Causes Of The Peasants Revolt

The 1300’s were a time of tragic loss for Europe. The Black Death struck Europe by surprise and killed over thirty percent of the population. The group that suffered the most from the Black Death was the English peasants. They saw this “supply and demand” situation as an opportunity for advancement, but rich English nobles did everything in their power to prevent that from happening. Although one peasant may not have been powerful alone, as they were by far the largest social group in England, they had the power to bring chaos to Europe during their shocking revolt. Once nobles realized that the peasants wanted increased wages, they began to pass laws to try to stop them. The Statue of Laborers, passed in 1351, stopped peasants from taking advantage of the
decreased labor situation and demanding more money. This made life much harder for the peasants as they had to work many more hours and not receive proper compensation for it. Another major occurrence that turned the peasants against England was the clergy. Since the Church was a major landowner, they sided against the peasants. The church became hated and peasants accused them of exploiting them. All of this political and religious turmoil started to make the peasants angry. Their anger and frustration was relatively quiet until 1377, when Parliament imposed the Poll Tax. This tax created to pay for the debt from the Hundred Years War, required both peasants and landowners to contribute. . When Parliament increased the tax in 1380 despite peasant disapproval, the English peasants reached their breaking point and launched a revolt. The widespread revolt began on the local level with disruption in Essex in June of 1381.
The resident peasants became extremely exasperated with tax collectors and reached their breaking point, so they attacked the tax commissioners. The revolt in Essex was followed by a similar scale revolt in Kent. The revolt quickly escalated to looting, arson, and even murder. It was starting to become very clear: the peasants would not go down without a fight. As the revolt continued, it gained much more attention. The peasants kept marching on, and increased in numbers as they went. The two main leaders of the revolt were John Ball and Wat Tyler. John Ball was one of many rebellious priests who sided with the peasants and preached against the Church. Wat Tyler was the leader in Kent. Although a leader of the revolt, he was not a peasant. Many participants in the revolt were financially comfortable commoners who used the revolt as a way to settle scores with local officials. As both leaders gained in numbers, they started to march their forces towards London. On June 12th, the peasants were denied a meeting with King Richard II. On June 13th, the rebels entered the city and destroyed everything in their
path. After finally realizing what a force the peasants were, King Richard II reluctantly agreed to a meeting on June 14th. The King met with the Essex peasants, who pledged their allegiance to him and presented him with a petition of demands. The petition called for abolishment of serfdom, labor service based on free contracts, and the right for peasants to rent lands at four pence an acre. The King unenthusiastically agreed to these demands. Later that day, Wat Taylor led a group of peasants to the Tower of London, which they seized and executed the Archbishop of Canterbury. Enraged, the King met with Taylor on June 15th. Wat Taylor arrived at the meeting with new demands. His demands included the abolishment of church property, an end to all lordship except for the king, and that the only clergy spread throughout the kingdom be bishops. The King once again agreed to these demands; however, the peasants did not achieve the victory they hoped for. The Mayor of London thought that Taylor acted disrespectfully to Richard II while discussing the list of demands, so he pulled him from his horse and killed him with his sword. After his death, Wat Taylor’s head was put on a pole and displayed in London for all to see. After Taylor had died, the King had his troops surround the rebels and declared that the rebellion was over and demanded that the peasants return peacefully to their home. After the revolt in London ended, the spark that once ignited the revolt began to die out. Over the next few days, the army of the King began to regain control of the other areas that the revolt had affected. After stability was obtained, the King issued a proclamation denying that he had ever agreed to their petitions. King Richard II also revoked the pardons that he had granted the rebels and sought revenge. Many powerful leaders of the revolt were already dead, and those who remained were tried fairly in court, and executed. English nobles misjudged the power and influence of the peasants, due to their prejudiced views about their social class. Although the demands of the peasants may have not been met, they did have a long lasting impact on Europe. After the Peasants’ Revolt, no medieval Parliament ever tried to pass a poll tax on England again. Pulling off a revolt of this caliber would be a remarkable feat for anyone, but it is especially astonishing since it came from an unexpected social category: the English peasants.