ChronoFive
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Setting the scene
The Peasants' Revolt stemmed from the Black Death's aftermath. Labor shortages had enabled peasants to demand higher wages, but the Statute of Labourers (1351) froze wages at pre-plague levels. The Hundred Years' War required funding, leading to three poll taxes in 1377, 1379, and 1380—the last a flat 12 pence per person over 15, equivalent to several days' wages for laborers. Tax collectors' intrusive methods, including checking young women's virginity to assess age, sparked fury. In May 1381, a collector was killed in Brentwood, Essex, igniting revolt.
What happened
Led by Wat Tyler in Kent and John Ball, a radical priest preaching 'When Adam delved and Eve span, who was then the gentleman?', rebels marched on London. On June 13, they entered the city, burning the Savoy Palace (John of Gaunt's residence), opening prisons, and executing officials including Archbishop Simon Sudbury and Treasurer Robert Hales. The 14-year-old King Richard II met rebels at Mile End on June 14, agreeing to abolish serfdom and grant charters of freedom. The next day at Smithfield, Tyler was killed by the Lord Mayor during negotiations—whether by treachery or Tyler's aggression remains debated.
Why it still matters
Richard, displaying remarkable courage, rode to the rebel crowd and declared 'I will be your leader,' persuading them to disperse. Once the immediate threat passed, he revoked all concessions and suppressed the revolt brutally—1,500 rebels were executed. The poll tax was abandoned, but serfdom persisted legally until the 16th century, though it declined in practice. The revolt revealed the limits of royal power and the depth of social tension. John Ball was executed, his egalitarian ideas echoing through later English radicalism. Wat Tyler became a folk hero, his death symbolizing both rebellion's potential and its dangers.【5221696969874523158†L5-L7】
Background
Elite forces eventually suppressed the rising. Even centuries later, this episode remains a reference point for how empires rise, fracture, and transform.