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ProudOfUs
Classroom Resource
KS3 · KS4 · A-Level
Age 12+

The Peasants' Revolt & Popular Protest

In 1381, 50,000 ordinary English people marched on London. They thought they had lost. They had not.

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Class
Date
The Black Death of 1348 killed half of England. Labour grew scarce. For three decades, ordinary people quietly got richer. The powerful hated it. In 1381, John of Gaunt, the king's uncle, taxed every adult head the same shilling to pay for the war in France. They called it the Poll Tax. The villagers of Fobbing in Essex refused. Word travelled. 50,000 ordinary people marched on London under Wat Tyler. At Blackheath, John Ball asked them: "When Adam delved and Eve span, who was then the gentleman?" They burned the Savoy Palace. The fourteen-year-old king promised them everything at Mile End. The next day at Smithfield, the Lord Mayor murdered Wat Tyler. The king revoked every promise. 1,500 rebels were executed. But the Poll Tax was never collected again in England for 609 years. Within a century, serfdom had died out.

1Timeline. The story of the revolt.

1348
Black Death halves England
May 1381
Fobbing refuses the Poll Tax
13 Jun
50,000 at Blackheath
14 Jun
King promises freedom at Mile End
15 Jun
Tyler murdered at Smithfield
1990
Poll Tax tried again, fails again

2The four demands at Mile End. What were they?

1. End of...
What was the system being ended?
2. End of...
What kind of work was being ended?
3. End of...
What tax was being ended?
4. Pardons for...
Who was being pardoned, and what does that tell us?

3Quiz. What do you know?

  1. In which year did the Peasants' Revolt take place?
  2. In which Essex village did the revolt begin?
  3. Who was the leader of the Kentish rebels?
  4. Which radical priest preached at Blackheath, and what was his famous question?
  5. How many years passed before the Poll Tax was tried in England again?

4Reflection. Did they win or lose?

They thought they had lost. They had not.

The rebels were defeated on the day. Wat Tyler was murdered. John Ball was executed. 1,500 of them were hanged. But the Poll Tax was never collected again for 609 years. Serfdom died out within a century. Argue your case: did the rebels win or lose? Use the evidence you've learned.