The Peasants'
Revolt, also called Wat Tyler's Rebellion or the Great Rising, was a main
revolution across major parts of England in 1381. The uprising had various
causes, including the monetary and political tensions produced by the Black
Death in the 1340s, the high taxes resulting from the disagreement with France
during the Hundred Years War, and unsteadiness within the local leadership of
London. The final set off for the revolt was the involvement of a royal
official, John Bampton, in Essex on 30 May 1381. His efforts to gather unpaid
poll taxes in the town of Brentwood finished in a aggressive argument, which speedily
spread across the south-east of the country. A wide spectrum of rural society,
including many local artisans and village officials, rose up in dispute,
burning court records and opening the local gaols. The rebels sought a decrease
in taxation, an end to the system of unfree labor known as serfdom and the exclusion
of the King's senior executives and law courts.
