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= = = = March on the capital = = = =
The Kentish advance on London appears to have been coordinated with the movement of the rebels in Essex , Suffolk and Norfolk . Their forces were armed with weapons including sticks , battle axes , old swords and bows . Along their way , they encountered Lady Joan , the King 's mother , who was travelling back to the capital to avoid being caught up in the revolt ; she was mocked but otherwise left unharmed . The Kentish rebels reached Blackheath , just south @-@ east of the capital , on 12 June .
Word of the revolt reached the King at Windsor Castle on the night of 10 June . He travelled by boat down the River Thames to London the next day , taking up residence in the powerful fortress of the Tower of London for safety , where he was joined by his mother , Archbishop Sudbury , the Lord High Treasurer Sir Robert Hales , the Earls of Arundel , Salisbury and Warwick and several other senior nobles . A delegation , headed by Thomas Brinton , the Bishop of Rochester , was sent out from London to negotiate with the rebels and persuade them to return home .
At Blackheath , John Ball gave a famous sermon to the assembled Kentishmen . Ball was a well @-@ known priest and radical preacher from Kent , who was by now closely associated with Tyler . Chroniclers ' accounts vary as to how he came to be involved in the revolt ; he may have been released from Maidstone gaol by the crowds , or might have been already at liberty when the revolt broke out . Ball rhetorically asked the crowds " When Adam delved and Eve span , who was then a gentleman ? " and promoted the rebel slogan " With King Richard and the true commons of England " . The phrases emphasised the rebel opposition to the continuation of serfdom and to the hierarchies of the Church and State that separated the subject from the King , while stressing that they were loyal to the monarchy and , unlike the King 's advisers , were " true " to Richard . The rebels rejected proposals from the Bishop of Rochester that they should return home , and instead prepared to march on .
Discussions took place in the Tower of London about how to deal with the revolt . The King had only a few troops at hand , in the form of the castle 's garrison , his immediate bodyguard and , at most , several hundred soldiers . Many of the more experienced military commanders were in France , Ireland and Germany , and the nearest major military force was in the north of England , guarding against a potential Scottish invasion . Resistance in the provinces was also complicated by English law , which stated that only the King could summon local militias or lawfully execute rebels and criminals , leaving many local lords unwilling to attempt to suppress the uprisings on their own authority .
Since the Blackheath negotiations had failed , the decision was taken that the King himself should meet the rebels , at Greenwich , on the south side of the Thames . Guarded by four barges of soldiers , Richard sailed from the Tower on the morning of 13 June , where he was met on the other side by the rebel crowds . The negotiations failed , as Richard was unwilling to come ashore and the rebels refused to enter discussions until he did . Richard returned across the river to the Tower .
= = = Events in London = = =
= = = = Entry to the city = = = =
The rebels began to cross from Southwark onto London Bridge on the afternoon of 13 June . The defences on London Bridge were opened from the inside , either in sympathy for the rebel cause or out of fear , and the rebels advanced into the city . At the same time , the rebel force from Essex made its way towards Aldgate on the north side of the city . The rebels swept west through the centre of the city , and Aldgate was opened to let the rest of the rebels in .
The Kentish rebels had assembled a wide @-@ ranging list of people whom they wanted the King to hand over for execution . It included national figures , such as John of Gaunt , Archbishop Sudbury and Hales ; other key members of the royal council ; officials , such as Belknap and Bampton who had intervened in Kent ; and other hated members of the wider royal circle . When they reached the Marshalsea Prison in Southwark , they tore it apart . By now the Kent and Essex rebels had been joined by many rebellious Londoners . The Fleet and Newgate Prisons were attacked by the crowds , and the rebels also targeted houses belonging to Flemish immigrants .
On the north side of London , the rebels approached Smithfield and Clerkenwell Priory , the headquarters of the Knights Hospitaller which was headed by Hales . The priory was destroyed , along with the nearby manor . Heading west along Fleet Street , the rebels attacked the Temple , a complex of legal buildings and offices owned by the Hospitallers . The contents , books and paperwork were brought out and burned in the street , and the buildings systematically demolished . Meanwhile , John Fordham , the Keeper of the Privy Seal and one of the men on the rebels ' execution list , narrowly escaped when the crowds ransacked his accommodation but failed to notice he was still in the building .
Next to be attacked along Fleet Street was the Savoy Palace , a huge , luxurious building belonging to John of Gaunt . According to the chronicler Henry Knighton it contained " such quantities of vessels and silver plate , without counting the parcel @-@ gilt and solid gold , that five carts would hardly suffice to carry them " ; official estimates placed the value of the contents at around £ 10 @,@ 000 . The interior was systematically destroyed by the rebels , who burnt the soft furnishings , smashed the precious metal work , crushed the gems , set fire to the Duke 's records and threw the remains into the Thames and the city drains . Almost nothing was stolen by the rebels , who declared themselves to be " zealots for truth and justice , not thieves and robbers " . The remains of the building were then set alight . In the evening , rebel forces gathered outside the Tower of London , from where the King watched the fires burning across the city .
= = = = Taking the Tower of London = = = =
On the morning of 14 June , the crowd continued west along the Thames , burning the houses of officials around Westminster and opening the Westminster gaol . They then moved back into central London , setting fire to more buildings and storming Newgate Prison . The hunt for Flemings continued , and those with Flemish @-@ sounding accents were killed , including the royal adviser , Richard Lyons . In one city ward , the bodies of 40 executed Flemings were piled up in the street , and at the Church of St Martin Vintry , popular with the Flemish , 35 of the community were killed . Historian Rodney Hilton argues that these attacks may have been coordinated by the weavers ' guilds of London , who were commercial competitors of the Flemish weavers .
Isolated inside the Tower , the royal government was in a state of shock at the turn of events . The King left the castle that morning and made his way to negotiate with the rebels at Mile End in east London , taking only a very small bodyguard with him . The King left Sudbury and Hales behind in the Tower , either for their own safety or because Richard had decided it would be safer to distance himself from his unpopular ministers . Along the way , several Londoners accosted the King to complain about alleged injustices .
It is uncertain who spoke for the rebels at Mile End , and Wat Tyler may not have been present on this occasion , but they appear to have put forward their various demands to the King , including the surrender of the hated officials on their lists for execution ; the abolition of serfdom and unfree tenure ; " that there should be no law within the realm save the law of Winchester " , and a general amnesty for the rebels . It is unclear precisely what was meant by the law of Winchester , but it probably referred to the rebel ideal of self @-@ regulating village communities . Richard issued charters announcing the abolition of serfdom , which immediately began to be disseminated around the country . He declined to hand over any of his officials , apparently instead promising that he would personally implement any justice that was required .
While Richard was at Mile End , the Tower was taken by the rebels . A force of rebels , separate from those operating under Tyler at Mile End , approached the castle , possibly in the late morning . The gates were open to receive Richard on his return and a crowd of around 400 rebels entered the fortress , encountering no resistance , possibly because the guards were terrified by them .
Once inside , the rebels began to hunt down their key targets , and found Archbishop Sudbury and Robert Hales in the chapel of the White Tower . Along with William Appleton , John of Gaunt 's physician , and John Legge , a royal sergeant , they were taken out to Tower Hill and beheaded . Their heads were paraded around the city , before being affixed to London Bridge . The rebels found John of Gaunt 's son , the future Henry IV , and were about to execute him as well , when John <unk> , one of the royal guards , successfully interceded on his behalf . The rebels also discovered Lady Joan and Joan Holland , Richard 's sister , in the castle but let them go unharmed after making fun of them . The castle was thoroughly looted of armour and royal paraphernalia .
In the aftermath of the attack , Richard did not return to the Tower but instead travelled from Mile End to the Great Wardrobe , one of his royal houses in Blackfriars , part of south @-@ west London . There he appointed the military commander Richard FitzAlan , the Earl of Arundel , to replace Sudbury as Chancellor , and began to make plans to regain an advantage over the rebels the following day . Many of the Essex rebels now began to disperse , content with the King 's promises , leaving Tyler and the Kentish forces the most significant faction in London . Tyler 's men moved around the city that evening , seeking out and killing John of Gaunt 's employees , foreigners and anyone associated with the legal system .
= = = = Smithfield = = = =
On 15 June the royal government and the remaining rebels , who were unsatisfied with the charters granted the previous day , agreed to meet at Smithfield , just outside the city walls . London remained in confusion , with various bands of rebels roaming the city independently . Richard prayed at Westminster Abbey , before setting out for the meeting in the late afternoon . The chronicler accounts of the encounter all vary on matters of detail , but agree on the broad sequence of events . The King and his party , at least 200 strong and including men @-@ at @-@ arms , positioned themselves outside St Bartholomew 's Priory to the east of Smithfield , and the thousands of rebels massed along the western end .
Richard probably called Tyler forwards from the crowd to meet him , and Tyler greeted the King with what the royal party considered excessive familiarity , terming Richard his " brother " and promising him his friendship . Richard queried why Tyler and the rebels had not yet left London following the signing of the charters the previous day , but this brought an angry rebuke from Tyler , who requested that a further charter be drawn up . The rebel leader rudely demanded refreshment and , once this had been provided , attempted to leave .
An argument then broke out between Tyler and some of the royal servants . The Mayor of London , William Walworth , stepped forward to intervene , Tyler made some motion towards the King , and the royal soldiers leapt in . Either Walworth or Richard ordered Tyler to be arrested , Tyler attempted to attack the Mayor , and Walworth responded by stabbing Tyler . Ralph Standish , a royal squire , then repeatedly stabbed Tyler with his sword , mortally injuring him .
The situation was now precarious and violence appeared likely as the rebels prepared to unleash a volley of arrows . Richard rode forwards towards the crowd and persuaded them to follow him away from <unk> , to Clerkenwell Fields , defusing the situation . Walworth meanwhile began to regain control of the situation , backed by reinforcements from the city . Tyler 's head was cut off and displayed on a pole and , with their leader dead and the royal government now backed by the London militia , the rebel movement began to collapse . Richard promptly knighted Walworth and his leading supporters for their services .
= = = Wider revolt = = =
= = = = Eastern England = = = =
While the revolt was unfolding in London , John Wrawe led his force into Suffolk . Wrawe had considerable influence over the development of the revolt across eastern England , where there may have been almost as many rebels as in the London revolt . The authorities put up very little resistance to the revolt : the major nobles failed to organise defences , key fortifications fell easily to the rebels and the local militias were not mobilised . As in London and the south @-@ east , this was in part due to the absence of key military leaders and the nature of English law , but any locally recruited men might also have proved unreliable in the face of a popular uprising .
On 12 June , Wrawe attacked Sir Richard Lyons ' property at <unk> , advancing on to Cavendish and Bury St Edmunds in west Suffolk the next day , gathering further support as they went . John Cambridge , the Prior of the wealthy Bury St Edmunds Abbey , was disliked in the town , and Wrawe allied himself with the townspeople and stormed the abbey . The Prior escaped , but was found two days later and beheaded . A small band of rebels marched north to Thetford to extort protection money from the town , and another group tracked down Sir John Cavendish , the Chief Justice of the King 's Bench and Chancellor of the University of Cambridge . Cavendish was caught in Lakenheath and killed . John <unk> and Thomas Sampson independently led a revolt near Ipswich on 14 June . They took the town without opposition and looted the properties of the archdeacon and local tax officials . The violence spread out further , with attacks on many properties and the burning of the local court records . One official , Edmund Lakenheath , was forced to flee from the Suffolk coast by boat .
Revolt began to stir in St Albans in Hertfordshire late on 13 June , when news broke of the events in London . There had been long @-@ running disagreements in St Albans between the town and the local abbey , which had extensive privileges in the region . On 14 June , protesters met with the Abbot , Thomas de la Mare , and demanded their freedom from the abbey . A group of townsmen under the leadership of William Grindecobbe traveled to London , where they appealed to the King for the rights of the abbey to be abolished . Wat Tyler , then still in control of the city , granted them authority in the meantime to take direct action against the abbey . Grindecobbe and the rebels returned to St Albans , where they found the Prior had already fled . The rebels broke open the abbey gaol , destroyed the fences marking out the abbey lands and burnt the abbey records in the town square . They then forced Thomas de la Mare to surrender the abbey 's rights in a charter on 16 June . The revolt against the abbey spread out over the next few days , with abbey property and financial records being destroyed across the county .
On 15 June , revolt broke out in Cambridgeshire , led by elements of Wrawe 's Suffolk rebellion and some local men , such as John <unk> , who had been involved in the events in London and had returned to his home county to spread the revolt , and Geoffrey Cobbe and John <unk> , members of the local gentry . The University of Cambridge , staffed by priests and enjoying special royal privileges , was widely hated by the other inhabitants of the town . A revolt backed by the Mayor of Cambridge broke out with the university as its main target . The rebels ransacked Corpus Christi College , which had connections to John of Gaunt , and the University 's church , and attempted to execute the University <unk> , who escaped . The university 's library and archives were burnt in the centre of the town . The next day , the university was forced to negotiate a new charter , giving up its royal privileges . Revolt then spread north from Cambridge toward Ely , where the gaol was opened and the local Justice of the Peace executed .
In Norfolk , the revolt was led by Geoffrey Litster , a weaver , and Sir Roger Bacon , a local lord with ties to the Suffolk rebels . Litster began sending out messengers across the county in a call to arms on 14 June , and isolated outbreaks of violence occurred . The rebels assembled on 17 June outside Norwich and killed Sir Robert Salle , who was in charge of the city defences and had attempted to negotiate a settlement . The people of the town then opened the gates to let the rebels in . They began looting buildings and killed Reginald Eccles , a local official . William de Ufford , the Earl of Suffolk fled his estates and travelled in disguise to London . The other leading members of the local gentry were captured and forced to play out the roles of a royal household , working for Litster . Violence spread out across the county , as gaols were opened , Flemish immigrants killed , court records burned , and property looted and destroyed .
= = = = Northern and western England = = = =
Revolts also occurred across the rest of England , particularly in the cities of the north , traditionally centres of political unrest . In the town of Beverley , violence broke out between the richer mercantile elite and the poorer townspeople during May . By the end of the month the rebels had taken power and replaced the former town administration with their own . The rebels attempted to enlist the support of Alexander Neville , the Archbishop of York , and in June forced the former town government to agree to arbitration through Neville . Peace was restored in June 1382 but tensions continued to simmer for many years .
Word of the troubles in the south @-@ east spread north , slowed by the poor communication links of medieval England . In Leicester , where John of Gaunt had a substantial castle , warnings arrived of a force of rebels advancing on the city from Lincolnshire , who were intent on destroying the castle and its contents . The mayor and the town mobilised their defences , including a local militia , but the rebels never arrived . John of Gaunt was in Berwick when word reached him on 17 June of the revolt . Not knowing that Wat Tyler had by now been killed , John of Gaunt placed his castles in Yorkshire and Wales on alert . Fresh rumours , many of them incorrect , continued to arrive in Berwick , suggesting widespread rebellions across the west and east of England and the looting of the ducal household in Leicester ; rebel units were even said to be hunting for the Duke himself . Gaunt began to march to Bamburgh Castle , but then changed course and diverted north into Scotland , only returning south once the fighting was over .
News of the initial events in London also reached York around 17 June , and attacks at once broke out on the properties of the Dominican friars , the Franciscan friaries and other religious institutions . Violence continued over the coming weeks , and on 1 July a group of armed men , under the command of John de Gisbourne , forced their way into the city and attempted to seize control . The mayor , Simon de <unk> , gradually began to reclaim authority , but order was not properly restored until 1382 . The news of the southern revolt reached Scarborough where riots broke out against the ruling elite on 23 June , with the rebels dressed in white hoods with a red tail at the back . Members of the local government were deposed from office , and one tax collector was nearly lynched . By 1382 the elite had re @-@ established power .
In the Somerset town of Bridgwater , revolt broke out on 19 June , led by Thomas Ingleby and Adam Brugge . The crowds attacked the local Augustine house and forced their master to give up his local privileges and pay a ransom . The rebels then turned on the properties of John Sydenham , a local merchant and official , looting his manor and burning paperwork , before executing Walter Baron , a local man . The Ilchester gaol was stormed , and one unpopular prisoner executed .
= = = Suppression = = =
The royal suppression of the revolt began shortly after the death of Wat Tyler on 15 June . Sir Robert Knolles , Sir Nicholas Brembre and Sir Robert <unk> were appointed to restore control in the capital . A summons was put out for soldiers , probably around 4 @,@ 000 men were mustered in London , and expeditions to the other troubled parts of the country soon followed .
The revolt in East Anglia was independently suppressed by Henry le Despenser , the Bishop of Norwich . Henry was in Stamford in Lincolnshire when the revolt broke out , and when he found out about it he marched south with eight men @-@ at @-@ arms and a small force of archers , gathering more forces as he went . He marched first to Peterborough , where he routed the local rebels and executed any he could capture , including some who had taken shelter in the local abbey . He then headed south @-@ east via Huntingdon and Ely , reached Cambridge on 19 June , and then headed further into the rebel @-@ controlled areas of Norfolk . Henry reclaimed Norwich on 24 June , before heading out with a company of men to track down the rebel leader , Geoffrey Litster . The two forces met at the Battle of North Walsham on 25 or 26 June ; the Bishop 's forces triumphed and Litster was captured and executed . Henry 's quick action was essential to the suppression of the revolt in East Anglia , but he was very unusual in taking matters into his own hands in this way , and his execution of the rebels without royal sanction was illegal .
On 17 June , the King dispatched his half @-@ brother Thomas Holland and Sir Thomas Trivet to Kent with a small force to restore order . They held courts at Maidstone and Rochester . William de Ufford , the Earl of Suffolk , returned to his county on 23 June , accompanied by a force of 500 men . He quickly subdued the area and was soon holding court in Mildenhall , where many of the accused were sentenced to death . He moved on into Norfolk on 6 July , holding court in Norwich , Great Yarmouth and Hacking . Hugh , Lord la Zouche , led the legal proceedings against the rebels in Cambridgeshire . In St Albans , the Abbot arrested William Grindecobbe and his main supporters .
On 20 June , the King 's uncle , Thomas of Woodstock , and Robert Tresilian , the replacement Chief Justice , were given special commissions across the whole of England . Thomas oversaw court cases in Essex , backed up by a substantial military force as resistance was continuing and the county was still in a state of unrest . Richard himself visited Essex , where he met with a rebel delegation seeking confirmation of the grants the King had given at Mile End . Richard rejected them , allegedly telling them that " rustics you were and rustics you are still . You will remain in bondage , not as before , but incomparably harsher " . Tresilian soon joined Thomas , and carried out 31 executions in Chelmsford , then travelled to St Albans in July for further court trials , which appear to have utilised dubious techniques to ensure convictions . Thomas went on to Gloucester with 200 soldiers to suppress the unrest there . Henry Percy , the Earl of Northumberland , was tasked to restore order to Yorkshire .
A wide range of laws were invoked in the process of the suppression , from general treason to charges of book burning or demolishing houses , a process complicated by the relatively narrow definition of treason at the time . The use of informants and denunciations became common , causing fear to spread across the country ; by November at least 1 @,@ 500 people had been executed or killed in battle . Many of those who had lost property in the revolt attempted to seek legal compensation , and John of Gaunt made particular efforts to track down those responsible for destroying his Savoy Palace . Most had only limited success , as the defendants were rarely willing to attend court . The last of these cases was resolved in 1387 .
The rebel leaders were quickly rounded up . A rebel leader by the name of Jack Straw was captured in London and executed . John Ball was caught in Coventry , tried in St Albans , and executed on 15 July . Grindecobbe was also tried and executed in St Albans . John Wrawe was tried in London ; he probably gave evidence against 24 of his colleagues in the hope of a pardon , but was sentenced to be executed by being hanged , drawn and quartered on 6 May 1382 . Sir Roger Bacon was probably arrested before the final battle in Norfolk , and was tried and imprisoned in the Tower of London before finally being pardoned by the Crown . As of September 1381 , Thomas Ingleby of Bridgwater had successfully evaded the authorities .
= = = Aftermath = = =
The royal government and Parliament began to re @-@ establish the normal processes of government after the revolt ; as the historian Michael Postan describes , the uprising was in many ways a " passing episode " . On 30 June , the King ordered England 's serfs to return to their previous conditions of service , and on 2 July the royal charters signed under duress during the rising were formally revoked . Parliament met in November to discuss the events of the year and how best to respond to their challenges . The revolt was blamed on the misconduct of royal officials , who , it was argued , had been excessively greedy and overbearing . The Commons stood behind the existing labour laws , but requested changes in the royal council , which Richard granted . Richard also granted general pardons to those who had executed rebels without due process , to all men who had remained loyal , and to all those who had rebelled – with the exception of the men of Bury St Edmunds , any men who had been involved in the killing of the King 's advisers , and those who were still on the run from prison .
Despite the violence of the suppression , the government and local lords were relatively circumspect in restoring order after the revolt , and continued to be worried about fresh revolts for several decades . Few lords took revenge on their peasants except through the legal processes of the courts . Low @-@ level unrest continued for several more years . In September 1382 there was trouble in Norfolk , involving an apparent plot against the Bishop of Norwich , and in March the following year there was an investigation into a plot to kill the sheriff of Devon . When negotiating rents with their landlords , peasants alluded to the memory of the revolt and the threat of violence .
There were no further attempts by Parliament to impose a poll tax or to reform England 's fiscal system . The Commons instead concluded at the end of 1381 that the military effort on the Continent should be " carefully but substantially reduced " . Unable to raise fresh taxes , the government had to curtail its foreign policy and military expeditions and began to examine the options for peace . The institution of serfdom declined after 1381 , but primarily for economic rather than political reasons . Rural wages continued to increase , and lords increasingly sold their serfs ' freedom in exchange for cash , or converted traditional forms of tenure to new leasehold arrangements . During the 15th century the institution vanished in England .
= = Rebels = =
Chroniclers primarily described the rebels as rural serfs , using broad , derogatory Latin terms such as serviles <unk> , servile genus and <unk> . Some chroniclers , including Knighton , also noted the presence of runaway apprentices , artisans and others , sometimes terming them the " lesser commons " . The evidence from the court records following the revolt , albeit biased in various ways , similarly shows the involvement of a much broader community , and the earlier perception that the rebels were only constituted of unfree serfs is now rejected .
The rural rebels came from a wide range of backgrounds , but typically they were , as the historian Christopher Dyer describes , " people well below the ranks of the gentry , but who mainly held some land and goods " , and not the very poorest in society , who formed a minority of the rebel movement . Many had held positions of authority in local village governance , and these seem to have provided leadership to the revolt . Some were artisans , including , as the historian Rodney Hilton lists , " carpenters , sawyers , masons , cobblers , tailors , weavers , fullers , <unk> , <unk> , <unk> , bakers , butchers , innkeepers , cooks and a lime @-@ burner " . They were predominantly male , but with some women in their ranks . The rebels were typically illiterate ; only between 5 and 15 per cent of England could read during this period . They also came from a broad range of local communities , including at least 330 south @-@ eastern villages .
Many of the rebels had urban backgrounds , and the majority of those involved in the events of London were probably local townsfolk rather than peasants . In some cases , the townsfolk who joined the revolt were the urban poor , attempting to gain at the expense of the local elites . In London , for example , the urban rebels appear to have largely been the poor and unskilled . Other urban rebels were part of the elite , such as at York where the protesters were typically prosperous members of the local community , while in some instances , townsfolk allied themselves with the rural population , as at Bury St Edmunds . In other cases , such as Canterbury , the influx of population from the villages following the Black Death made any distinction between urban and rural less meaningful .
The vast majority of those involved in the revolt of 1381 were not represented in Parliament and were excluded from its decision @-@ making . In a few cases the rebels were led or joined by relatively prosperous members of the gentry , such as Sir Roger Bacon in Norfolk . Some of them later claimed to have been forced to join the revolt by the rebels . Clergy also formed part of the revolt ; as well as the more prominent leaders , such as John Ball or John Wrawe , nearly 20 are mentioned in the records of the revolt in the south @-@ east . Some were pursuing local grievances , some were disadvantaged and suffering relative poverty , and others appear to have been motivated by strong radical beliefs .
Many of those involved in the revolt used pseudonyms , particularly in the letters sent around the country to encourage support and fresh uprisings . They were used both to avoid incriminating particular individuals and to allude to popular values and stories . One popular assumed name was Piers Plowman , taken from the main character in William Langland 's poem . Jack was also a widely used rebel pseudonym , and historians Steven Justice and Carter <unk> suggest that this may have been because it resonated with the Jacques of the French Jacquerie revolt several decades earlier .
= = Legacy = =
= = = Historiography = = =
Contemporary chroniclers of the events in the revolt have formed an important source for historians . The chroniclers were biased against the rebel cause and typically portrayed the rebels , in the words of the historian Susan Crane , as " beasts , monstrosities or misguided fools " . London chroniclers were also unwilling to admit the role of ordinary Londoners in the revolt , preferring to place the blame entirely on rural peasants from the south @-@ east . Among the key accounts was the anonymous Anonimalle Chronicle , whose author appears to have been part of the royal court and an eye @-@ witness to many of the events in London . The chronicler Thomas Walsingham was present for much of the revolt , but focused his account on the terror of the social unrest and was extremely biased against the rebels . The events were recorded in France by Jean Froissart , the author of the Chronicles . He had well @-@ placed sources close to the revolt , but was inclined to elaborate the known facts with colourful stories . No sympathetic accounts of the rebels survive .
At the end of the 19th century there was a surge in historical interest in the Peasants ' Revolt , spurred by the contemporary growth of the labour and socialist movements . Work by Charles Oman , Edgar Powell , André <unk> and G. M. Trevelyan established the course of the revolt . By 1907 the accounts of the chroniclers were all widely available in print and the main public records concerning the events had been identified . <unk> began to use the legal indictments that had been used against suspected rebels after the revolt as a fresh source of historical information , and over the next century extensive research was carried out into the local economic and social history of the revolt , using scattered local sources across south @-@ east England .
Interpretations of the revolt have changed over the years . 17th @-@ century historians , such John Smyth , established the idea that the revolt had marked the end of unfree labour and serfdom in England . 19th @-@ century historians such as William Stubbs and Thorold Rogers reinforced this conclusion , Stubbs describing it as " one of the most portentous events in the whole of our history " . In the 20th century , this interpretation was increasingly challenged by historians such as May McKisack , Michael Postan and Richard Dobson , who revised the impact of the revolt on further political and economic events in England . Mid @-@ 20th century Marxist historians were both interested in , and generally sympathetic to , the rebel cause , a trend culminating in Hilton 's 1973 account of the uprising , set against the context of wider peasant revolts across Europe during the period . The Peasants ' Revolt has received more academic attention than any other medieval revolt , and this research has been interdisciplinary , involving historians , literary scholars and international collaboration .
The name " the Peasants ' Revolt " emerged in the 18th and early 19th centuries , and its first recorded use by historians was in John Richard Green 's Short History of the English People in 1874 . Contemporary chronicles did not give the revolt a specific title , and the term " peasant " did not appear in the English language until the 15th century . The title has been critiqued by modern historians such as Miri Rubin and Paul Strohm , both on the grounds that many in the movements were not peasants , and that the events more closely resemble a prolonged protest or rising , rather than a revolt or rebellion .
= = = Popular culture = = =
The Peasants ' Revolt became a popular literary subject . The poet John Gower , who had close ties to officials involved in the suppression of the revolt , amended his famous poem Vox <unk> after the revolt , inserting a section condemning the rebels and likening them to wild animals . Geoffrey Chaucer , who lived in Aldgate and may have been in London during the revolt , used the rebel killing of Flemings as a metaphor for wider disorder in The Nun 's Priest 's Tale part of The Canterbury Tales , parodying Gower 's poem . Chaucer otherwise made no reference to the revolt in his work , possibly because as he was a client of the King it would have been politically unwise to discuss it . William Langland , the author of the poem Piers Plowman , which had been widely used by the rebels , made various changes to its text after the revolt in order to distance himself from their cause .
The revolt formed the basis for the late 16th @-@ century play , The Life and Death of Jack Straw , possibly written by George Peele and probably originally designed for production in the city 's guild pageants . It portrays Jack Straw as a tragic figure , being led into wrongful rebellion by John Ball , making clear political links between the instability of late @-@ Elizabethan England and the 14th century . The story of the revolt was used in pamphlets during the English Civil War of the 17th century , and formed part of John Cleveland 's early history of the war . It was deployed as a cautionary account in political speeches during the 18th century , and a chapbook entitled The History of Wat Tyler and Jack <unk> proved popular during the Jacobite risings and American War of Independence . Thomas Paine and Edmund Burke argued over the lessons to be drawn from the revolt , Paine expressing sympathy for the rebels and Burke condemning the violence . The Romantic poet Robert Southey based his 1794 play Wat Tyler on the events , taking a radical and pro @-@ rebel perspective .
As the historian Michael Postan describes , the revolt became famous " as a landmark in social development and [ as ] a typical instance of working @-@ class revolt against oppression " , and was widely used in 19th and 20th century socialist literature . William Morris built on Chaucer in his novel A Dream of John Ball , published in 1888 , creating a narrator who was openly sympathetic to the peasant cause , albeit a 19th @-@ century persona taken back to the 14th century by a dream . The story ends with a prophecy that socialist ideals will one day be successful . In turn , this representation of the revolt influenced Morris 's utopian socialist News from Nowhere . Florence Converse used the revolt in her novel Long Will in 1903 . Later 20th century socialists continued to draw parallels between the revolt and contemporary political struggles , including during the arguments over the introduction of the Community Charge in the United Kingdom during the 1980s .
Conspiracy theorists , including writer John Robinson , have attempted to explain alleged flaws in mainstream historical accounts of the events of 1381 , such as the speed with which the rebellion was coordinated . Theories include that the revolt was led by a secret , occult organisation called " the Great Society " , said to be an offshoot of the order of the Knights Templar destroyed in 1312 , or that the fraternity of the Freemasons was covertly involved in organising the revolt .
= M @-@ 188 ( Michigan highway ) =
M @-@ 188 is a 4 @.@ 559 @-@ mile @-@ long ( 7 @.@ 337 km ) state trunkline highway in the US state of Michigan . It runs from Eaton Rapids to the VFW National Home for Children , southeast of town through a rural area . Approximately 1 @,@ 000 vehicles each day use a highway that was first designated in the 1930s and paved in the 1940s .
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