Medieval Revolt & Royal Authority Flashcards
All 14 cards in this deck
Give one economic cause of the Peasants' Revolt of 1381.
The Poll Tax: in 1380 everyone over 15 had to pay three groats (a shilling), three times the one groat charged in 1377.
What was the Statute of Labourers (1351)?
A law holding wages down to pre-Black Death levels and stopping peasants moving to find better pay.
Who was John Ball and what did he preach?
A priest whose preaching inspired the rebels, attacking landowners and rich priests: 'When Adam delved and Eve span, who was then a gentleman?'
Name two violent actions by rebels during the Peasants' Revolt.
They attacked the poll tax collector John Bampton, and in London killed the Archbishop of Canterbury (Simon Sudbury) and foreign merchants.
True or false? Richard II kept the promises he made to the rebels in 1381.
False. After Wat Tyler was killed at Smithfield the rebels went home; Richard withdrew his promises and rebel leaders, including John Ball, were executed.
Give one long-term impact of the Peasants' Revolt.
Over the following century villeinage died out across most of England, as lords increasingly had to pay peasants wages and could no longer tie them to the land.
Give one similarity between the barons' revolt against King John (1215) and the Peasants' Revolt (1381).
Both were caused in part by heavy taxation — scutage and taxes under John, the poll tax in 1381.
True or false? Both the barons who opposed King John and the rebels of 1381 came from the nobility.
False. The barons were wealthy nobles, but the 1381 rebels were ordinary people — peasants, craftsmen and labourers led by Wat Tyler and the priest John Ball.
How did the Black Death (1348–49) help cause the Peasants' Revolt?
It killed up to half the population, so labour was scarce and peasants could demand higher wages or lower rents; attempts by landlords and Parliament to hold them back caused resentment.
Where and how did the Peasants' Revolt begin?
At Brentwood, Essex, in May 1381, when villagers refused to pay more poll tax and drove off the tax collector John Bampton.
Who was Wat Tyler?
Leader of the Kent rebels in 1381. He was killed at Smithfield on 15 June 1381 while meeting Richard II, struck down by the Lord Mayor of London.
What did the rebels demand from Richard II at Mile End in June 1381?
An end to serfdom (villeinage), a pardon for the rebels and the handing over of the king's 'evil' advisers.
Give one political cause of the Peasants' Revolt.
The king, Richard II, was only a boy (14 in 1381), and power lay with unpopular advisers such as his uncle John of Gaunt, blamed for costly, failing wars with France.
Which building in London did the rebels burn in 1381?
John of Gaunt's Savoy Palace; Gaunt was Richard II's uncle and the most hated of his advisers.