Peasants' Revolt facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Peasants' Revolt
Richard II meets the rebels on 13 June 1381 in a miniature from a 1470's copy of Jean Froissart's Chronicles.
Date 30 May 1381 – November 1381 Location England Result Suppression of revolt and execution of rebel leaders
Belligerents
Rebel forces	Royal government
Commanders and leaders
Wat Tyler John Wrawe John Ball William Grindecobbe	Richard II William Walworth Henry le Despenser
Casualties and losses
At least 1,500	Unknown

The Peasants' Revolt was a rebellion of peasants in England, in 1381. It was the biggest rebellion of farmers in medieval England. The causes of the rebellion are unclear today, but there are different candidates:

• There was a large epidemic of the Black Death, which lasted from 1347 to 1353. This reduced the number of workers and caused economic problems.
• In order to be able to finance Hundred Years' War, the English crown raised taxes, several times in short intervals.
• The central government in London was weak at the time

Other names for the rebellion are Wat Tyler's Rebellion, after Wat Tyler who was a local leader of the peasants in the rebellion. Yet another name is Great Rising.

Life of peasants

There were two types of peasants; serfs, and free peasants. The serfs, especially, had many difficulties in feudalism. These peasants had barely enough food to live on, or anything else. The free peasants had less than all of the other social classes, except for the serfs. The free peasants had to pay rent to live "free", and also had to pay for most things (such as getting married, or collecting water). Even though they were "free" they still were controlled by the higher classes. The serfs got to live on the farms with the knights. The knights were there to protect them. The majority of peasants lived in houses which also housed the animals of the village.

Timeline

• May 30th: The peasants of Essex chase Thomas Bampton out of Fobbing.
• June 1st: The revolt spreads through Essex, Hertfordshire, and Suffolk.
• June 7th: Maidstone and Rochester castles surrender to the revolt.
• June 10th: A new leader, Wat Tyler, appears. The rebels of Kent and Essex march on London to explain their grievances, but Wat Tyler has a different plan to assault London. King Richard II of England is completely surprised, and only has a few hundred troops in London.
• June 13th: The peasants kill many lawyers under the command of Wat Tyler. Most of London is not destroyed. King Richard agrees to meet the rebels at Mile End.
• June 14th: Richard meets with Tyler, and Tyler gives him the demands of the peasants. The king accepts all the demands. Meanwhile, a group of the peasants go to the Tower of London and behead some of their worst enemies. These include Simon Sudbury, Robert Hailes, and John Legge.
• June 15th: Wat Tyler wants to meet with the king again to make more demands. When they meet, Tyler is killed in unclear circumstances. King Richard orders his troops to destroy the rebels, and they kill over a thousand.

50 years later most of Wat Tyler's demands were put into place by the king.

Images for kids

• 

  English soldiers landing in Normandy, c. 1380–1400, during the Hundred Years' War

• 

  Sheep farming, from the Luttrell Psalter, c. 1320–40

• 

  Peasant longbowmen at practice, from the Luttrell Psalter, c. 1320–1340

• 

  15th-century representation of the cleric John Ball encouraging the rebels; Wat Tyler is shown in red, front left

• 

  Late 15th-century depiction of the Tower of London and its keep, the White Tower

• 

  The Abbey Gate of Bury St Edmunds Abbey, stormed by the rebels on 13 June

• 

  Corpus Christi College's Old Court, attacked by the rebels on 15 June

• 

  An illustration from Vox Clamantis by John Gower, a poem which described and condemned the Revolt, in Glasgow University Library.

• 

  A 14th-century carving of Henry Despenser, the victor of the Battle of North Walsham in Norfolk

• 

  Late 14th-century portrait of Richard II in Westminster Abbey

• 

  14th-century rural scene of a reeve directing serfs, from the Queen Mary Psalter. British Library, London.

• 

  Historian William Stubbs, who considered the revolt "one of the most portentous events in the whole of our history", painted by Hubert von Herkomer.

See also

In Spanish: Rebelión de Wat Tyler para niños