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The Peasants' Revolt of 1381
Presentation for ENGL 420 - Chaucer and His Age
Dayle Summers & Isaac Sturgill
Feb 6, 2004

• 1348-9- The Black Death wipes out a 1/3-1/2 of England's population
• 1351- The Labor Statute
• 1377- The first poll tax
• 1379- The second poll tax
• December 6, 1380- The third poll tax granted after parlaiment closes
• March 16 through May 3, 1381- Appointment of commissioners to enforce third Poll tax
• May 30, 1381- The first attack on a tax commissioner in Brentwood in the county of Essex.
• June 1, 1381- News of the attack in Brentwood quickly spreads to spark similar attacks in Baddow and Colchester.
• June 5, 1381- The rebellion spreads to Dartford and Rochester
• June 8-9, 1381- Rebellion spreads even further to Maidstone (Kent) and Cambridge
• June 12, 1381- Essex rebels position themselves at Mile End around London.
• June 13, 1381- Wat Tyler and Kentish rebels arrive at Blackheath. Kentish and Essex rebels march into London together, led by Wat Tyler, John Ball, and Jack Straw.
  • Surprisingly, London is ill-perpared to defend itself. Wat Tyler and company burn down Savoy Palace (John of Gaunt's home).
  • St. John's Hospital in Clerkenwell later raided and burned.
• June 14, 1381- Richard II meets Wat Tyler and the rebels at Mile End but makes his departure before the rebels' demands are satisfied. In a rage, Tyler raids the Tower of London, which leads to the execution of several men. Among those executed is Archbishop Sudbury of Canterburry.
• June 15, 1381- Richard II visits Westminster Abbey with 200 companions, makes his prayers, and leads the party to Smithfield. Wat Tyler confronts Richard the II at Smithfield and, after consolidating further demands with the King, is murdered by the Mayor of London in controversial circumstances. The rest of Tyler's party is subdued, jailed, and temporarily pardoned by the King--the rebellion in London is over.
• June 16, 1381 - In Cambridge, rebels attack the university and burn numerous records
• June 18, 1381- Richard II commissions several sheriffs to resist the rebels--the King's retaliation comes into full affect
• June 21, 1381- Bishop Despenser rides into Cambridge and frees knights and nobility. He also kills some common people while he "imprisioned others, and the rest he sent to their homes, after taking from them an oath that they would never again take part in such wicked assemblies."
• June 30, 1381- In Essex, Richard II and the court organize and direct repression efforts from Havering at the Bower.
• July 10, 1381- In Lincoln, earl of Nottingham and others appointed to resist rebellion in the country
• July 15, 1831 - John Ball is hanged, drawn, and quartered in the marketplace at St Albans
• August 11, 1381 - At York, archbishop and John of Gaunt commissioned to terminate disputes
• October 12, 1381- At Beverley, John of Gaunt and others commissioned to restore peace
• November 1381- A general pardon was issued for 2,870 people in jail by Richard II after numerous executions. The conditions of the pardon include a 20 shilling fine against each man in compensation for disloyalty towards the King.
• November 13, 1381 - Opening assembly of first parliament after the revolt

Bibliography

The Peasant Revolt of 1381--Annotated Bibliography

Armitage-Smith, Sydney. John of Gaunt. Garden City Press. London. 1964.

Useful in the complete study of the revolt as it expounds upon the peasants' sentiments about John of Gaunt during their campaign against London. Perhaps most interesting is the description of the peasants' attack upon the Savoy as it relates to John of Gaunt's influence upon the London mob's focus of aggression. Another enlightening aspect of this book is its analysis of John of Gaunt's activities during the course of the attacks on London and its reasoning for why he did not return to London during the conflict. John of Gaunt's activities in Scotland during the revolt are given in full detail, along with a summary of related criticisms given by the peasants concerning his absence.

Armitage-Smith's writing is colorful and has a distinct story-telling quality. While some of the information provided could benefit from concrete dates, the reading is easy to comprehend and therefore can be processed at a quick pace.

Arguably, there is a bias against the peasants of the revolt evident in Armitage-Smith's writing. The word choice used by the author often seems to villanize the actions of the peasants. The following sentence was written in regard to the executions which were to be carried out by the peasants after their raid on the Savoy: "Failing to satisfy their lust for vengeance, they wreaked it on the humbleset victims." Several times the author's usage of punctuation is designed to sympathize with John of Gaunt as well; in some sentences which relate the burning of the Savoy, exclamation points are used in order to accentuate a sense of despair.

Excluding the possibility of this bias, Sydney Armitage-Smith seems to be a reliable source. He is described as a "Late Scholar" of New College, Oxford and as a "Fellow" of University College, London. Both of these positions would grant him numerous resources and localized experiences from which to draw expertise
on the subject. His list of sources and authorities at the beginning of the book includes official documents of British parliament and historical commission reports.

Dobson, R. B. The Peasants' Revolt of 1381. MacMillan and Co Ltd. London. 1970.

Dobson's thoroughness in his study of the revolt is astounding. In his book he describes, in exhaustive detail, virtually every aspect of the conflict imaginable. While some of the information Dobson provides is confessed speculation, the majority of it comes in the form of historical documents, legal papers and eye-witness accounts from the 14th century. Initially, the formality of Dobson's work is hard to follow. The reader is suddenly immersed in a sea of information with little guidance to help them along. This resource is best used to expound upon key details of the revolt after a framework has already been constructed. The historical accounts found within, as well as the legal documents (most especially copies of the poll taxes and of the labor statute), help build credibility inside of any study.

The parts of Dobson's book which are not composed of historical accounts are completely objective and unbiased considering his diction and focus.

Dobson was a Senior Lecturer in History at the University of York.The resources that he provides give the author credibility in themselves. Dobson's bibliography is painfully long and full of primary resources that date back to the actual period in which the revolt took place. Included in the text are Dobson's own translations of the Rolls of Parliament, made directly from the only complete edition.

Harvey, John. The Black Prince and His Age. Rowman and Littlefield. Totowa, N.J. 1976.

Besides giving in-depth coverage of Richard II's father's life and the proceedings which led to the revolt, this book gives an extremely interesting account of Richard and Tyler's meeting at Smithfield. Harvey has an interesting bias which is not sympathetic with the peasants or the nobels but which concentrates upon the merits of the young king alone. A text of Richards' speech after the slaying of Wat Tyler is given in full, as is an account of Richard's tactics in subduing the London mob.

Besides the account at Smithfield, this book is of little direct use pretaining to the revolt, as it concentrates mostly on the life of the Black Prince. However, the
unique account of the meeting at Smithfield which this book provides is a nice compliment to the full study of the revolt.

Harvey is somewhat lacking in respectibility when it comes down to the terms of his bibliography. No first-hand accounts of the revolt are cited in the book.
Harvey's resource pool is composed entirely of other books about the same subject. The oldest resource in his bibliography dates in the early 19th century.
However, as the merit of this book as it pertains to the peasant revolt lies in an opinionated view of the encounter at Smithfield, Harvey's lack of authentic resources should not damage the usefulness of this text to the student. It contains one point of view of the encounter at Smithfield which should be measured against other accounts found during the process of study.

Hobbs, Jeff. Peasant Revolt: 14th Century Tax Riots. Britannia.com (http://www.britannia.com/history/articles/peasantsrevolt.html). 2000.

As a published web article, this work gives a general overview of the revolt that can be useful in the intial steps of research. While lacking substance of detail, the
article highlights the main points of the revolt and gives enough information to make a list of crucial characters. While by no means a resource to draw upon for
explanation, the article is useful in the conceptual stage of study.

Interestingly enough, Dobson's book, The Peasants' Revolt of 1381 is listed as a source for this article. It is difficult to establish Jeff Hobbs's credibility as a
historian without paying particular detail to his bibliography. Several reputable works are cited and it can be assumed that, with the small amount of detail to be
found in the article, there is little room for error. The article has been edited, published, and posted on Britannia.com, a website dedicated to educating American citizens about the British Isles.

No clear trace of bias can be noted in Hobbs's work.

Lindsay, Philip and Reg Groves. The Peasants' Revolt 1381. Greenwood Press. Westport, Connecticut.1974.

Lindsay and Groves give a useful synopsis of the revolt by dividing their text chronologicaly into several chapters, each of which covers a major point of the conflict. The factors leading up to the revolt, such as the Black Death and the poll taxes, are covered first. Next, each major event of the revolt is explained in adequate detail. These events seem to revolve around one particular character--John Ball--as they pretty much begin with his prison-break and end with his execution. An analysis of the revolt's affect upon England is given at the end as well, along with a bibliography and index.

One of the most enjoyable aspects of this book is that it is illustrated. The illustrations are few and far between, but add life to the text nonetheless. The language used in the book is simple and direct, and there is no bias traceable in the authors' diction. This book is most useful in drawing up a framework from which further study can take place. While lacking an adequate supply of historical documents, it gives a nice, clean outline of the who, what, when, where and why.

Lindsay and Grove's bibliography provides a lengthy list of second-hand sources covering the revolt. The fact that the text is devoid of the influence of any historical documents or first-hand accounts of the revolt could potentially damage this text's credibility. Therefore, while researching the revolt, other books besides this one should be used to validate information and establish credibility.

Trevelyan, George Macaulay. England in the Age of Wycliffe. Longmans, Green and Co. London. 1899.

This work, as it relates to the peasants' revolt of 1381, seems to emphasize the religious context of the revolt. This is especially crucial to understanding the character of John Ball and the motive behind the peasants' attack on St. John's hospital and the execution of Sudbury, the Archbishop of Canterbury. Several religious factions inside of England from the period , as well as their influence upon the uprising, are mentioned. One group, the Lollards, is described in particular detail. Wycliffe's views on the religious nature of the state which led up to the revolt add an extra dimension helpful in rounding out a complete perspective of the spectacle.

Frankly, this reading can be a challange. Written at the end of the 19th century, the language used in Trevelyan's writing, as well as certain grammatical aspects of his work, can pose a challange for today's readers. Trevelyan's use of references towards God for means of justifying particular events also destroys a good deal of his scholarly credibility.

Trevelyan is listed as Master of Trinity and Late Regius Professor of Modern History in the University of Cambridge. His resources, what few he chose to list, are mostly of an editorial nature--the opinions of other scholars in Trevelyan's age. Surprisingly, a bias in favor of the English aristocracy is absent in Tevelyan's work.