1. To What Extent Was Richard Responsible

Question 1

How old was Richard when he was crowned King in July 1377?

Answer 1

10

Question 2

Who ruled England until Richard came of age?

Answer 2

The king’s uncles, John of Gaunt & Thomas Woodstock, as well as knights in the royal household

Question 3

Causes of the Peasant’s revolt

Answer 3

High tax to finance military campaigns in France and Scotland but these were going badly

1377-81 French raids on the south coast of England

Question 4

When was the Peasant’s Revolt?

Answer 4

1381

Question 5

What was the main cause of the Peasant’s Revolt?

Answer 5

‘Poll tax’ where each liable adult is charged the same amount regardless of wealth

Question 6

Where did the revolt start and where did they converge?

Answer 6

Essex and spread rapidly to other areas of the country. Protestors converged in London and demanded to speak directly to the king

Question 7

Did the peasants blame the king for the high taxes and military failures?

Answer 7

No- they blamed his ‘evil councillors’

Question 8

What did Richard do in response to the revolt?

Answer 8

acquit himself in front of the thousands of insurgents

Question 9

What did Richard assure the insurgents?

Answer 9

That he heard their complaints and would grant charters of freedom & pardon, persuading them to disperse

Question 10

What did Richard do presumably on the recommendations of his councillors that showed his ruthless side?

Answer 10

Witnessed the executions of a number of rebels and formally revoked his pardons

Question 11

What did the events of 1381 show?

Answer 11

Public hostility towards the poll tax 
Growing class tension that had developed since the Black Death 1347

Question 12

Why had surviving peasants benefitted from the Black Death?

Answer 12

Their living conditions increased and they could demand higher wages (agricultural labour shortage). This meant increased leisure time, better food, clothes and other consumables

Question 13

What was fiercely resisted by the gentry and nobility?

Answer 13

This new found local mobility

Question 14

What was the 1350 Statute of Labourers that was passed by Parliament?

Answer 14

It legally required wages to be limited to pre-Black Death levels- greatly restricting worker mobility & amount of time off agricultural workers could have

Question 15

What did the Statute of Labourers cause?

Answer 15

Underlying cause of peasant hostility towards ruling classes & Richard II’s ‘evil councillors’

Question 16

What did the Peasant’s Revolt mark for Richard?

Answer 16

His coming of age- he had publicly shown his courage and ability to deal with a hostile crown in front of his knights and nobles

Question 17

What also marked Richard’s move towards adulthood?

Answer 17

His Jan 1382 marriage to Anne of Bohemia, the sister of the Holy Roman Emperor king of Bohemia

Question 18

Why was Richard’s marriage arranged by leading members of the English government, including Michael de la Pole & Simon Burley

Answer 18

In the hopes of gaining the Empire’s support against French in 100 years war

Question 19

What were the more negative sides of the marriage?

Answer 19

No dowry & obliged Richard to commit a loan of 80,000 florins (around £12000, an enormous sum at the time)

Question 20

Why was the marriage a political failure?

Answer 20

The public were sharply critical of high cost of marriage & Richard’s extreme generosity towards Anne’s Bohemian relations & servants.
Military alliance also failed to materialise