Peasants' Revolt

Peasants' Revolt
The boy-king Richard II meets the rebels on 14 June 1381, in a miniature from a 1470s copy of Jean Froissart's Chronicles.
Date 30 May – November 1381 Location England Result Sacking of Tower of London and mass execution of royal officials Charters granted to rebel towns Eventual suppression of revolt and execution of rebel leaders
Belligerents
Rebel forces	Royal government
Commanders and leaders
Wat Tyler † Jack Straw  Thomas Baker  John Wrawe  John Ball  William Grindecobbe  Johanna Ferrour	King Richard II Sir William Walworth Archbishop Simon Sudbury  Bishop Henry Despenser Sir Robert Hales  Sir Richard Lyons  Sir John Cavendish
Casualties and losses
At least 1,500 killed	Unknown

The Peasants' Revolt, also named Wat Tyler's Rebellion or the Great Rising, was a major uprising across large parts of England in 1381. The revolt had various causes, including the socio-economic and political tensions generated by the Black Death in the 1340s, the high taxes resulting from the conflict with France during the Hundred Years' War, and instability within the local leadership of London. The revolt heavily influenced the course of the Hundred Years' War, by deterring later Parliaments from raising additional taxes to pay for military campaigns in France.

Medieval historian Tom Johnson in 2025 describes the revolt as "the largest popular uprising in English history. It was the result of a series of inept short-term political decisions - military failures, financial corruption and the imposition of a third poll tax in four years - but it became a national emergency because of the extent to which government now intruded into its subjects' lives."^[1]

Interpretations of the revolt by academics have shifted over the years. It was once seen as a defining moment in English history, in particular causing a promise by King Richard II to abolish serfdom, and a suspicion of Lollardy, but modern academics are less certain of its impact on subsequent social and economic history.

The revolt has been widely used in socialist literature, including by the author William Morris, and remains a potent symbol for the political left, informing the arguments surrounding the introduction of the Community Charge in the United Kingdom during the 1980s.