Why Did the Peasants’ Revolt in 1381?

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.

Contents [hide]

1 Events leading to the revolt

2 First protests

3 Storming the Tower of London

4 Smithfield

5 The Cutty Wren

6 Literary mention

7 Further reading

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 — 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