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English peasants' revolt of 1381

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: British History 1500 and
before (including Roman Britain)

   The end of the revolt: Wat Tyler killed by Walworth while Richard II
   watches, and a second image of Richard addressing the crowd
   The end of the revolt: Wat Tyler killed by Walworth while Richard II
   watches, and a second image of Richard addressing the crowd

   The Peasants' Revolt, Tyler’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.

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 — 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 12d compared with the 1377 rate of
   4d. 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.

   The event that triggered the uprising was the incident involving the
   attempt to force the village of Brentwood, Essex, to pay the recent
   poll tax. When John Bampton, along with two armed guards, entered the
   village and demanded them to pay, the locals insisted they had already
   paid and would not contribute another penny. Bampton then tried to
   arrest some villagers; however, over one hundred men, led by Thomas
   Baker, chased Bampton out of the village. When he returned to London,
   troops were dispatched to deal with them. These men were also repelled
   by Baker, who made the man in charge swear an oath to never return and
   beheaded six of the accompanying clerks. 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.

First protests

   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?". The following day the
   rebels, encouraged by the sermon, crossed London Bridge into the heart
   of the city. Meanwhile the 'Men of Essex' had gathered with Jack Straw
   at Great Baddow and had marched on London, arriving at Stepney. Instead
   of what was expected from a riot however, there was only a systematic
   attack on certain properties, many of them associated with John of
   Gaunt and/or the Hospitaller Order. On June 14, they are reputed to
   have been met by the young king himself, and to have presented him with
   a series of demands, including the dismissal of some of his more
   unpopular ministers and the effective abolition of serfdom. One of the
   more intriguing demands of the peasants was "that there should be no
   law within the realm save the law of Winchester". This is often said to
   refer to the statutes of the Charter of Winchester (1251), though it is
   sometimes considered to be a reference to the more equitable days of
   king Alfred the Great, when Winchester was the capital of England.

Storming the Tower of London

   Richard II meets with the rebels in a work from Jean Froissart's
   Chronicles
   Richard II meets with the rebels in a work from Jean Froissart's
   Chronicles

   At the same time, a group of rebels stormed the Tower of London— after
   likely being let in— and summarily executed those hiding there,
   including the Lord Chancellor ( Simon of Sudbury, the Archbishop of
   Canterbury, who was particularly associated with the poll tax), and the
   Lord Treasurer ( Robert de Hales, the Grand Prior of the Knights
   Hospitallers of England). The Savoy Palace of the king's uncle John of
   Gaunt was one of the London buildings destroyed by the rioters. Richard
   II agreed to reforms such as fair rents and the abolition of serfdom.

Smithfield

   At Smithfield, on the following day, further negotiations with the king
   were arranged, but on this occasion the meeting did not go according to
   plan. Wat Tyler left his Army and rode forth to parlay with the King
   and his party. Tyler, it is alleged by his killers, behaved most
   belligerently and dismounted his horse and called for a drink most
   rudely. In the ensuing dispute Tyler drew his dagger and William
   Walworth, the Mayor of London drew his sword and attacked Tyler,
   mortally wounding him in the neck. Seeing him surrounded by the King's
   entourage the Rebel Army was in uproar, but King Richard, seizing the
   opportunity, rode forth and promised the Rebels all was well, that
   Tyler had been knighted, and their demands would be met - they were to
   March to St John's Fields, where Wat Tyler would meet them. This they
   duly did, but the King broke his promise. The Nobles quickly
   re-established their control with the help of a hastily organised
   militia of 7000, and most of the other leaders were pursued, captured
   and executed, including John Ball. Jack Straw turned on his associates
   under torture and betrayed many of them to the executioner - though it
   did not save him. Following the collapse of the revolt, the king's
   concessions were quickly revoked, and the tax was levied.

   Despite its name, participation in the Peasants' Revolt was not
   confined to serfs or even to the lower classes. Although the most
   significant events took place in the capital, there were violent
   encounters throughout eastern England -- but those involved hastened to
   dissociate themselves in the months that followed.

Literary mention

   John Gower, friend of Geoffrey Chaucer, saw the peasants as unjustified
   in their cause. In his Vox Clamantis, he sees the peasant action as the
   work of the Anti-Christ and a sign of evil prevailing over virtue.

   Geoffrey Chaucer mentions Jack Straw, one of the leaders of the Revolt,
   in his satiric 'The Nun's Priest's Tale' of The Canterbury Tales.

   Froissart's Chronicles devotes twenty pages to the revolt.

   William Morris described the revolt in A Dream of John Ball (1888).

   In the book Born in Blood: The Lost Secrets of Freemasonry (1990)
   author John J. Robinson (not a professional historian), combines
   scholarly research with entertaining storytelling to make the case that
   the leadership of the revolt was somehow involved with the disbanded
   Knights Templar, and makes broad correlations throughout his book to
   Freemasonry and the Templar Order. These claims are unique to Robinson
   and are warily received by professional scholars of the period.

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