Agitating the Peasants
When the Black Death reached England in 1351, the population was at breaking point. A
few months later, the landlords were hard pressed to find men enough to work their
farms. As a result of this, wages rose and conditions for the average peasant were
better than they had been for centuries. In an attempt to stop inflation, wage rises, and
increasing freedom for serfs, the government introduced the Statute of Labourers, which
put a cap on wages. A black market of labour flourished as desperate land owners
struggled to reclaim land left untended and re-establish their power bases.
Because of the new wages and reduced population, peasants were living very well.
From a diet of cabbages and gruel, peasants could now afford bread (!) and
occasionally meat and milk. They had more choices and many migrated to the
increasingly wealthy cities.
Heretics such as Wyclif and John Ball were roaming the country during this time,
agitating for church reform. They wanted much the same thing as the Reformation
achieved two centuries later: a ban on the sale of indulgences; a bible written in English;
enforcement of the monastic vows of chastity and poverty. These heretics, especially the
Lollard group, had powerful supporters such as John of Gaunt (although he dropped
them when they became too radical). There was a bible published by Wyclif during
these years, named after him, that was written in the English of the common people (I
think a copy of it lives at Trinity College, Dublin, with the Book of Kells).
Meanwhile, Edward III, the king, was fighting France in a conflict known as the Hundred
Years War. He and his son, Edward the Black Prince, were excellent generals and for a
while it looked like the English were winning. But Edward the Black Prince died of
dysentery, and Edward III died a few years later, leaving the throne to his young grandson
Richard II, whose uncle, John of Gaunt, was regent for him. Gaunt was unpopular but
good at ruling, and Richard was a weak sort of king. Okay, he was only a boy, but
that's no excuse. During this time, the war in France went very badly. The country was
nearly bankrupted and men who should have been farming were off fighting and dying.
Poll taxes were being levied regularly in the decades after the Black Death to raise
money for the king's armies. The plague struck again every so often to keep everyone
awake (or dead) and took mostly children born since the previous outbreaks of plague.
Richard II, a frivolous monarch, favoured foreign nobles in his courts and merchants of
Flanders and France were growing rich in London, not to mention everyone's favourite
scapegoat the Jews. It was in this atmosphere of social turbulence and economic
uncertainty that the poll tax of 1380 was announced...
The Great Tax Evasion
In the poll tax of 1378, John of Gaunt, the richest man in England, had paid several
pounds (240 pence per pound) and the poorest peasants one groat (4 pence). In 1380,
John of Gaunt paid several shillings (12 pence) and a peasant could be asked for three
groats. In a time when the wages were still only a few shillings a year for most people,
this was ridiculous. So when Richard's tax collectors arrived, nobody was home.
Records show that up to half the population of any town had mysteriously disappeared
since the previous year. When the tax was counted, Richard was angry and sent his tax
collectors around again. They were met with hostile bands of peasants and fled.
The Peasants Revolt of 1381
It took some time for the tax evasion to happen, and still more time for the king to send
his collectors back. Tensions were high, people were angry, and eventually peasants in
the south of England marched on London. Sympathisers in the city opened the gates,
and in the (relatively humane and non-violent) riots that followed, foreign merchants
were lynched, several members of government were executed and their heads paraded
on pikes. Few others were hurt or killed, and while the rioters stormed, fired and
destroyed numerous mansions, including John of Gaunt's Savoy Palace, priceless
objects were destroyed rather than looted. Nobody is known to have died in the sacking
of the Savoy, and Gaunt's mistress escaped unharmed.
As they rioted, the rebels sang their catchphrase:
"When Adam delved and Eve span,
Who was then the gentleman?"
After a few days of rioting, the king agreed to meet the leaders of the riot at Mile End
outside the city. The king and rioters arrived as planned. It is important to realise that in
the great English tradition, the rioters did not want to kill or remove the king. They
simply wanted him to appoint better ministers who would not mislead him.
Richard and his attendants (minus John of Gaunt, who was overseas) met and spoke
with the rebel leader, Wat Tyler. Here the stories differ, but it is clear that at some point
Tyler unknowingly committed an offence of some description (did he touch the king? say
something rude? who can tell now) and one of the king's attendants drew his sword and
struck Tyler down. The rabble erupted and Richard made the best move he made during
his short reign: He rode right into the crowd and spoke to them. He pointed out that he
was there king (they cheered) and that he was in full sympathy with them (they cheered)
and that he would happily grant them freedom from serfdom right now. He then told the
ecstatic crowd that they should go home, right now, spreading the word and celebrating
their freedom. He, Richard, would take care of everything. Some stayed to be written
manumissions (a paper stating freedom of the bearer from serfdom) on the spot, but
most left immediately.
Richard Betrays His Loyal Subjects
That's right, as soon as the rabble had dispersed, that wretched man changed his mind.
He sent out the army to arrest all peasants holding manumissions handed out at the
meeting at Mile End, and he declared serfdom to be as real as ever it was. However, the
army was out and the leaders were dispersed: the Peasants' Revolt was over.
Nemosyn Has Her Half Groats Worth
It is my opinion that if John of Gaunt had been home instead of traipsing around Castile
with his wife and her army, none of this would ever have happened. I have strong
opinions on this subject, that will eventually be noded under the title of How To Run A
Feudal Kingdom.