Peasants' Revolt

The Peasants' Revolt of 1381 was the beginning of the end of serfdom in medieval England. The rebellion was the most extreme insurrection in English history and the best documented popular rebellion of medieval times. It was precipitated by attempts to enforce a poll tax, levied to finance military campaigns overseas. At the time, the King, Richard II, was only 14, and England was ruled by men linked in popular opinion to corruption and to what many saw as a corrupt Church. The Black Death had ravaged England in 1348 and 1349, greatly reducing the labour force. As a result, labourers could and did demand higher wages, shorter working hours, and more freedom. These demands were resisted by the Government, leading to swelling discontent.

The uprising was triggered by incidents in the Essex villages of Fobbing and Brentwood. The villagers of Fobbing refused to pay the new poll tax, and Robert Belknap (Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas) was sent to punish them. Violent discontent spread rapidly throughout Essex and Kent, and soon armed rebels moved on London led by Wat Tyler. When they arrived in Blackheath on June 12, the renegade priest, John Ball, preached a sermon, including a question that has echoed down the centuries: "When Adam delved and Eve span, who was then the gentleman?"

On June 14th, the rebels met the young king and presented their demands, including the dismissal of some of his more unpopular ministers and the effective abolition of serfdom. At the same time, other rebels stormed the Tower of London and killed those hiding there, including the Lord Chancellor (Simon of Sudbury, the Archbishop of Canterbury, who was particularly associated with the poll tax), and the Lord Treasurer (Robert de Hales, the Grand Prior of the Knights Hospitallers of England).