Uprising of peasants and artisans in England, 1381.
The Peasants' Revolt, the first great popular uprising in modern England, had as its immediate cause the imposition of a poll tax (a tax levied on every head of the population regardless of income) in 1381.
The Revolt was supported by various sections of the population. Artisans in the towns joined it to fight the Statute of Labourers of 1351, which aimed at limiting the wage rises caused by the labour shortage after the Black Death of 1347 - 1351. The Revolt was led by Wat Tyler, who entered London at the head of a large crowd on 13 June.
On 14 June the government offered negotiations. King Richard II promised cheap land, free trade, and the end of serfdom and forced labour. The Tower of London surrendered to the rebels, and the two persons responsible for the poll tax proposal, Archbishop Simon of Sudbury and the treasurer Sir Robert Hales, were beheaded.
On 15 June the king met Wat Tyler and his men at Smithfield. At the meeting the mayor of London treacherously killed Tyler in the king's presence, but the king appealed to the crowd as England's sovereign and again made promises of reforms.
This ended the Revolt in London. The Revolt continued in the countryside until about 25 June when troops under Henry le Despenser, the bishop of Norwich, defeated the rebels.
The Peasants' Revolt managed to defeat the poll tax, but all other promises were promptly forgotten, and as a social revolution the Peasants' Revolt failed.
Death of Wat Tyler (detail). Jean Froissart, Chronicles fol. 159v. Flandres, Bruges 15th Century. Bibliothèque National de France.