Peasants Revolt
Assignment Two – HIST 304 | The Peasant’s Revolt and The Decline of Serfdom | Why did the Peasants’ Revolt Occur? Did the insurgents hope to abolish serfdom? How and why did serfdom decline and eventually disappear in England, notwithstanding the failure of the 1381 uprising and other influences of lower class protest against social inequality and injustice? |
Naomi Woods Student 297278812/22/2011 |
The Peasants Revolt is one of the most well known revolts of Medieval England, the revolt began as a local revolt in Essex in May of 1381, but it soon spread throughout the South East of England affecting many smaller towns along the way and having the biggest impact on London when the people turned their grievances towards the young King Richard II. This revolt was not a planned revolt but rather a spontaneous revolt fuelled by numerous grievances and sparked by the poll tax Parliament had introduced to help pay for the war in France.
Incidences in the villages of Fobbing and Brentwood in Essex are said to have triggered the uprising. On 30 May 1381 a tax collector attempted to collect the poll tax from the villagers of Fobbing, the villagers, lead by a local land owner refused to pay and he was forced to leave empty handed, later Robert Belknap (Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas) arrived to investigate and punish the offenders, On June 2 he was attacked in Brentwood. By this time the counties of Essex and Kent were in full revolt the peasants and artisans of Essex demanded the King to completely abolish serfdom and the commutation of the servile dues to a rent of four pence an acre, the revolt was also said to be sparked by the passage of the poll tax and many other numerous grievances the people had. These peasants marched into London led by Wat Tyler, John Ball and Jack Straw to present a petition calling for the abolition of serfdom to the King. The peasants had strong hopes of abolishing serfdom, but the King was never able to reach them due to
Naomi Woods Student 297278812/22/2011 |
The Peasants Revolt is one of the most well known revolts of Medieval England, the revolt began as a local revolt in Essex in May of 1381, but it soon spread throughout the South East of England affecting many smaller towns along the way and having the biggest impact on London when the people turned their grievances towards the young King Richard II. This revolt was not a planned revolt but rather a spontaneous revolt fuelled by numerous grievances and sparked by the poll tax Parliament had introduced to help pay for the war in France.
Incidences in the villages of Fobbing and Brentwood in Essex are said to have triggered the uprising. On 30 May 1381 a tax collector attempted to collect the poll tax from the villagers of Fobbing, the villagers, lead by a local land owner refused to pay and he was forced to leave empty handed, later Robert Belknap (Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas) arrived to investigate and punish the offenders, On June 2 he was attacked in Brentwood. By this time the counties of Essex and Kent were in full revolt the peasants and artisans of Essex demanded the King to completely abolish serfdom and the commutation of the servile dues to a rent of four pence an acre, the revolt was also said to be sparked by the passage of the poll tax and many other numerous grievances the people had. These peasants marched into London led by Wat Tyler, John Ball and Jack Straw to present a petition calling for the abolition of serfdom to the King. The peasants had strong hopes of abolishing serfdom, but the King was never able to reach them due to
Bibliography: Author Unknown. Jack Straw. Wikipedia, n.d. Web. December 8, 2011 Author Unknown. John Ball. Wikipedia, n.d. Web. December 8, 2011 Author Unknown. Peasants’ Revolt. Wikipedia, n.d. Web. November 25, 2011 Author Unknown. Serfdom. Wikipedia, n.d. Web. November 14, 2011 Author Unknown. Wat Tyler. Wikipedia, n.d. Web. December 8, 2011 Author Unknown. The Peasants Revolt, Chronicle of the Revolt, 1381. Marxists Internet Archive, n.d. Web. November 15, 2011 Froissart, Sir Jean (John). Chronicles of England, France, Spain and the Adjoining Countries, From the Latter Part of the Reign of Edward II to the Coronation of Henry IV. Translated from the French by Thomas Johnes, (rev. ed., vol 1). New York: The Colonial Press, 1901. Roberts, Clayton. Roberts, David. Bisson, Douglas, R. A History of England Volume I Prehistory to 1714, Fifth Edition. Upper Saddle, New Jersey: Pearson, 2009. Trueman, Chris. Peasants Revolt. History Learning Site, 2000-2001. Web. November 25, 2011