Causes Flashcards
What were the 3 main causes and when did they occur?
The Statute of Labourers, 1381. The Return of the Labour Service in the 1370s. The Poll Taxes, 1377-1380.
What was the Statute of Labourers?
After the Black Death, owing to huge Labour shortage, the Lords at first tried to force peasants to return to compulsory labour service, but they failed in this because they could do little to stop them from running away and being welcomed elsewhere. Lords were then forced to offer higher wages to get their land farmed at all. Wages trebled in a few years. Parliament, which of course didn’t represent the peasants, passed the Statute of Labourers designed to enforce wage cuts by law. This angered the peasants.
Describe the Return of the Labour Service
As the population began to recover, the Lords again tried to bring back compulsory labour service. Legally they could do so but it was a decision the peasants hated. By the 1370s however it was not so easy to run away.
What were the Poll Taxes?
This was the most important cause of the revolt. Brought in during the last year of Edward III’s reigns a means of keeping going the 100 Years’ War with France it was unfair and unpopular because it required an equal contribution from everyone regardless of wealth. In 1379 the tax was repeated and, although this time the rich did have to pay more. The 4d required of each peasant was still more than many could afford. In 1380 it was repeated again when the King’s spokesman, Archbishop Simon of Sudbury said that the country’s financial position was even worse. Parliament dislike the alternatives of taxing trade and property even more and so another Poll Tax was voted. This time the collectors came across blatant widespread evasion. Because of the huge shortfall the government sent out comissioners to make sure the evaders paid up with powers arrest if anyone refused or obstructed them.
What were the other minor causes?
Dislike of the Church. Dislike of Lawyers. Dislike of Foreigners. Unpopular advisors of the King.
Who were the Leaders of the Revolt?
John Ball. He was a popular preacher who taught against wealth and authority in the Church. He wanted Bishops and Abbots to be no wealthier than priests and for noble rank to be abolished. He preached to the rebels at Blackheath that ‘all men are created equal by nature’. He had been imprisoned and released once before by the Archbishop of Canterbury but had gone back to his provocative preaching and was in Maidstone prison at the time the rebels broke open the gaol and set free the prisoners.
Wat Tyler. He came from Kent and is supposed to have returned home from a hard day’s work in the fields to find his daughter being assaulted by a tax collector demanding money. Outraged he killed him with a blow to the skull. He joined the rebels at Rochester and emerged as their leader.
Jack Straw. Little is known of him.
Who were the main opponents of the rebels?
John of Gaunt. Richard II’s uncle and chief of his advisors, who was suspected of wanting the throne himself. He was widely blamed for the unsuccessful war against France. Luckily for him, he was out of the country at the time of the revolt, however his palace, Savoy House was burned down by the rebels.
Simon of Sudbury. He was hated as the leader of the Church at a time it was very unpopular. He was also hated as a rich man and as the instigator of the Poll Tax.
Sir Robert Hales (Treasurer). He was also blamed for financial mismanagement and for stealing public money for his own use.
How did the revolt break out?
Thomas de Bampton, one of the Essex commissioners appointed to find out who had evaded the Poll Tax , threatened the villagers o f Fobbing, Essex when the refused to pay any extra, claiming they had already been excused by him. They, with the villagers of Corringham and Stanford-le-Hope, about 100 in all, got together to drive him and his officers away. Realising they were already in severe trouble, they collected mass support from across the county, some of their supporters even crossing the River Thames to arouse the Kent peasants at the time Tyler was emerging as a leader. Other rebels came from the other Home Counties and East Anglia. Places like Norwich, Bury, Canterbury, St. Albans, and Maidstone fell under their control.
Describe what happened during the March on London, June 12 and 13, 1381.
News of the Peasants’ revolt had filtered through to London by this time and some of the poorer London people whose sympathies were with the began a rebellion too. The Kent rebels reached Blackheath, on the outskirts of the city, where Richard attempted to meet them but soon had to withdraw. On the 13th, the peasants first entered to city. Threatened by a large mob of the guards at Southwark opened the drawbridge and allowed the rebels to pass over London Bridge - others later that day came from the north under Jack Straw. There was plenty of looting and that night, many peasants became drunk on plundered wine.
Describe what happened in Mile End on June 14.
On June 14 a group of rebels persuaded the guards to allow them into the Tower of London just after the King had left it in his second bid to speak with the peasants. There they seized Treasurer Hales and Archbishop Sudbury and beheaded them both. According to one source, about 100-200 foreigners were treated in the same fashion. Meanwhile at Mile End, on the outside of the city, Richard II encountered the majority of the peasants estimated by one source at 60 000 in number.
What were the rebels demanding?
The abolition of serfdom.
All feudal services and rents should be moderate.
Free buying and selling of land.
Pardon for all rebels.
Punishment for all the King’s ‘evil advisors’ including anyone who had supported the Poll Tax.
The King verbally agreed to these demands. Some peasants departed apparently satisfied, others however, did not trust the King’s word.
Describe the events which occurred in Smithfield, June 15.
The King and a small retinue of about 60 knights and nobles again met the peasants, whose leader Wat Tyler re-iterated the previous demands. When the King did not immediately reply, Tyler was rude and insolent, demanded a drink and spat at the King’s feet but a knight and Lord Major stood up to him. The former said that he was a rogue, the latter told him to treat the King with respect. According to one version of the story, Tyler moved to attack William Walworth who, however, was too quick for him and struck him with a blow across the neck and chest with his sword. As a result of this and/or a further blow Tyler was mortally wounded though exactly when after this he died is unclear. The peasants prepared to exterminate the King and his retinue but as they drew back their bowstrings, Richard II, the young King, bravely rode forward. He raised his arm and told the peasants that he would become their leader. The peasants were persuaded to follow him and accepted his word that he would fulfil their demands. Over the rest of the day they were gradually shepherded out of the city by the King’s retinue and other important London citizens.
What happened at the end of the revolt?
The next day, there was still some disturbance within the city but now a proclamation was issued ordering all outsiders to leave the city within 24 hours, those who did not follow these orders were severely punished. one of the ones caught lingering was Jack Straw who confessed the names of several other peasants before being executed himself. Now the King was back in a position of strength, the promises he made to the rebels were revoked and the hunting down of the ringleaders began.
What were the results of the revolt?
The scale of the revolt struck fear into the hearts of the upper classes of England and not for 600 years was the Poll Tax principle re-established. In addition, the laws restricting wages were not strictly enforced and peasants were allowed to ask for, and were sometimes granted, the right to pay money rent instead of doing labour service. Moderate, affordable rents returned within a few years.
Why did the peasants not achieve their goal?
To be quite frank, their ambitions were very unrealistic and ‘out-there’.
