The Peasants’ Revolt

There are several causes that explain why it happened, as well as consequences. For example one cause was the Black Death and one of the consequences was that Richard beheaded the rebellious leaders.

The main cause of the peasant’s revolt was the Black Death. It seems clear that because of the Black Death there was a lot of land for peasants to claim but they also saw a new power and made the lord of the manor pay them for working on his land. They also finally got a taste of freedom. This shows us that the Black Death made the peasants feel as though they could be free men like the lords.

A further reason for the peasant’s revolt was the Poll Tax. It seems clear that because of the peasants having to pay taxes called the poll tax which Richard II used to pay for army to fight in wars against France and other countries. He sent officials around the country. Buy only adults paid but if a man was married he would have to pay for him and his wife. But this really annoyed people in town and they executed the official sent to there town.

Another, but perhaps less important factor in causing the revolt was the Statute of Laborers. It seems clear that because the peasants wanted to earn more money after the Black Death because the there were less people to work for the lords they tried to earn extra things such as money. But this Statute of Laborers said they couldn’t earn extra after the Black Death. This shows us that everyone wanted new amounts of money to pay the poll tax and to keep for themselves and their families alive but they couldn’t because of this so they were angry.

The main consequence of the revolt was that Richard II beheaded the rebellious leaders. It seems clear that Richard wanted them dead so that they couldn’t cause another rebellion which could be more deadly and kill all of the nobles and himself. This shows us that the peasants were scared to attack again or to lead a rebellion because they would get beheaded.

A further consequence of the revolt was Richard II stopped the poll tax. It seems clear that Richard was scared that there would be another revolt so he had to stop it plus many of the wars had stopped because this peasants’ revolt happened all over the world so he didn’t need the poll tax any more.

Another, but perhaps not as an important consequence was that peasants’ pay rose. It seems clear that there was a small amount of peasants’ left to work but they had to work much harder so the lords of the manors improved their pay because they had to work harder for him. This shows us that the peasants’ were happy to get more wages and no one stopping them in fact people making necessary for them to get extra wages.

There are several causes of the peasant’s revolt, but the most important is clearly the Black Death because many peasants gained something from it. Also the revolt was good for the peasants because they also managed to get good things out of that as well.