacked symbols of lordship and lordly authority, such as manors and manorial records. London was made safe from 16th June 1381 and, over time, the authorities gained control in all the regions that had experienced insurrection. King Richard issued a proclamation denying rumours that he had approved of what the rebels had done and, soon after, revoked the pardons he had granted them. A judicial enquiry followed and the King toured the areas that had experienced revolt. In Essex and Hertfordshire, the rebels were dealt with severely, but generally the judicial proceedings were fair.

Many of the main leaders of the revolt were already dead, while those who had survived were executed. Aside from this, no mass reprisals were allowed and, significantly, no late medieval Parliament ever tried to impose a poll tax upon the Nation again. The Peasants' Revolt 1381 Source: . Background When the Black Death swept Europe in 1348-1351 it left about 30% of the population dead. This greatly affected the English peasants because there was a labour shortage and food was scarce. Even some thirty years later, life had not returned to normal -the settled and structured country life of the Middle Ages was disrupted, and discontent was rife amongst the poor. Causes of the revolt 1. The Statute of Labourers 1351 This was a law passed at the end of the Black Death to stop the peasants taking advantage of the shortage of workers and demanding more money. Peasants were forced to work for the same wages as before, and landowners could insist on labour services being performed, instead of accepting money (commutation). This meant that the landowners could profit from shortages, whilst life was made very much harder for the peasants. 2.

Prices Prices had risen since the Black Death. Wages had not risen as fast, so the peasants suffered from hunger and shortages. 3. The young king During the course of the Black Death and the years following it, England had a strong and warlike king, Edward III. However, his son, the Black Prince, died before him, leaving his grandson as heir to the throne. In 1377, Edward III died, and this boy of ten became king. The true power lay with the powerful barons, in particular the boy's uncle, John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster. The barons, hated already by the peasants, began to take advantage of the situation. 4. The Poll Tax England was involved in the Hundred Years War. This had left the treasury empty, and the barons were tired of paying for the war. In 1377, John of Gaunt imposed a new tax, the Poll (head) Tax, that was to cover the cost of the war. Unlike normal taxes, this was to be paid by the peasants, as well as the landowners. Although this was meant to be a "one-off" event, it was so successful that it was repeated three more times.

The first tax was 4d from every adult (adult:14yrs+), then it was raised to 4d for the peasants and more for the rich, and finally in 1380, it was raised to 12d per adult. The barons liked the idea of the peasants helping to pay taxes, especially if the were acting as tax collectors, as some of the money was siphoned off into their pockets. It was much harder on the peasants, who could ill afford to pay, especially as the tax was collected in cash and not in farm produce. By 1380, many were hiding from the collectors, and avoiding payment. For this reason, the amount collected dropped away, despite the fact that the tax had been increased. 5. John Ball and the Church The Church was badly hit by the Black Death, and many of the clergy were poorly educated, thus reducing popular respect for the Church. The Church was also a major landowner, and the abbots and bishops sided with the barons against the peasants. This made the church hated, as the peasants felt betrayed by an organisation that should be helping, rather than exploiting them.

This situation was made worse by a number of rebellious priests who preached against the Church and the barons. Foremost amongst these was John Ball, who coined the famous verse; "While Adam delved (dug) and Eve span, who then was the gentleman?" i.e. There had been no group of non- working layabouts in that time, so why should they be tolerated now? So dangerous was this teaching that the Archbishop of Canterbury had arrested John Ball, and confined him in Maidstone Castle. The Outbreak Having examined the Poll Tax returns for 1380, the Royal Council headed by John of Gaunt were upset to discover that less money than ever had been collected. Tax collectors were sent out again, with instructions to collect the full amounts. One of these men was Thomas Bampton, who arrived at Fobbing in Essex, and summoned the villagers of Fobbing, Stanford and Corningham to appear before him. Those law-abiding villagers who turned up were shocked to discover that they would have to pay the hated tax a second time, and that they would also have to pay for the people who had failed to turn up.

Not surprisingly, a riot followed, and Bampton and his men were beaten and driven from the village. Sir Robert Belknap, a Chief Justice was sent to calm the situation, but he suffered a similar fate. Word spread, and peasants allover Essex banded together and turned on the landowners. Manor houses were burnt down, and any records of taxes, labour duties and debts destroyed. Soon peasants in Kent rebelled also, and risings took place in many other areas of the country. Some unpopular landowners were killed, others fled and others captured and humiliated, having to act as servants and perform menial tasks. Timeline showinq the Main Events 1381 Although the revolt spread to many areas of England, the two risings in Essex and Kent became the focus of the revolt. 1381 Essex peasants chase Thomas Bampton out of Fobbing. June lst Essex rebels kill three of Bampton's servants. The revolt spreads through Essex, Hertfordshire and Suffolk. June 7th The revolt is now widespread. The Kent rebels besiege Maidstone Castle, which surrenders. John Ball is freed, and Rochester Castle surrenders also.

June lOth The Kent Rebels march on Canterbury, and capture the city, Rich pilgrims are attacked in the town, Finding the Archbishop away, the rebels appoint a humble monk as the new Archbishop, and hold a service in the Cathedral, promising death to all "traitors" they capture, At this point a new leader appears, Wat Tyler. We know little of him except that he may have served as a soldier in France, that he was very cunning, and that he must have had exceptional powers of leadership in order to control the mob of rebels. Both the Kent and the Essex rebels now set out to march on London. The simple peasants believed that they were going to explain their grievances to the King, who had been badly advised, and that all would be set right. However, some of the more intelligent figures, such as Wat Tyler and John Ball had a much clearer idea of the situation, and were planning to gain as much as they could. The King and the council were caught completely by surprise, and there were only a few hundred troops in London. The city was virtually defenceless. June 12th Both groups of peasants had reached London.

The Kent peasants camped at Blackheath, and the Essex peasants at Mile End, north of the River Thames. Their nUDbers are hard to estimate, but both groups could have been made up of up to 50,000 people. A message was sent into the city, demanding a meeting with the king. It was arranged that he would meet them at Rotherhithe, on the Thames, that afternoon. Richard travelled downriver in the royal barge, but at the sight of the huge crowd of peasants, Richard's advisers would not let him land. He returned to the Tower of London, leaving the peasants angry and frustrated. That night the peasants closed in on London. They were able to enter because the gates of the city, and London Bridge were opened by townspeople sympathetic to their cause, although they later claimed they had been forced to do it. June 13th The rebels were loose in the city. Fleet Prison was broken open, many lawyers were killed in the Temple, and foreign merchants massacred. Despite this, most peasants were peaceful, and little damage was done to the city, on the orders of Wat Tyler.

A group of peasants marched west from the city to the magnificent Savoy Palace, home of John of Gaunt. It caught fire as they ransacked it. Fortunately, John of Gaunt was in Scotland at this time, and escaped the rebels. As the flames lit the sky, Richard agreed to meet the rebels at Mile End the following day. He hoped that this would draw the peasants out of the city. June 14th Richard rode to the meeting at Mile End. Here, Wat Tyler put forward the peasants demands: -land rents were reduced to reasonable levels. -the Poll Tax was to be abolished. -free pardons for all rebels. -charters would be qiven to the peasants laying down a number of rights and privileges. -all "traitors" were to be put to death. Richard agreed to all these demands, but added that only a royal court could decide if a person was a traitor or not. He thought that this was the best policy, in order to allow the peasants to go home. A group of thirty or so clerks began to copy out charters for the peasants to take home. However, the King had been outwitted by Wat Tyler.

A group of peasants, taking advantage of the King's absence at Mile End, raided the Tower of London. Here, they found three of their lOSt hated people; simon Sudbury, (Archbishop of Canterbury), sir Robert Hailes (King's treasurer) and John Legge (the creator of the Poll Tax). They were dragged out onto Tower Hill, and beheaded. June 15th Following the granting of charters the previous day, many peasants began to leave London and return home, believing that their demands had been met. However, Wat Tyler and a hard core of peasants remained behind, and they demanded another meeting with the King, to deliver even more demands. The King agreed to a meeting at Smithfield, an open space within the city walls. When the King's party arrived, Wat Tyler rode up and greeted them in an insolent manner. What happened next is unclear, but was probably a pre-arranged plot. Tyler was rude to the King, refusing to dismount, and spitting in front of him. The Lord Mayor of London, William Walworth, drew his sword and attacked Tyler, wounding him. A squire finished him off as he lay on the ground.

This was a crucial moment, before the peasants realised what had happened. The young King rode forward, shouting out that all their demands were to be met, and that they should follow him out of the city, where charters would be forthcoming. Trustingly, the rebels followed him, and most were persuaded to return home. The Aftermath: The kings Revenge July As soon as the peasants had left London, messengers were dispatched throughout the country, summoning troops. The last members of the huge gathering of peasants were encamped at Billericay in Essex. They found themselves cut down by royal troops, vainly flourishing the pardons and charters that they had been given. Royal forces toured the affected areas, hunting the rebels. Possession of a charter became a virtual death sentence. In Hertfordshire and Essex, some 500 died, very few with any form of trial, as the Earl of Buckinqham carried out the King's demand for vengeance. In Kent the toll of executions was even greater, with 1500 peasants sent to the gallows Another minor rebellion broke out in St. Albans, where the abbot was a hated figure amongst the townspeople.

This was ruthlessly crushed, and on 15th July, John Ball, whose preaching had done so much to cause the rebellion, was hung, drawn and quartered in the market place, as an example to any other potential rebels The Result of the Peasants Revolt 1.On the surface, the peasants were crushed, their demands denied, and many executed. However, the land owners had been scared, and in the longer term several things were achieved. 2. Parliament gave up trying to control the wages the landowners paid their peasants. 3. The hated poll tax was never raised again. 4. The Lords treated the peasants with much more respect. They made more of them free men ie. they were not owned as part of the land. This benefited in the end, as free men always work much harder. 5. This marked the breakdown of the feudal system, which had worked well during the early Middle Ages, but was now becoming outdated as attitudes were beginning to change.

Wat Tyler | English revolutionary | Britannica.com English revolutionary Elizabeth I Wat Tyler, byname of Walter Tyler (died June 15, 1381, London), leader of the Peasants’ Revolt of 1381, the first great popular rebellion in English history; his leadership proved one of the chief factors in the success of protest against the harsh taxation of the poorer classes. Chosen as captain by the Kentish rebels on June 7, Tyler led them in the capture of Canterbury (June 10); of the Savoy palace belonging to John of Gaunt, the King’s uncle (June 13); and of London Bridge and the Tower of London (June 14). Although King Richard II promised concessions on June 14, Tyler’s men refused to disarm and disband. They met with Richard on June 15 at Smithfield , where Tyler presented more radical demands, which included the confiscation of all church lands. Fighting broke out in the course of the negotiations, and Tyler was badly wounded. His followers carried him to St.

Bartholomew’s Hospital, from which he was later dragged away and beheaded by order of the lord mayor of London, William (later Sir William) Walworth. After Tyler’s death the government quickly reasserted its authority and ended the rebellion. Learn More in these related articles: Peasants’ Revolt (1381), first great popular rebellion in English history. Its immediate cause was the imposition of the unpopular poll tax of 1381, which brought to a head the economic discontent that had been growing since the middle of the century. The rebellion drew support from several sources and included... in United Kingdom: The Peasants’ Revolt (1381) ...same day they broke into the Tower and killed Sudbury, the chancellor, Hales, the treasurer, and other officials. On the next day Richard met the rebels again at Smithfield, and their main leader, Wat Tyler, presented their demands. But during the negotiations Tyler was attacked and slain by the mayor of London. The young king rode forward and reassured the rebels, asking them to follow him to... 3 References found in Britannica Articles Assorted References Corrections? Updates? Help us improve this article! Contact our editors with your feedback.

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Please try again later. Close Date Published: July 20, 1998 URL: Access Date: January 18, 2017 Share Why Did The Peasants' Revolt In 1381? - Research Paper / History Other Why Did The Peasants' Revolt In 1381? This essay Why Did The Peasants' Revolt In 1381? is available for you on Essays24.com! Search Term Papers, College Essay Examples and Free Essays on Essays24.com - full papers database. Autor: anton • March 14, 2011 • 1,251 Words (6 Pages) • 579 Views Page 1 of 6 The Peasants' Revolt, TylerÐ²Ð‚™s Rebellion, or the Great Rising of 1381 was one of a number of popular revolts in late medieval Europe and is a major event in the history of England. The names of some of its leaders, John Ball, Wat Tyler and Jack Straw, are still familiar even though very little is actually known about these individuals.

Tyler's Rebellion is significant because it marked the beginning of the end of serfdom in medieval England. Tyler's Rebellion led to calls for the reform of feudalism in England and an increase in rights for the serf class. Contents [hide] 1 Events leading to the revolt 2 First protests 3 Storming the Tower of London 4 Smithfield 8 Footnotes [edit] Events leading to the revolt The revolt was precipitated by heavy-handed attempts to enforce the third poll tax, first levied in 1377 supposedly to finance military campaigns overseas Ð²Ð‚" a continuation of the Hundred Years' War initiated by King Edward III of England. The third poll tax, unlike the two earlier, was not levied on a flat rate basis (as in 1377) nor according to schedule (as in 1379), but in a manner that appeared more arbitrary and hence unfair: it was also set at 3 Groat compared with the 1377 rate of 1 groat.

The young King, Richard II, was also another reason for the uprising, as he was only 14 at the time, and therefore unpopular men such as John of Gaunt (the acting regent), Simon Sudbury (Chancellor and Archbishop of Canterbury) and Sir Robert Hales (the Lord Treasurer, responsible for the poll tax) were left to rule instead, and many saw them as corrupt officials, trying to exploit the weakness of the King. A longer-term factor was the way the Statute of Labourers of 1351 was enforced. The Black Death that ravaged England in 1348 and 1349 had greatly reduced the labour force, and, as a consequence, labourers were able to demand enhanced terms and conditions. The Statute attempted to curb this by pegging wages and restricting the mobility of labour, but the probable effect was that labourers employed by lords were effectively exempted, but labourers working for other employers, both artisans and more substantial peasants, were liable to be fined or held in the stocks. There were far fewer labourers to do all the work on the manors of England, so the ones that were not wiped out by the Black Death were left to work alone on the land.

These people began to ask for higher wages and fewer hours of work. Some of them asked for their freedom. They often got what they asked for: the lords of the manors were desperate to get their land farmed and their animals looked after. Then, in 1351, King Edward III summoned parliament to make a new law. The law was called the Statute of Labourers and it tried to make sure that the landowners had as may labourers as they wanted - and that they paid them no more than before the Black Death. This angered the peasants greatly. Incidents in the Essex villages of Fobbing and Brentwood triggered the uprising. On 30th May, John Brampton attempted to collect the poll tax from villagers at Fobbing. The villagers, led by Thomas Baker, a local landowner, told Brampton that they would give him nothing and he was forced to leave the village empty handed. Robert Belknap (Chief Justice of Common Pleas) was sent to investigate the incident and to punish the offenders. On 2nd June, he was attacked at Brentwood. By this time the violent discontent had spread, and the counties of Essex and Kent were in full revolt.

Soon people moved on London in an armed uprising.[1] [edit] First protests Title page to William Morris' A Dream of John Ball (1888)In June 1381, two groups of common people from the southeastern counties of Kent and Essex marched on London. The most vociferous of their leaders, Walter, or "Wat" Tyler, was at the head of a contingent from Kent. When the rebels arrived in Blackheath on June 12, the renegade Lollard priest, John Ball, preached a sermon including the famous question that has echoed down the centuries: "When Adam delved and Eve span, who was then the gentleman?"[2]. (I.e. "when Adam dug, and Eve spun, were there then any nobility?") The following day, the rebels, encouraged by the sermon, ... The Peasants Revolt The Peasants' Revolt ï¿½ The Causes of the Peasants Revolt The death of Edward III did not end the war with France, and taxation continued at very high levels.

The poll taxes of 1377 (4d per head,) 1379 (the same,) and 1381 (12d per head) made the heaviest impact on the peasantry. One response to excessive taxation was evasion: the Poll Tax returns of 1381 imply a one-third drop in the adult population since 1377. Another response was resistance: London tax-collectors told the Exchequer that riots would erupt if attempts to levy the taxes were sustained. Continued collection efforts finally sparked rebellion in south-east England and East Anglia. The Geography of the Revolt The first risings were in Essex and they rapidly spread to Kent and East Anglia. The disorder in these regions mainly involved the looting and destruction of landlords' property. Large numbers of Kentish peasants assembled at Dartford (on the Thames) and then joined with Essex rebels and elected Wat Tyler as their leader. In June, they marched on London.

Secondary outbursts occurred in the North (York, Scaborough & Beverley), the West (Bridgewater, Salisbury and Winchester) and the Midlands (Leicester, Worcester and Northampton.) ï¿½ The rebels of Kent and Essex also found a spokesman in the person of John Ball. Ball was a priest who had been imprisoned by the Archbishop of Canterbury, and whom the rebels released from confinement. He preached a famous sermon to the rebels on the egalitarian theme "When Adam delved and Eve span, Who was then the gentleman?" The rebels camped at Mile End fields (just east of London) 12 June 1381. The next day they invaded Southwark, attacked Marshalsea prison, crossed London Bridge, and with the support of a London mob attacked John of Gaunt's palace - destroying everything of value that they could find. The skull of Simon of Sudbury, preserved in St Gregory's church, Sudbury, Suffolk ; work is now being done at the church, in conjunction with the College of Life Sciences, University of Dundee, to have a facial reconstruction of Archbishop Simon produced from a CT scan of the mummified remains of his head.

(Many thanks to Revd Jenny Seggar of St Gregory's for information about Simon of Sudbury, the skull, and the church). On the 14th June (unopposed by the sizable garrison) the rebels entered the Tower of London and summarily executed the Archibshop of Canterbury, Simon of Sudbury (who was also Chancellor) along with three others. His head was carried in triumph to London Bridge and displayed there. Richard II at first made efforts to conciliate the rebels - offering them pardon if they would disperse to their homes. Richard rode out to speak to Wat Tyler, and two of Richard's followers killed him. Tyler's head replaced Sudbury's on London Bridge. Deprived of their leader and enticed by promises of pardon, the rebellion collapsed. John Ball fled, but was captured and executed (July 1381.) The Revolt's aftermath Although the Peasants Revolt was brief in duration and did not achieve its aim of ending villeinage, its psychological impact was considerable. The broadness of its appeal and extent of its demands were quite exceptional. The demands of the rebels for an end to villeinage, that all land should rent at 4d.

per acre, and that the higher clergy should be abolished were extremely radical by the standards of the day. The attack on the poll tax was the rebels' only success, for it was not reinstituted. The rebels' radicalism did not extend to republicanism. They all insisted that they wanted to purge the traitors around the king - not harm the king himself. Wat Tyler and John Ball imagined a world where all were free and equal subjects of the king with no intermediate lords. ï¿½

Question: What English uprising ended with the death of one its leaders Wat Tyler in June 1381?
Answer: The Peasants' Revolt