The Peasants Revolt Flashcards
Cause 1 of the peasants revolt?
Economy:
- Return to pre-black death levels of hardship
A return to pre-black death levels of hardship
- Black Death had killed around half the population
- fewer workers around meant the rich had to lower rents and increase wages to attract the scarce amount of workers
- food prices dropped as there were less mouths to feed
- living standards increased for those who survived the Black Death
- people therefore developed higher expectations of their lot in life than previous generations had done
Cause 2 of the peasants revolt?
Government:
- Edward III’s clampdown
- Richard II’s corrupt council
Edward III’s clamp down
- Edward and his nobility were worried by increasing demands from peasants
Statute of labourers, 1351:
- wages have to be returned to pre-black death levels
- Bargaining for high wages was illegal
- peasants could not move from village to village for employers
- Work had to be accepted by presents regardless of the wages were
Sumptuary laws, 1363:
- People from lower social classes were banned from wearing certain materials or eating certain foods even if they could afford them
Richard II’s corrupt council
Richard was crowned at 10 years old and allowed his powerful relations and associates (e.g his uncle John of Gaunt) do dominate and comment in the view of the peasants, mislead him
Cause 3 of the peasants revolt?
War:
- Richard II’s failures in France
- Richard II’s poll taxes to pay for war
Richard II’s failures in France
- when Edward III died in 1377, Richard II, decided to continue his expensive wars abroad rather than end them
- Richard II proved rather effective and the French, therefore grew bold enough to attack the south coast of England in 1377, destroying the town of Rye
Richard II’s poll taxes to pay for war
- Richard and his council decided to tax heavily in order to fund this failing war with France
- 1377: Richard collected Apole tax of 4d per person
- 1379: Richard collected a poll tax starting at 4d per person, many taxpayers across the country refused to pay
- 1381: Richard therefore collected and increased poll tax of 1s and 4d per person
Method 1 of the peasants revolt?
War:
- fobbing, 30th May
- London, 13th June
- London, 14th June
Fobbing, 30th May
This small village in Essex, rebels beheaded three clerks working for tax inspector John Bampton
London, 13th June
60,000 rebels arrived at London, many rioted and looted
They managed to burn down John of Gaunt’s (Richard’s uncle, who many blamed for the poll taxes) Savoy palace
London, 14th June
A small group broke into the Tower of London and beheaded Sir Robert Hales (Richard II’s treasurer, who helped organise the poll taxes) and Simon of Sudbury ( the Archbishop of Canterbury, who condemned peasants demands for increased freedom)
They paraded their heads around the city as trophies
Method 2 of the peasants revolt?
Communication:
- John Ball
- Wat Tyler
John Ball
He was a radical Lollards priest who gave repeated public sermons lamenting (to express a disappointment about something) the inequality of society
12th June, Blackheath:
- He proclaimed the rebels frustration with the unfair feudal practices oppressing them
- He proclaimed the rebels criticisms of the wealth of the church
Wat Tyler
He was a roofer who emerged as the leader of the revolt and met with Richard II twice
- 14th June, Mile End
- 15th June, Smithfield
On both occasions, Tyler laid out the rebels grievances and demands in order to seek resolution
These were:
- An end to work service
- The right to negotiate higher wages
- The redistribution of church lands
Short term significance of the peasants revolt?
Mixed:
- on the one hand, it was a symbolic first
- however, on the other hand, it failed utterly
On the one hand, it was a symbolic first (explain)
It was the first time in our history that commoners had openly challenged the authority of their king, traditionally it was the barons who rebelled when the interests were threatened
However, on the other hand it failed utterly (explain)
On 15th of June at Smithfield, Wat Tyler was murdered by William Walworth, mayor of London
Richard then went to work on every promise he had made during the revolt (just like John and Henry III had done)
In the following weeks, the rebels were instead rounded up and executed, John Ball the priest, was gruesomely hanged, drawn and quartered
In later years Richard became a tyrant, distrustful of his own subjects
The peasants revolt was of symbolic but not practical significance in challenging feudalism
Long term significance of the peasants revolt?
Much greater:
- firstly, it’s aims were achieved within 100 years
- secondly, it became an inspirational symbol to later movements
Firstly, it’s aims were achieved within 100 years
No future King ever dead to try to impose a pole tux again, we just began to rise once more
More and more peasants became Freeman, this freed them from having to work for the Lords for free one required, if feudalism which had restricted ordinary peoples rights for centuries had ended
Secondly, it became an inspirational symbol to later movements
The rebels be aims became widely admired, John Ball’s sermons, in particular, were picked up again by later protest movements like the English Civil War
The peasants revolt was of a greater significance to later generations than to its own
