The Peasants’ Revolt

27:42After the mob set fire to a brothel owned by William Walworth, the Lord Mayor, the guards on London Bridge open the gates. Perhaps it is a practical decision. If the mob were to attack the bridge, it would mean disaster for the economy of the port city. Additionally, Londoners themselves are deeply divided, and many support the rebellion. London had always had revolts within its precincts. Riots were regular, and like many towns throughout the country where the same thing was repeated, there was a class of people who were the high oligarchs who ruled the town and were in charge of all the administration.

28:24And then there was also a huge wave of people coming up through society's ranks who had no voice in the local government, who were keen to take more authority onto themselves. So they are your right, rebels. What Tyler's supporters stream across London Bridge. The Second Army, approaching from Essex, enters London at Aldgate in the east. By now, rebels almost outnumber the regular population of the city. Most country folk don't know the labyrinthine streets, but sympathetic locals help them find their first target, the home of the deeply unpopular John of Gaunt. The richest man in England, his residence is the Savoy Palace, the site of the modern-day Savoy Hotel on the Strand.

29:16The magnificent home is arranged around a central courtyard and houses not just the family, but also Gaunt's private guard of knights and hundreds of clerks and servants. On a scale more like a country estate, it comprises 13 acres of gardens with fishing ponds, orchards, and a vegetable farm, running down to the banks of the Thames, where a stone water gate allows barges to dock. The centerpiece of the palace is a great hall where diplomatic councils and feasts are held on a floor decorated with vibrant earthenware tiles. It's the most opulent and richly furnished private mansion in the land and possibly even the continent.

29:58As the rebels arrive, they discover Gaunt is away on business and are able to swarm his remaining guard with sheer numbers. They literally sacked it, but they didn't steal. And even the chroniclers comment on that. They didn't steal. They actually destroyed it. Destroyed pieces of gold. Destroyed everything they could. because they wanted to bring him down and destroy him. One rebel who tries to slip a piece of silver inside his jacket is spotted by his fellow raiders and executed on the spot. Elsewhere in the complex, tilers, supporters, smash, precious metalwork, silver plate, jewels and furnishings, dumping what they cannot pulverize into the river.

30:42Silks, furs and tapestries are ripped to ribbons. Bonfires are fed with Gaunt's land records, disabling his ability to collect future taxes. Finally, the rebels use his own stockpile of gunpowder to blow the place apart.

31:05For over a century afterwards, the site of the Savoy Palace will mostly sit derelict, with a small portion being repurposed as a prison. It is not until the Tudor era that the area is restored, ironically turned into a shelter for the city's homeless. Back in 1381, one eyewitness to the violence is the poet Geoffrey Chaucer, who will later become famous for writing the stories of pilgrims known as the Canterbury Tales. Watching the arrival of the Essex army from his Aldgate apartment, he writes that there was a great massacre of Flemings, meaning merchants from Flanders who dominate the cloth industry, and reports seeing 40 headless bodies.

31:47But historians take his claims with a pinch of salt. Like many later chroniclers, Chaucer has an agenda, coming as he does from an elite social class and enjoying royal patronage. Indeed, the poet later becomes brother-in-law to John of Gaunt himself.

32:05Though the violence is likely overstated and the destruction of property characterized with unusual discipline, there are other rebels with a lust for blood. What Tyler is part of a group who somehow get into the Tower of London. Maybe they sweet-talk their way in, or perhaps there is another sympathetic guard on the gate. Among this group of rebels is Thomas Baker, the man whose refusal to pay the poll tax in Essex caused a ruckus at the marketplace some weeks ago. Once inside, they go looking for their most wanted.

32:44push your limits train with precision see the results at equinox that's high performance loving everything you need to lock in and unlock your potential at equinox start today at equinox.com i'm julie andrews and it is my great pleasure to return to jane austen stories this time i'll be reading another beloved classic, Emma. Join me as we step into the village of Highbury, home to the handsome and clever Emma Woodhouse. But as new visitors arrive and quiet mysteries unfold, what will our strong-willed heroine learn, both of the secrets of others and of her own heart's desires. Listen to Jane Austen Stories now wherever you get your podcasts.

33:45It is the 14th of June, 1381, in St. John's Chapel. The king's own place of worship at the top of the White Tower, built in 1080 for William the Conqueror. The atmosphere is hushed, The setting, austere but spectacular. A horseshoe of pale arches in creamy caen stone gives the impression of a larger church. Candles reflect in the gold of religious icons. A large cross stands on the altar in the apse window. On floor level are eight wooden pews. Here, a small group of elites are sheltering down on their knees, heads bent in prayer. At the altar stands the most senior church leader in the country, Archbishop Simon Sudbury.

34:36Dressed in his finery, a linen cassock covered by silk chasuble and a pointed mitre hat, he projects an image of authority. As Lord Chancellor, he also has a luxurious state robe weighing heavily on his shoulders. In a low voice he recites a prayer. Omnes Sancti Orate Pro Nobis. All saints, pray for us. He has already taken the confessions of his frightened congregation. These men expect to die today and want to be prepared.

35:15Now through the window comes the sound of shouting down in the courtyard. A clash of swords. The men clasp their hands and pray harder, trying to drown out the noise. But soon, screams are echoing through the internal stone corridors, accompanied by a drumroll of heavy feet pounding up stone steps. Some of those in the chapel cry out. Archbishop Sudbury reassures them, a chapel is sacred ground, they are safe. But he has underestimated the wrath of those outside. The doors burst open, and rough-looking men block the doorway. They are filthy, stinking of blood and sweat. But the splendor of the king's chapel can intimidate even the most arrogant of men, kings among them, and for a long moment the rebels hesitate.

36:09Sudbury turns his back to kneel before the cross once more, and continues his prayer. Heavy boots approach. He prays louder, hoping beyond hope that even if these men do not respect him or even their king, they will be cowed by the word of God spoken in his house. He speaks the words again, Omnes Sancti Orati Pro Nobis. But no sooner has he finished than a heavy hand lands on his shoulder.

36:45The Rebels drag Sudbury outside. They also take the Lord Treasurer and John Legg, the infamous taxman who carried out his crude checks on young women in Kent. The captives are marched up Tower Hill. Then, without trial, Sudbury is forced back to his knees, this time before an amateur executioner. The axe man takes a swing that slices open the archbishop's neck, but he lives. Sudbury cries out that his survival must be the will of God, but the executioner is not deterred. A second blow severs Sudbury's fingers as they clutch at his injury. It takes a total of eight blows to kill him.

37:32His severed head is mounted on a pole and raised over London Bridge. Later it will be recovered and preserved. His skull is still on display today in a church in the village of Sudbury in Suffolk. The rebels kill five people from the tower. It isn't a massacre. The victims are carefully chosen. But one person who is conspicuously missing from this group of elites is King Richard. Having agreed to meet another group of rebels in Mile End, he rode out earlier that morning. The Rendezvous Point is now a busy neighborhood in London's East End, but in 1381 it is a large open common exactly one mile from the city's boundary.

38:18Here, Richard meets the disgruntled delegates face to face. I do think there is a strong element that maybe he was indeed sympathetic to their aims and felt the injustices. And so when he agreed to go to Mile End and he met the rebels in person there and he literally agreed their demands. He agreed to free all the serfs who appealed to him, not a blanket freeing, but a freeing of all those of trying to rectify all the injustices. He agreed to deal with all that, and he started to actually issue charters, freeing people, giving people new freedoms. He may not have thought through the consequences of that.

39:06All the while, Richard remains oblivious to the violence back in the city, including the executions of his most senior advisors at the Tower. After his meeting, most of the rebels are allowed to depart to journey back to Essex and Kent. Having secured pardons and concessions direct from the king, their uprising has been a triumph. Or so they think. They were then able to go back to their towns and to where they'd come from. We could, king was written word supporting what they had appealed for. So they were right, you know, I have a charter. And that in a way was perhaps one of the worst things that happened really, only because it meant that people then went back to their homes, started again, and said, we've got the charters, and they attacked St Albans, they attacked Bury St Edmunds, and all these places that hadn't been involved in the actual revolt up to that stage, because they went to put things right, and they thought they were doing what the king wanted.

40:08Richard returns to London to find a situation even worse than he left it a few hours earlier. His remaining council is divided between doves and hawks, those who would negotiate and those who would fight. The young king summons the rebels to a second meeting. At the very least, he hopes it will successfully draw the insurgents out of the city. Both sides gather at Smithfield, a flat meadow outside the city walls. It is used as a livestock and horse market, a venue for jousts and tournaments, and a place of public executions. any event likely to draw a large crowd.

40:54It is June the 15th, 1381. Thousands of rebels gather on the grassland of Smithfield, looking back towards the city. A small entourage approaches on horseback at a sedate canter. At the front, riding on a handsome charger, is a slight figure. The royal standard flying high above him, showing the white heart. Word goes round, the king is here. Among the rebels, a drummer starts up, and a bagpipe joins in. A rhythmic tune, the sort that keeps time when people are carrying out manual labor, digging in the fields or hoisting sails on ships. The music of the common man. But not all the dissidents share the celebratory mood.

41:41Some rest their fingertips on their weapons, or check their stock of arrows, and ensure bows are securely strung across their backs Although Richard is accompanied by a modest guard, they are not about to forget that his soldiers are professionals with swords, and even firearms that use gunpowder The Smithfield is boxed in Roman walls line its southern boundary The river fleet to the west, and a priory to the east If violence ensues, the rebels are trapped and can only retreat north, away from the city.

42:19The music comes to a stop as the king reaches the mass of his people. Watt, Tyler, steps forward. His tunic and breeches are dirty after days on the road, and along the way he has lost the simple hood he usually wears. Nonetheless, he is dignified as he greets the king. Pleasantries out of the way, he makes two new demands of the monarch, who has been sympathetic to their cause so far. The rebels want him to confiscate land and property held by the church, and also to abolish the tradition of lordship. Richard is visibly stunned. Granting such requests would mean dismantling the whole feudal system in favor of equality, a culture shift that would entirely revolutionize economics.

43:09It is too much to ask. When the king turns his horse away, Wat Tyler reaches out to grab its bridle. One of the king's men rushes forward and shoves the rebel leader. There are shouts and barked insults. Tyler shows a fist to the lackey, an insulting gesture which proves incendiary. Another man, William Walworth, the mayor of London, springs forward and jabs at him. But instead of retaliating, Tyler grasps his stomach. When he staggers back, his hands are covered in blood. A soldier finishes him off with a swish of a sore to the throat. Tyler drops onto the grass. Almost as one, the great gathering emits a roar of shock and anger.

44:04Their leader lies dead, murdered in front of the king who promised to help them. But as the rebels draw their weapons, the king, instead of fleeing, spurs his horse into the fray and raises a sword. He is a child, but his voice is powerful when he shouts to the stunned rebels, I am your captain. Follow me.

44:35The Rebels have long said they have no argument with the king, only his hated advisors. And most of them are now dead. When Richard steps into the role vacated by Watt Tyler, offering himself as their leader, he draws them away from London to disperse back into the countryside. It is a masterstroke from the young king. that's an amazing thing for him to do. And again, it implies some sort of sympathy with the rebels. And he saved the situation as a 14-year-old. So it is quite an extraordinary event, and it could easily have gone the other way. Some people have argued that it was all an ambush and that the Londoners, the mayor and his aldermen had set up a ring of soldiers around the Smithfield itself and they were going to come in.

45:22But how could they have done that with the king in the middle? It doesn't work, does it? Whether the king is genuinely moved by the plight of the true commons, as they are known, or merely cunningly gets rid of them with empty promises, his attitude soon changes. Under pressure from his advisors, a few days later on June the 23rd, he revokes the concessions he made to the rebels. They are not free. They are not pardoned. Throughout July, the royal army mobilizes around the countryside. Their retribution is brutal. The firebrand preacher John Ball is captured and taken to St. Albans. With King Richard in attendance, he is hanged, dragged through the streets behind a horse, and then quartered, his body divided into four parts that are put on display around the country to warn other rebels.

46:15His head is mounted on a spike on London Bridge, reportedly swapped out with that of the recently killed Archbishop of Canterbury. And so the great uprising is put down. But the events of a few days in June 1381 fire a warning shot across the bows of the great juggernaut of government. The richest man in England, John of Gaunt, has had his lavish home, the Savoy Palace, blown to pieces. The loss costs the equivalent of millions of pounds, but his pockets are deep enough to fund a new project, a doomed campaign to seize the throne of Castile in modern-day Spain, to which he has a claim through marriage.

46:59And though his nephew, King Richard, gains confidence from his handling of the rebels, many of his advisors are now dead. The head of the church, the chief of the treasury, the most senior justice, all gone. Parliament is shocked by the power of the masses and how easy it was for simple country people to hold the city to ransom. Perhaps fearful of a rematch, they abandoned the hated poll tax. A flat rate per capita levy is not seen again in England for another 600 years. The rebellion is also a catalyst for the decline of serfdom and the feudal system. Although Richard revokes his great promise of freedom, landowners are stunned by the way the literate rebels destroyed manorial records on which their claim to property depended.

47:48Many voluntarily emancipate their villains to prevent local uprisings. While serfdom does not end with a victory parade of peasants in 1381, it withers over subsequent generations. Within a century, bonded labor is virtually non-existent. But with the status quo defeated by the spread of literacy as well as direct action, it is perhaps misleading that the great uprising goes down in history as the Peasants' Revolt. The explanation is simply that the events are chronicled by monks who live in wealthy abbeys. It is in their interests, and the interests of their moneyed patrons, to present the rebels as a baying mob of peasants with pitchforks.

48:33The people who led the Great Revolt were, on the whole, educated, reasonably well-off people, and they were able to lead because they had an education, because they had the means to be involved in that. They were not a rampaging horde of peasants from the fields. And this is why it was such a dangerous revolt and why the chroniclers were anxious to portray it as just being ignorant, rural people, because they were terrified it would happen again. The chroniclers concentrate on the murders, of which there were remarkably few. More people were executed after the revolt than were killed in the revolt.

49:21Push your limits, train with precision, see the results. At Equinox, that's high-performance living. Everything you need to lock in and unlock your potential at Equinox. Start today at equinox.com.

49:38This September, on the Noiser Podcast Network. On Jane Austen stories, Dame Julie Andrews continues to bring Austen's beloved classic Emma to life. On Short History of, we're in medieval England for the fascinating story of the Peasants' Revolt. And 25 years on from 9-11, we're on the ground in New York City. On Real Survival Stories, we're on a luscious winery in Northwest America. and venturing into a missile silo in the dead of night as the US is threatened with nuclear disaster. And in Sherlock Holmes' short stories, get two episodes each week as Hugh Bonneville explores Conan Doyle's great novel, A Study in Scarlet.

50:16Get all of these shows and more early and ad-free on Noiser Plus.

50:25As the pages of history books turn, the whole project of the Great Revolt becomes synonymous with one name. that of Watt Tyler. Although in reality the rebellion had many local leaders, it is he who becomes a figurehead for resistance. The archetype of the honorable rebel becomes a core element of English mythology. Though the character of Robin Hood, who famously steals from the rich to give to the poor, exists in legend before the uprising, in its aftermath the story changes to incorporate the same grievances and social ideals as those epitomized by Tyler. Before 1381, Robin Hood was akin to a mercenary.

51:07Afterwards, he becomes a symbol of the common man, valiantly opposing the cruelty of the Sheriff of Nottingham and the corruption of the clergy while remaining loyal to the king. He even, like what Tyler, gains a trademark hood.

51:26For those more interested in fact than fiction, the name of what Tyler echoes through history as an inspiration for socialist movements. In his 1791 treatise, The Rights of Man, Thomas Paine praises Tyler as a bold, honest man who stood up against feudal tyranny. A century later, during the socialist movement of the 19th century, William Morris uses Ball and Tyler's stories in his left-wing writings. And more recently, in the 1990s, when Margaret Thatcher's government introduced a community charge, popularly called a poll tax, the name and image of what Tyler is used by demonstrators. The invocation helps mobilize millions into protests that force the tax to be abandoned once again.

52:14Over 600 years since he was born, What Tyler Remains an Inspiration for Leftist Thinkers. With Robin Hood, he becomes the champion of the poor and the champion of equality, which is a compelling idea, isn't it? And you can understand why they would look to somebody like What Tyler and John Ball indeed for inspiration, because they do encapsulate those same ideas. I love the idea that in the Pantico tax leaflets they actually put, avenge Watt Tyler in 1990, when the next poll tax is led, they dare to do another poll tax. His great revolt is, in its own time, a failure. But the ghosts of Watt Tyler, John Ball, and the thousands who marched behind them haunt the halls of Westminster.

53:04The cruel engine of serfdom grinds to a halt not because of the mercy of King Richard, but because the ruling class lives in terror of another uprising. And those who govern from on high are kept in check, at least to some extent, by the power of the people.

53:29Next time on Short History of, we'll bring you part one of a special two-part short history of the English Civil Wars. the king eventually flees from london at this point because he's raised such a sort of outrage in the capital and in no time at all him and his allies are back in parliament and announcing that you know the king's attempt to arrest them with his troops at his back was proof that what they'd been saying all along was true that there is a catholic plot against parliament and that the king is determined to take power by force and they claim that the whole of parliament was on the point of being massacred when Charles had arrived.

54:05And had it not been for divine aid, you know, he would have killed all of the MPs there and then. I mean, there's no evidence at all that that was the case, but it is gold dust from their point of view. It's like a massive propaganda victory.

54:20That's next time. You can listen to the next two episodes of Short History of right now without waiting and without adverts by subscribing to Noiser Plus. Just hit the link in the episode description or head to www.noiser.com forward slash subscriptions to unlock more episodes today. Push your limits, train with precision, see the results. At Equinox, that's high performance loving. Everything you need to lock in and unlock your potential at Equinox. Start today at equinox.com. Push your limits, train with precision, see the results. At Equinox, that's high performance Everything you need to lock in and unlock your potential at Equinox.

55:02Start today at equinox.com.