The England which in 1381 was ruled by the boy-king Richard II, with Archbishop Sudbury as his chancellor and prime minister, and Sir Robert Hales as his treasurer, was a thoroughly discontented country.
Richard II's war against France (the next phase of the Hundred Years War) was going badly, the government's reputation was damaged, and the tax was 'the last straw'.
The seeds of dissent fell from the tree that was medieval society itself and were watered by the continuous oppression of the poor in towns as well as the countryside by those in power.
Artisans, parish priests, poor city workers, and even small traders rose with the peasants in their call for the abolition of feudal obligations (serfdom) and the resulting economic/social injustice they had endured for so long.
By June, peasant numbers had reached about 60,000. Peasants are armed with axes, scythes, some even have swords and bows and arrows.
Soon both Essex and Kent were in revolt. The rebels coordinated their tactics by letter. Hundreds of angry peasants marched from Kent to London and captured the Tower of London. They murdered the Archbishop of Canterbury and the treasurer and then demanded to meet the king.
On 15 June, King Richard II, met the rebels' leader Wat Tyler. William Walworth, the Lord Mayor of London, attacked and killed Tyler. Before the rebel army could retaliate, Richard stepped forward and promised to abolish serfdom. The peasants went home, but later government troops toured the villages hanging men who had taken part in the Revolt.
Peasants' Revolt in 1381
