Causes Of The Peasants Revolt

The 1300’s were a time of tragic loss for Europe. The Black Death struck Europe by surprise and killed over thirty percent of the population. The group that suffered the most from the Black Death was the English peasants. They saw this “supply and demand” situation as an opportunity for advancement, but rich English nobles did everything in their power to prevent that from happening. Although one peasant may not have been powerful alone, as they were by far the largest social group in England, they had the power to bring chaos to Europe during their shocking revolt. Once nobles realized that the peasants wanted increased wages, they began to pass laws to try to stop them. The Statue of Laborers, passed in 1351, stopped peasants from taking advantage of the
The resident peasants became extremely exasperated with tax collectors and reached their breaking point, so they attacked the tax commissioners. The revolt in Essex was followed by a similar scale revolt in Kent. The revolt quickly escalated to looting, arson, and even murder. It was starting to become very clear: the peasants would not go down without a fight. As the revolt continued, it gained much more attention. The peasants kept marching on, and increased in numbers as they went. The two main leaders of the revolt were John Ball and Wat Tyler. John Ball was one of many rebellious priests who sided with the peasants and preached against the Church. Wat Tyler was the leader in Kent. Although a leader of the revolt, he was not a peasant. Many participants in the revolt were financially comfortable commoners who used the revolt as a way to settle scores with local officials. As both leaders gained in numbers, they started to march their forces towards London. On June 12th, the peasants were denied a meeting with King Richard II. On June 13th, the rebels entered the city and destroyed everything in their