 The Peasants ' Revolt was fed by the economic and social upheaval of the 14th century . At the start of the century , the majority of English people worked in the countryside , as part of a sophisticated economy that fed the country 's towns and cities and supported an extensive international trade . Across much of England , production was organised around manors , controlled by local lords – including the gentry and the Church – and governed through a system of manorial courts . Some of the population were unfree serfs , who had to work on their lords ' lands for a period each year , although the balance of free and unfree varied across England , and in the south @-@ east there were relatively few serfs . Some serfs were born unfree and could not leave their manors to work elsewhere without the consent of the local lord ; others accepted limitations on their freedom as part of the tenure agreement for their farmland . Population growth led to pressure on the available agricultural land , increasing the power of local landowners . 
