The Peasants’ Revolt of 1381

Background

The unrest which eventually ignited into the Peasants’ Revolt in 1381 was rooted as far back as the Great Plague of 1348.  The indiscriminate death of between a third and half of the population of England left the nation traumatised and questioning aspects of the world which had been “true” for generations.  The feudal system of landlord and tenant was a two-fold arrangement.  The price for all the subservience and labour expected of a tenant was the protection of his overlord.  The landowning classes in this case, could not even protect themselves let alone those for whom they were responsible.  The duty of obedience had not been destroyed by the plague, but it had been undermined.

The circumstances of the labouring tenants began to alter as the pestilence began to wane.  In the wake of the panic there was an immense shortage of labour.  Noblemen simply could not find the workers to tend their fields.  As a result landowners were forced to compete for labour by offering higher wages and better terms of employment.  It appeared that the era of indentured farmers living under the will of their masters was gone.  The aristocratic families were not content to simply accept the situation, however.  In 1351 the “Statute of the Labourers” was passed through parliament in an attempt to reverse the gains of the peasantry and return wages to pre-plague levels.

The simmering resentment caused by this distinctly unsympathetic legislation was exacerbated by frequent demands for money by the crown to finance the seemingly ever-present wars in France.  The year of the uprising saw the third imposition of the poll tax within four years.  This tax took no account of personal wealth or ability to pay and was increased with every fresh demand.  When some people attempted to avoid payment of the tax (often by the simple expedient of hiding whenever the tax collectors turned up) they were met with harsh enforcement tactics.

How it Happened

When residents of Fobbing and Brentwood (in Essex) refused to pay the tax Robert Belknap (Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas) was sent to investigate and enforce payment.  Perhaps unsurprisingly he was violently attacked.  News spread quickly and soon the rest of Essex followed into rebellion.  Rebels in Kent (led by a blacksmith named Wat Tyler) joined the Essex party and together they marched on London.