Davison History Department
CAUSES
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The Black Death arrived in England in 1348. It would eventually wipe out at least a third of the population. The poor were more effected by the plague so this had a big impact on the peasant population.
Within 10 years of the Black Death, Lords and Barons started to have problems finding enough labour to plough and harvest their fields. There were even some stories of Lords being forced to plough their own fields! The result was that the remaining peasants could start demanding more wages in return for their work. This started to have a big impact on income of the Barons and Lords. They put pressure on the king’s government to do something about it.
Eventually the government created a new law called the Statute of Labourers 1351; in it, it said that “Every man and women in the realm must work for those who want them, and shall only receive the same wages as before the plague”. This essentially meant any gains peasants had made from the Black Death were reversed. In 1379, 70% of all crimes brought before the Justice of the Peace were to do with the Statute of Labourers.
The Black Death also had an effect on the feudal system. Many peasants could see that their Lords had also died of the plague and it became obvious that God had not favoured them over the peasants. This was against the ideas of the feudal system that said God favoured certain people to rule over the many. People started to question the way the government was run.
Another cause of the Peasants revolt was High Taxation. Edward III had started the Hundred Years War against France. To help pay for it the government introduced a Poll Tax on each adult in society. This meant all people, rich and poor had to pay the same amount, for a wealthy Lord this was nothing but for a peasant it made life very difficult. The amount people had to pay increased so that by 1380 people had to pay 4 groats a year – a lot for the average person.
Finally, the last cause of the revolt was the role of some individuals in changing attitudes to authority. John Ball and John Wyclif had argued the church should not be charging for pardons for sins and that the church charged too much money to peasants for the land they owned.
The end result was that the peasants were angry with the king’s advisors for over taxing them, they were underpaid and felt that the people in power were not making good decisions.
DEVELOPMENTS
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In 1381, the speaker John Bull gave a speech saying “When Adam delved and Eve span, who was the gentlemen?” – he meant that in the Garden of Eden God had only created man and women, not lords and peasants. The feudal system was not the creation of God but made by people to keep other people down. John Bull was arrested and put in Jail by the government.
Peasants had had enough and uprisings started in Essex and Kent
30 May – Fobbing. Soldiers were sent to help a tax collector called John Bampton. The peasants threatened the collector. He ran back to London.
2 June – Brentwood. Rebels from other villages join up. The Chief Justice tried to get taxes Brampton failed to get. He failed and was threatened. The rebels killed some of Brampton’s clerks. The rebels burnt down the houses of Brampton’ supporters.
7 June- Maidstone. Rebels meet to hear a man called Wat Tyler speak, They make him their leader and free John Ball from prison. They storm Rochester Castle and kill the Archbishop of Canterbury. They destroy all tax records by burning down the government buildings.
12 June - Bishopsgate outside London. The peasants march towards London and camp outside of the city. The King, Richard II sails to meet them on a barge. Because the rebels are so hostile Richard talked to them barge. He agrees to talk with the leaders on 17 June.
13 June – City of London. Rebels enter the city. They storm the Savoy Palace owned by Richard’s uncle John of Gaunt and burn it to the ground. Many foreign merchants are killed. Not all were violent. Wat Tyler had given orders not to use violence. The King agrees to meet the rebels the next day at Mile End.
14 June- Mile End. Wat Tyler meets the king and he outlines the demands. The King gives a royal pardon to those involved in the rebellion. He also says all villeins would be made freemen.
15 June – Smithfields. Richard meets the rebels again. Wat Tyler is bold and refuses to go until the king agrees to his demands. The king agrees to the demands but one of the king’s men steps forward and kills Wat Tyler. The king rides to talk to the angry peasant crowd. He tells them all to go home and they will be pardoned.
CONSEQUENCES
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With Wat Tyler dead the revolt quickly melted away. Richard never kept any of the promises he made to change things. The rebel leaders were all rounded up and executed. John Ball was hanged and his body cut into pieces.
SIGNIFICANCE
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ST: Revolt not a complete failure. The Poll Tax was never repeated. Similar taxes and charges were never so high again. Workers’ wages also started to rise again, the Landowners need labour still so the Statue of Labourers started to get ignored. With so much unused land, peasants started to buy land so they no longer had to work on the lord’s land. Within 100 years most peasants were freemen.
LT: Significance later on is viewed differently. Socialist historians believe the revolt is significant because it was the first working class rebellion. Others say the revolt was not necessary as changes in society were already happening due to the Black Death. Lastly some see this as the beginning of organised opposition and the beginning of the English ideas of freedom.
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MAIN FACTORS
WAR, RELIGION, ECONOMY, INDIVIDUALS, IDEAS