History books often make the medieval era feel like a slow, dusty crawl through mud and prayer. But in June 1381, England basically exploded. It wasn't just a "riot." It was a coordinated, terrifying, and surprisingly sophisticated uprising that saw the most powerful men in the kingdom lose their heads—literally. When people talk about the Peasants' Revolt, they usually picture a bunch of guys with pitchforks. While there were definitely pitchforks, the reality was much more about tax evasion, labor laws, and a teenage King named Richard II who was way out of his depth.
It was a total mess.
The whole thing kicked off in Essex, but it spread like wildfire because people were just fed up. The Black Death had wiped out nearly half the population decades earlier, which, ironically, gave the survivors a bit of leverage. If you're a landlord and half your workers are dead, the ones left alive start asking for better pay. The government didn't like that. They passed the Statute of Labourers in 1351 to force wages back down to pre-plague levels. Imagine working through a pandemic only for the government to tell you that your "hero" status means you have to take a 50% pay cut. People were livid.
Why the Peasants' Revolt actually started (it wasn't just poverty)
Money is usually the spark. In this case, it was the Poll Tax. The Hundred Years' War with France was an expensive hobby for the English nobility, and they were running out of cash. They introduced a flat tax where everyone paid the same amount, regardless of how much they actually made. Rich Duke? Three groats. Poor farmer barely eating? Three groats.
It was inherently unfair.
By the third time they tried to collect this tax in 1381, the villagers of Fobbing had had enough. When the tax commissioner, John Bampton, showed up to investigate why the numbers weren't adding up, the locals chased him out of town. This wasn't a random outburst; it was a calculated rejection of state authority.
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The leaders: Wat Tyler and the "Mad Priest"
We don't know a ton about Wat Tyler’s life before the revolt, but he was clearly a charismatic guy with some military experience. He became the face of the movement, leading a massive group from Kent toward London. But the ideological soul of the rebellion was probably John Ball. He was a radical priest who had been in and out of prison for preaching things that sounded a lot like early socialism.
His famous line—"When Adam delved and Eve span, who was then the gentleman?"—basically asked why some people were born to rule while others were born to starve. It's a question that still resonates.
The Siege of London: Chaos in the Streets
By the time the rebels reached London on June 13, they weren't just a mob. They had sympathizers inside the city who opened the gates. Once inside, they went after specific targets. They weren't there to burn the whole city down; they wanted the people they blamed for the tax.
- They burned the Savoy Palace, the home of John of Gaunt (the King’s uncle and the most hated man in England).
- They broke into the Tower of London.
- They found Simon Sudbury, the Archbishop of Canterbury, and the Lord Treasurer Robert Hales.
They dragged them out to Tower Hill and chopped their heads off. This was unheard of. The Tower was supposed to be the most secure fortress in the land, and a group of "peasants" had just walked in and executed the highest-ranking officials in the country.
The Smithfield Meeting and the Death of Wat Tyler
Richard II was only 14. You have to wonder what was going through his head. He agreed to meet the rebels at Mile End and promised to abolish serfdom. He probably had no intention of keeping that promise, but it bought him time. The real climax happened at Smithfield on June 15.
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Wat Tyler rode out to meet the King. Accounts say Tyler acted "boldly," maybe even rudely, asking for a drink of water and rinsing his mouth out in front of the monarch. The Mayor of London, William Walworth, took offense (or saw an opening) and stabbed Tyler. As Tyler fell, the rebel crowd drew their bows.
Richard II did something incredibly brave—or incredibly manipulative. He rode toward the rebels and shouted, "I am your captain, follow me!" He led them away, promising them everything they wanted.
They believed him. They went home.
As soon as the threat dissipated, the retribution began. Richard didn't free the serfs. Instead, he sent out judges to hang the leaders. John Ball was drawn and quartered. When a delegation of peasants later asked the King to honor his promises, he famously told them: "Rustics you were and rustics you are still; you will remain in bondage, not as before, but incomparably harsher."
What we get wrong about 1381
A common misconception is that the Peasants' Revolt failed completely. While it's true the leaders died and the immediate promises were broken, the world didn't go back to the way it was. The Poll Tax was abandoned. The government realized that if they pushed the lower classes too hard, the "lower classes" might just show up at the Tower of London with axes again.
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Economically, the tide was already turning. Serfdom was dying out because it just wasn't efficient anymore. By the 1400s, most of the demands the rebels made—better wages, freedom of movement—were becoming the reality anyway.
The Nuance of "Peasant"
Another thing: the term "peasant" is a bit of a misnomer. The people revolting weren't just the poorest of the poor. They were village elders, local constables, and skilled craftsmen. These were people who had a little bit of power and wanted more. It was a "rising of the commons," a broader cross-section of society than the word "peasant" implies today.
History is written by the victors, and the chroniclers of the time (mostly monks) hated the rebels. They described them as mindless animals. But if you look at their demands—the end of lordship, the distribution of church wealth—they were actually trying to restructure how England worked.
How to trace this history today
If you're interested in the English landscape of 1381, you can still find the echoes of the revolt in London and the southeast.
- Visit the Tower of London: Stand at the site of the old scaffold on Tower Hill where Sudbury met his end.
- The Savoy: While the original palace is long gone, the Savoy Chapel in London sits on the land once owned by John of Gaunt.
- St. Albans Abbey: This was a major flashpoint for the revolt outside of London. The abbey records give a vivid (if biased) account of the local uprising.
- Research the "Anonimalle Chronicle": If you want the "raw" version of the story, this is one of the best primary sources. It was written by someone who was likely in London at the time.
The Peasants' Revolt reminds us that social contracts are fragile. When the gap between the people and the government gets too wide, and when the tax burden feels like a theft rather than a contribution, things fall apart. It wasn't just a 14th-century fluke; it was a fundamental shift in the English psyche.
To dig deeper, look into the works of historians like Juliet Barker or Dan Jones, who have stripped away the Victorian-era myths to show the gritty, political reality of 1381. You'll find that the "dark ages" weren't just dark—they were loud, angry, and surprisingly modern.