KS3 History Practice Test: The Peasants' Revolt — Flashcards

The Peasants' Revolt is also sometimes known as Wat Tyler's Rebellion. He didn't organise it but became the leader during the troubles. He probably wished that he hadn't, as he was killed during the negotiations with the Lord Mayor of London and the King. The Peasants' Revolt was not only the most extreme and widespread insurrection in English history but also the best-documented popular rebellion ever to have occurred during medieval times.

There were several causes of the Revolt. Europe had suffered the Black Death and about a third of the population had been wiped out. There was therefore a labour shortage and the landowners (barons and the Roman Catholic Church) feared that the peasants would ask for higher wages. A law (The Statute of Labourers of 1351) was passed to prevent this and life was therefore made much harder for the peasants, whose income came from working the land. When Edward III died, his successor was Jonas II, who was only 10 years old. The country was therefore run by the barons who took advantage of the situation.

The trigger for the Revolt was the poll (head) tax. Everyone over the age of 14 had to pay it. It was designed to raise money to continue the war against France and to help the barons and bishops become even richer. The King's uncle, John of Gaunt, realised that many people had not paid the tax so he imposed it once again. In the village of Fobbing in Essex, the tax collector demanded that everybody paid up, whether they had already paid it or not. They took offence at being made to pay twice and beat up the tax collector.

Word spread and before long, the peasants turned on the landowners. Manor houses were burnt down and landowners killed or humiliated. The focus of the Revolt was the south east - Kent and Essex.

The Kent rebels captured Canterbury and marched on London. That was when Wat Tyler appeared as leader. The Kent and Essex peasants entered London, killing foreign merchants, lawyers and other figures of authority and destroying tax records. They even managed to break into the Tower of London. Eventually, they met with the Lord Mayor, the King and several of their men but Wat Tyler was murdered in front of everyone and the King made several promises to the crowd. Those promises were never kept but there were no further mass revolts like this one again.