Lesson plan
Printable A4 worksheet
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Curriculum tags
- KS3: Medieval England, the Black Death, the Peasants' Revolt, popular protest
- GCSE (Edexcel Power and the People): The Peasants' Revolt as a major thematic case study of challenging power; comparison with the Chartists, Suffragettes, modern protest
- A-Level: Source criticism (medieval chronicles written by the powerful about the powerless), causes and consequences of mass uprising, long-run versus short-run historical change
- Citizenship: Legitimate vs illegitimate authority, the right to protest, what makes a tax fair
Learning outcomes
By the end of the lesson, students will be able to:
- Describe the social and economic conditions of England between the Black Death (1348) and 1381
- Identify the three Poll Taxes and explain why the 1381 one provoked rebellion when the earlier two had not
- Name the key rebel leaders (Wat Tyler, John Ball) and their roles, and explain John Ball's central question
- Evaluate Richard II's actions at Mile End and Smithfield, including the deliberate revocation of the king's seal
- Argue, with evidence, whether the Peasants' Revolt should be considered a failure or a success
Suggested lesson structure
Discussion questions
- The Peasants' Revolt was provoked by a tax that hit the poor and the rich equally. Why is "equal" not the same as "fair"? Where else in history (or today) have we seen this argument?
- Richard II rode out alone to meet 50,000 armed peasants. He was fourteen years old. What does that tell us about him? About the situation? About the rebels who let him walk among them?
- The king gave the rebels charters of freedom sealed with the royal seal, then revoked them. The royal seal was supposed to be a guarantee. What happens to political trust when the seal becomes worthless? What other moments in British history follow a similar pattern?
- John Ball asked the crowd at Blackheath, "When Adam delved and Eve span, who was then the gentleman?" What is he arguing? Why was this dangerous enough to get him hanged, drawn and quartered?
- The video argues that the rebels won in the long run, even though they were defeated in 1381. Do you agree? What is the evidence on each side?
- In 1990, Margaret Thatcher's Community Charge (Poll Tax) was withdrawn within a year after mass protest. Was that a different event, or the same event happening 609 years later?
- Medieval chronicles describe the rebels as a "mob", "the rabble", or worse. The same chronicles are our main sources for what happened. How should historians handle sources that are openly hostile to the people they describe?
Quiz. Test yourself.
Six questions. Recommended for ages 12 and up. Click each question to reveal the answer.
1. In which year did the Peasants' Revolt take place?
1381. The main events occurred in May (Fobbing), June (the march on London, Mile End, Smithfield) and July (executions).
2. What was the immediate trigger of the revolt?
The third Poll Tax (1380). A flat tax of one shilling on every adult, the same for the duke and the dairymaid. The first commissioner sent to enforce it, Thomas Bampton, was driven out of the Essex village of Fobbing.
3. Who were the two main leaders of the revolt?
Wat Tyler, the Kentish soldier and tradesman who took military command, and John Ball, the radical priest who was freed from Maidstone Prison by Tyler's rebels and preached at Blackheath.
4. Where did John Ball ask his famous question, and what was the question?
At Blackheath, on the night of 13 June 1381. The question: "When Adam delved and Eve span, who was then the gentleman?" The argument: when the first man dug the earth and the first woman spun thread, there were no lords. Everything else is made by men. And what men make, men can unmake.
5. How did Wat Tyler die?
He was stabbed in the throat by William Walworth, the Lord Mayor of London, during negotiations with Richard II at Smithfield on 15 June 1381. He was then dragged away and beheaded in front of the king.
6. How long was it before any government in England dared to try the Poll Tax again?
609 years. The Community Charge (informally known as the Poll Tax) was introduced by Margaret Thatcher's government in 1989-1990. It was withdrawn within a year after 200,000 people marched on London following the same route the 1381 rebels took.
Took the test? Share what you learned.
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Primary sources and evidence
Further reading
For teachers
- R. B. Dobson, The Peasants' Revolt of 1381 (Macmillan, 2nd ed. 1983). The standard scholarly source collection, with primary documents translated and annotated.
- Juliet Barker, England, Arise: The People, The King and the Great Revolt of 1381 (Little, Brown, 2014). Accessible narrative history.
- Christopher Dyer, Making a Living in the Middle Ages: The People of Britain 850 – 1520 (Yale, 2002). Essential context on the post-Black Death economy.
- Rodney Hilton, Bond Men Made Free (Methuen, 1973). The classic Marxist interpretation of the revolt.
For students (KS3 – KS4)
- BBC Bitesize: The Peasants' Revolt (KS3, GCSE)
- National Archives: Education resources on the Peasants' Revolt, with images of the surviving charters
- Historic England: The Peasants' Revolt and its sites
For visits
- Smithfield, London. The site of Wat Tyler's death is marked. The market and St Bartholomew's Hospital are still there.
- Blackheath, London. Now a quiet south London park. The gathering happened here.
- Fobbing, Essex. The village where the revolt began. A small heritage display marks the site.
- The Tower of London. Richard II watched the rebels gather from here.
- The Savoy, London. The modern hotel stands on the site of John of Gaunt's burned palace.
Extension for older students (KS4 / A-Level)
The Peasants' Revolt is an extraordinarily rich case study for source criticism. Almost everything we know comes from chronicles written by monks and royal officials who were openly hostile to the rebels. Ask students:
- How would the events of 13 – 15 June 1381 read if a peasant who had been on Blackheath had been able to write the chronicle instead of Walsingham? What changes? What stays the same?
- The figure "50,000" comes from contemporary chronicles. How reliable is it? What political work is the number doing for the chroniclers when they exaggerate (or under-state) it?
- Richard II's revocation of the charters is recorded in his own court records. He had every legal right to do it as the absolute monarch. Was the revocation a betrayal, or simply a king exercising legitimate authority? Where does political legitimacy come from?
- Compare the Peasants' Revolt with the Putney Debates (1647), the Chartists (1840s), the Tolpuddle Martyrs (1834), the Suffragettes (1900s) and the 1990 Poll Tax protests. What does each have in common? Where do they diverge?
This is a useful entry point into source criticism, political theory and the long-run study of popular protest in British history.
Our pedagogical stance. Read carefully.
We have made a case for what the Peasants' Revolt means. We have done it confidently, with sources, and in the channel's voice. It is not the only case.
If you teach this story, please do not ask your class to repeat our interpretation back to you. Ask them what they think the evidence shows. Ask them to defend it. Ask them where we might be wrong, and where their reading would diverge from ours.
A student who watches the video, reads the page, weighs the evidence, and concludes that the rebels actually lost, or that Richard II made the only call he could have made, has done exactly the work this resource was built for. Their answer is not less valuable than ours.
The channel mission is to give the people of these islands the tools to think about their own past. Not to tell them what to think. If your students leave the lesson disagreeing with us on the evidence, you have used this resource well.
If you use this in a classroom, drop us a line at Iam@proudofus.co.uk, we love to hear from teachers.