The Peasants' Revolt

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.