History _ Peasants Revolt

Causes

1.The Black Death

2.Keeping wages down 3.(The Statute of Labourers)

3.An expensive war

4.Richard II is a young king with bad advisers

5.John Ball starts to preach rebellion

6.The first poll taxes - 4p

7.A new poll tax - 12p!

how did The Black Death cause peasants revolt?

The Black Death killed one third of the English population between 1348 and 1351. As a result there was a shortage of peasants to work on the land, and so the peasants thought they could ask for more money to work for their landlords.

how did The Statute of Labourers cause peasants revolt?

At the end of the Black Death, the lords did not want to pay the higher wages that peasants were asking for. In 1351 a law was passed, the Statute of Labourers, ordering that all labourers should work for the same level of pay that they had had before the plague.

how did an expensive war cause peasants revolt?

When Richard became king, England had been at war with France for 40 years. The war had started to go very badly for England after 1369. This made the king unpopular and he needed to raise money to continue the fighting.

how did Richard II cause peasants revolt?

Richard became king at the age of ten in 1377. As he was so young he had to rely on advisers. These advisers gave very bad advice about how to treat the people.

how did John Ball cause peasants revolt?

From around 1365, a priest called John Ball started preaching around London that it was wrong for the rich to live off the work of the poor peasants because everyone was equal in the eyes of God.

how did The first poll taxes cause peasants revolt?

In 1377 and 1379, Richard II and his noble advisers introduced a poll tax. This was a tax on the 'poll' - on the head - and so on every head. So every person had to pay it - it was 4 pence per person.

how did A new poll tax cause peasants revolt?

In 1381, Richard II and his advisers tried to have a new poll tax collected. This one was to be triple the previous ones - at 12 pence per person

12 June 1381:

60,000 peasants from Kent and Essex arrived outside London

How did the revolt develop on 13 June?

1.King Richard and his advisers went to meet them on a barge on the Thames - but were threatened and shouted at and so turned back to the Tower of London

2.Supporters of the peasansts inside London opened the gates and the rebels from Kent poured across London Bridge

3.They burnt down John of Gaunt's palace and the Temple. Then they killed the Lord Mayor of London and surrounded the Tower.

What happened at Mile End on June 13

1.The King met the rebels at Mile End and promised Wat Tyler that he would abolish serfdom, abolish all labour services, and pardon everyone who had taken part in the rebellion. He would not punish his own advisers.

2.The rebels then punished his advisers - they killed Simon Sudbury and Robert Hales and stuck their heads on poles on London Bridge.

What happened at smithfield on June 15?

Richard met the rebels again at Smithfield. In a scuffle with the new Lord Mayor, Wat Tyler was killed. The king courageously confronted the angry peasants and said 'Sirs, would you shoot your king? Only follow me and you will have what you seek!' He then persuaded them to go home by saying he would keep the promises he had made.

What were the consequences?

1.The king's troops then hunted down the ringleaders and had them executed and the peasants were crushed.

2.However there were no more poll taxes.

3.Within fifty years nearly all the serfs were given their freedom.