 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 . 
