William Tyler
The Peasants Revolt: England’s Only Revolution?

William Tyler - The Peasants Revolt: England’s Only Revolution

- [Wendy] Thanks, William. I just want to say welcome to everybody. I’m going to hand over to you.

• Thank you very much, indeed. Good evening. At least, it’s evening here. So good whatever it is where you are listening from. I’m going to talk today about the Peasants’ Revolt of 1381. It was the first and the last working class attempt at revolution here in England. And therefore, it has great importance because it is the first step on the road to democracy. And because of that, it has an importance and a resonance elsewhere in the English-speaking world. Revolts and revolutions are very unpredictable, both to timing and to place. And there’s none less so than the English Peasants’ Revolt of 1381. We know a great deal about it, but we also have things that we don’t know and we would like to know, or at least I would like to know. And I’ll tell you about some of them as we go through. The revolt itself was based in the aftermath of the Black Death of 1348, 1349, which had travelled right from the east across Europe and finally reached us here in Britain. But the ideology behind the revolt was what I think I could describe as popular Christian theology of the day, part of the lay law movement, part of the movement of priests who challenged the authority of the church, but not only the authority of the church, but the message of the church. I think in modern parlance, we would call these priests who were attacked in the Peasants’ Revolt, we would call them Christian socialists. But that’s a 19th century phrase and this is the 14th century. So it’s a very interesting concatenation of events, the Black Death and the Peasants’ Revolt. So let me begin the story today in my own home city of Bristol, down in the west of England.

And this is a contemporary chronicle written by a man called Henry Knighton. And Henry Knighton wrote this of the arrival of the Black Death, the plague. “Then the Grievers’ Plague penetrated the sea coast "in South Hampton and came to Bristol, "and there almost the whole strength of the town died, "struck as it were by sudden death. "For there were a few who kept their beds "more than three days or two days or half a day.” In other words, they died very quickly. “And after this, the fell death broke forth "on every side with the course of the sun. "There died at Lester in the small parish "of St. Leonard more than 380; "in the parish of Holy Cross more than 400; "in the parishes of Margaret and Lester than more than 700. "And so in each parish a great number. "Then the Bishop of Lincoln sent to the whole bishopry "and gave general power to all and every priest, "both regular and secular, to hear confessions "and absolve with entire and full episcopal authority, "except in matters of debt, in which case the dying man, "if he could, should pay the debt while he lived, "or others should certainly fulfil that duty "from his property after his death. "Likewise, the Pope granted full remission of all sins "to whoever was absolved in peril of death "and granted that this power should last till next Easter "and anyone could choose a confessor at his will.”

Now, to confess your sins at death, to receive absolution at death was a absolute necessity for faith believing Catholics. But the clergy were the first to die. Why? Because they visited the sick. The monks and friars also were first on the list. It’s like care workers and health workers during COVID. They were high on the list of those that died. And if priests died, you were left with no priests, nobody to take confession and give absolution. And so they said, “Well, any layman could do it.” And then the most extraordinary thing happened in England. The church gave permission for women to give it. In other words, there might have been a village where there were no men any longer fit enough to give absolution, and a woman could give you absolution. I mean, that goes against every possible Catholic doctrine and emphasises how serious this plague was. As I said earlier, the Black Death had worked its way from the far east to the outskirts of western Europe. And it had done so, well, the traditional story was the rat flea carried by the black rat. But in the last five or six years or so, that view has been challenged. And it’s now suggested that it was humans that spread it, that rats got onto humans and gave them the Black Death and they spread it. So this is rather like COVID. Where did it come from? Was it in a lab in China or was it from the animals in those dreadful wild animal markets in China? And so now this argument is about where does it come from. It’s still rife in Mongolia where it’s carried, it is said, by marmots.

But it seems if it was carried by rats and marmots, then it came to humans and its huge quick expanse was due to human-to-human contact, and rather like COVID, is human to human contact, even if it had begun by animal-to-human contact. I suppose you could say that scientists are still investigating that and the question is still an open question. It reached us here on our island by boat of course. Ships carried it. And in fact, from Britain, ships carried it to Norway. And the story is, which is a true story, that an English ship ran aground in Norway and the local Norwegians went to investigate, see if they could help, to find that the whole crew were dead. Were dead of the Black Death, which they didn’t know at the time, and thus, it spread throughout Norway. If there are any Scots listening, or anybody of Scottish descent, there is a wonderful and true, again, story that the Scots got it, because it moves geographically up our island, got it last. And because they heard of the Black Death in Southern England, the Scots said, “Well, the Black Death has been sent by God "to punish the English because they’re so evil. "So we in Scotland will never have the Black Death.” Until the spots, the black buboes began to appear. Sean Martin, in his book on the history of disease, writes this in terms of the Black Death reaching Italy. “Plague reached Italy in the autumn of 1347.”

That’s a year before it reached us here in England. “Ships from the east arrived in Sicily "with their crews dead or dying of a strange illness.” Exactly like the English ship that reached Norway. “The sailors had boils on the neck, armpit, or groin, "suffered from fever, intense pain, and delirium, "and died within days. "The sickness soon spread from the ships into the towns "and people began dying "in what seemed like uncontrollable numbers. "Relics were brought out of churches, "processions held, the intercession of saints sought, "but nothing seemed able to stop "the progress of the disease. "Some ships were repelled, "forcing them to put in at other ports, "therefore unwittingly spreading the sickness even further. "The disease quickly reached mainland Italy "and travelled along the Mediterranean coast of France. "By the following spring, the whole of Italy, France, "and the Iberian Peninsula were ablaze with Plague.” That is exactly what would’ve happened with COVID if we hadn’t the science to have developed vaccines. It would’ve destroyed what? Well, it is said that a Black Death killed in England anything between 25 to 60% of the population. It’s also said, correctly, because archaeology proves it, that in some villages in England all 100% of the population succumbed to the Black Death. I favour a figure of something like 50, something like 33% to 50% of the population of England died. Now just think about that in terms of COVID. Or particularly if you are American, think about the effect of the 1919 flu, which was absolutely rabid in America, in the United States. We didn’t have a vaccine against the flu at that point, and large numbers of people died.

We live, and are fortunate to live, in a world where vaccines are available, and are doubly fortunate to live in the Western world and not in other parts of the world where still, although vaccines are being produced, the people are still dying in numbers, one might add unnecessarily, given that we have vaccines. And that’s a whole nother point. The point I’m making is that the Black Death figures in England are something between 33 and 50% of the population, are likely, were cause by a being no vaccines. And if we hadn’t the vaccine, those figures would be replicated today. There is a scientific view that because of the Black Death, those of us who survive it, and we are all survivors of the Black Death, have some immunity against it. But if you go on holiday to Mongolia, you still have to have a jab against the Black Death. It’s one thing that puts me off going to, well, there are a number of things that put me off going to Mongolia, but having the Black Death is definitely high on the list. What was the population then if 1/3 to 50% died? Well, there are as many answers to that question as there are historians. Do you remember the old Latin tag, “However many men there are, "so there are so many opinions”? But I would say that the population of England was something in the range of 3.5 million. And it did not recover until the early Stuart Period, that is to say, the early 17th century. It took a long time for the population to recover. All of this, the number of deaths, the time it took to recover the loss in numbers, was inevitably to have a major effect on society. But we, after all, have witnessed even with COVID and the lack of deaths in terms of the numbers of the Black Death, we have witnessed with COVID changes in our society.

Here in Britain, we’ve noticed that more and more people are working at home instead of going in to work and especially commuting to work. That’s one very big change. We’ve noticed also a huge surge in shopping online rather than going to a shop to shop. And maybe all those things would’ve happened anyway. And indeed, some of the changes of the Black Death would’ve happened anyway. But with both the Black Death and COVID, it accelerated changes in society. It had an enormous effect. Now, one historian has written of an effect of the Black Death, a piece of, I wouldn’t say evidence, a view that goes back to one of my earlier lectures. “The Black Death,” he writes, “may have promoted "the use of English as the number of teachers "proficient in French dwindled, "contributing to the late 14th century vine "of English literature, represented by writers "such as Geoffery Chaucer and John Gower.” And now, you’ve got to be careful, as we have to be careful with COVID, in making broad assumptions. I can’t see, do you think the Black Death virus said, “Oh, hang on a moment. "I think this chap is a French speaker, "so we’re aimed "to get him first rather than in English.” Come on. I don’t believe that. The changes were happening with English, which were nothing to do with the Black Death.

And actually fewer nobility died. Only one member of the royal family died, and she was in Spain at the time. Fewer the nobility died than the peasantry. Why? Because they were able to isolate themselves, lock themselves in their castles, lockdown, if you like. So I don’t really believe it had an effect on the changing language. But its major effect, and its most important and lasting effect, was it dealt a fatal blow to the Norman hierarchical feudal system. One historian has written this. “The great population loss brought favourable results "of the surviving peasants. "There was increased social mobility as depopulation "further eroded the peasants’ already,” that’s a key word, “already weakened obligations "to remain on their traditional holdings. "Feudalism never recovered.” So here am I working as a peasant on land. And I’m paid, what shall we say, thruppence, three pence, three old English pence a week. And I’ve managed to survive the Black Death. And there’s a shortage of labourers. They’ve got to bring in the harvest. And the farmer next to the one I’m working for says, “Come and work for us, William. "We’ll pay you thruppence farthing per week.” “Oh,” I think, “wow, well, farthing a week’s "worth a lot to me.” And then the farmer next to him said, “No, no, no. Come and work for me. "I’ll offer you fourpence. "There you are, fourpence.”

And so, people moved. And there was nothing to stop them moving. Now, maybe I live quite near to London. I live quite near to London as it happens. And maybe, maybe I don’t want to work on the land. And I’ve heard, I’ve heard stories you can make a fortune in London. So I walk to London. And I’m looking for a job. And there’s lots of skilled craftsmen without apprentices because they died. And I say, “Well, I don’t mind what I do.” So a goldsmith said, “Look, I’ll give you a job, William. "I’m not going to pay you very much, "but I’ll train you to be a goldsmith.” And I say, “Oh, yes.” And I live in his house. Well, I accepted the job, let’s be quite clear about this, I accepted this job because the goldsmith happened to have a very attractive daughter and no sons. So if I can get the daughter to marry me, I will inherit the whole business. And that happened more than once. It happened quite frequently. So there’s a movement in society caused by the Black Death. 90% of the population worked on the land before the Black Death. And that begins to change by the end of the 14th century as people move into towns in the ways that I’ve described. But the problem for the nobility was they saw this social revolution and the decay of the feudal system as a direct challenge to their authority. And put it bluntly, they became frightened of what was happening, frightened of revolution. The old elite always are threatened by revolution in whatever country the revolution takes place. And so they acted, as early as 1349 when the Black Death was still circulating, Edward III passed what was called The Ordinance of Labourers. We would call it a workers’ act today.

And in it, they fixed wages at pre-plague levels. So I couldn’t get my fourpence. I’m back to thruppence. Well, theoretically, I’m back to thruppence. But the farmer that pays me fourpence is still happy to pay me fourpence. And it’s all hush hush. In 1351, when the plague has passed, parliament turns the ordinance of the king into a act of law, called the Statute of Labourers, in 1351, which says the same thing. It’s price fixing, price fixing at pre-plague levels. And it was a very ineffective tool. Principally because it suited me, who’s getting more money, and it suited the employer who’s getting my services to ignore it. And so it was largely ignored and began that change in society. But the fact that the government of the day had introduced such legislation was resented by the peasants. The writer John Gower, coming obviously as a writer, he’s from the elite, the gentry, shared the view of his fellow landowners regarding peasants when in 1375, i.e., 25 years after the Black Death and six years before the Peasants’ Revolt, John Gower wrote this. He said, “The world goeth from bad to worse "when shepherd and cowherd for their part demand more "for their labour than the master bailiff "was wont to take in days gone by. "Labour is now at so high a price that he who will order "his business aright must pay five or six shillings now "for what cost two shillings in former times. "Labourers of old were not wont to eat of wheaten bread.” Well, that’s wheat bread, white bread.

They would’ve ate rye bread instead. “They were not wont to eat wheaten bread. "Their meat was of beans or a course of corn "and their drink of water alone. "Cheese and milk were a feast to them, "and rarely ate they of other dainties. "Their dress was of hotten grey. "That was the world ordered aright for folk of this sort.” This is always the complaint of the elite. “They’re getting too big for their boots.” “These things,” sorry, “three things, all of the same sort, "are merciless when they get the upper hand: "a water flood, a wasting fire, "and the common multitude of small folk. "For these will never be checked by reason or discipline.” They’re fearful. Just like the aristocracy at the French Revolution are fearful of peasant uprising, so are the English nobility of the second half of the 14th century. And he was right. John Gower was right. They couldn’t be controlled. And they would break out in, they wouldn’t have used the phrase but we can, in Red Revolution. The country, England, or at least the southeast counties of England, that is to say around London, erupted in violence in the summer of 1381. Some of it, Dan Jones, who’s written, I think, the best account there is of the Peasants’ Revolt called “Summer of Blood.” It’s on my blog. Not Dan Jones, but a contemporary of events, a man called Sir John Froissart, a contemporary chronicler, wrote this. And it’s another firsthand account.

And he writes, “There happened great commotions among the lower borders "in England, by which that country was nearly ruined. "In order that this disastrous rebellion,” the Peasants’ Revolt, “may serve as an example to mankind, "I will speak of all that was done "from the information I had at the time. "It is customary in England as well as "in several other countries, "for the nobility to have great privileges "over the commonality. "That is to say, the lower orders are bound by law "to plough the lands of the gentry, to harvest their grain, "to carry it home to the barn, to thrash and winnow it. "They’re also bound to harvest and carry home the hay. "All these services, the prelates and gentlemen exact "to their inferiors. "And in the counties of Kent, Essex, and Bedford, "these services are more oppressive "than in other parts of the kingdom. "In consequence of this, the evil-disposed "in these districts began to murmur saying "that in the beginning of the world there were no slaves "and that no one ought to be treated as such "unless he had committed treason against his lord "as Lucifer had done against God. "But they had done no such thing. "For they were neither angels nor spirits "but men formed after the likeness "as these lords who treated them as beasts. "This they would bear no longer. "They were determined to be free.” So this is a case of the peasant saying, “I’m a man, just as you are, "and I’m not prepared to put up with this any longer. "I’m not a beast of the field to be ordered about. "I’m a man "under the same God.

"And did God really want me to live a life like this "whilst you live your life?” That was the revolutionary message that was coming from peasants in the field. Now, the peasants themselves are unlikely, except in rare, rare cases, to be able to enunciate such beliefs, but there was a group of people called hedge priests. They were called hedge priests because the church had excluded them from having a parish. And they took to the hedgerows and they preached in the countryside and in marketplaces, anywhere where they could gather an audience. And what they preached was, as I said before, like 19th century Christian socialism. And the most famous of these was a priest called John Ball. And John Ball’s favourite and most famous quotation is, “When Adam delved, and Eve span, "who was then a gentleman?” When Adam dug and Eve spun in the Garden of Eden, there was no gentleman. We were all equal. That is the message that the church, well not the church, but the priests on the outside of the church are preaching.

Now we don’t know, and this is one of the mysteries, whether the challenge to the orthodoxy of the Catholic church at the time, which was taking place in the University of Oxford led by a man called John Wycliffe, and John Wycliffe was saying this in very academic terms, talking about the equality of man, while people like John Ball are also preaching it, but preaching it in a language that a cowherd or a shepherd could understand. “When Adam delved and Eve span, who was then the gentleman?” It’s a simple, simple message. And we all know how important it is in politics to have very simple messages that can be understood by everyone. And in the 14th century that message of Adam and Eve was very easy to understand and easy to give your support to. Why should we be treated differently? As the extract I’ve just read from Sir John Froissart said, “Why should we be so treated like beasts of the field?” This is Froissart again, and he’s writing, just a little after the passage I’ve just read to you, and he writes this. “John Ball was accustomed to assemble a crowd around him "in the marketplace and preach to them. "And he would say,” and he gives a quote here. Now, did Froissart hear Ball preach? Unlikely, I think. But he may have heard, got the information from someone who did. It’s put in inverted commas. “My good friends, matters cannot go on well in England "until all things shall be in common; "when there shall be neither vassals nor lords; "when the lords shall be no more masters than ourselves. "How ill they behave to us. "For what reason do they hold us thus in bondage? "Are we not all descended from the same parents, "Adam and Eve? "And what can they show or what reason can they give, "why they should be more masters than us? "They are clothed in velvet and rich stuffs, "ornamented with ermine and other furs, "while we are forced to wear poor clothing. "They have wine, spices, and fine bread, "while we have only rye and the refuse of the store. "And when we drink, it must be water.

"They have handsome seats and manners, "while we must brave the wind and rain "in our labours in the field. "And it is by our labour they have wherewith "to support their pomp. "We are called slaves. "And then if we do not perform our service, we are beat. "And we have no sovereign to whom we can complain "or who will be willing to hear us. "Let us go to the king and remonstrate with him. "He is young, and from him we may obtain a favourable answer. "And if not, we must ourselves seek to amend our condition.” So the first thing they’re going to do is to appeal to the king. The king is Richard II. He’s only 14 years of age. And it’s the simplistic belief, which continued in czarist Russia into the 20th century, if you could only reach the king, he would put all things right because the king is appointed by God. And he’s only not putting things right because of the ill advisors around him. So if we can get directly to the king, we can sort it out. And we aren’t going to talk to anybody else. Naive. And in this particular case of the Peasants’ Revolt of 1381, it turned out to be extremely naive. But it is a belief that still exists. It’s like people who still write to the queen, believing that the queen replies. But of course she doesn’t. She can’t. It’s replied to by ministers.

And I guess in America or any of the other countries, if you write to the prime minister or to the president, you don’t think Biden actually reads your letter and thinks, “Oh, I must reply to Sylvia in New York,” and writes? Of course not. But they really believed if they could get to the king and say, “Look, this is what’s wrong,” he would say, “I never knew. "I will put it right.” So what pushed this rising temperature in England? What pushed it to fever pitch that the peasants go into active military violent revolt? And the answer is the poll tax, a government tax on everybody over a particular age. Every adult would have to pay a tax collected by households. I suppose in one sense it’s no worse than income tax, except income tax is graded in terms of how much you earn. The poll tax, I will pay as much as my lord. What? The poll tax, this is what Simon Schama, I guess if you’re not in living in England, you may have seen some of Simon Schama’s programmes on the television on the history of England. Simon Schama is a very good historian. His book is, I think, better than the television programmes. And this is what he says about the poll tax. It’s in a paragraph. It’s so succinct. “The immediate provocation for the revolt,” for the Peasants’ Revolt, “was naturally a new tax, the Poll Tax of 1380, "the pretext for which was of the defence of the realm "against another threatened French invasion.” The government needed money ‘cause it’s going to fight a war. Well, we all know about how governments raised monies to fight wars.

Nothing new about that. “But John of Gaunt’s government,” the king is only 14. John of Gaunt, his uncle, is really running the country. “But John of Gaunt’s government made the serious mistake "of imposing a tax that for the first time "took no account of wealth and was levied "at the rate of three groat, "a shilling per head per household, "three groats per household.” A groat is fourpence. That’s a shilling. And I pay a shilling. My goodness, how do we, how do I get a shilling? It’s so much money. And there you are sat in your castle and a shilling is nothing to you. Nothing. And to me, to me it may be the difference between feeding my family and not feeding them. It was a terrible, terrible piece of legislation. Schama writes, “The response was predictable, "fury and mass evasion as entire families, "sometimes entire villages, "disappeared onto the roads or into the woods "where temporary encampments of tax fugitives "established themselves while they waited "for the tax man to go away.” Of course, in those days, the tax collectors actually appeared in your village and knocked on your door and said, “Where’s your schilling?” “The usual collective, of course, "was to beef up the enforcers and collectors "and to recruit local sergeants at arms.” In other words, the government’s response to it was to hire heavies. And they’d send the heavies in.

So I refused the tax collector. Next time he comes, he comes with two great lumping blokes next to him on either side of him. Who, “Now you pay up mate or you.” Does that make it better? No, it makes it worse, of course. “And the locals whom the government recruited "knew the ale houses where they could winkle out "the frauds and the runaways. "But it was those men who went down to the woods "who were in for a really big surprise.” It couldn’t go on. That legislation was passed in 1380. In the following spring of 1381, riots broke out against the collection of this tax in villages and towns in South Essex. Essex, the counting north of London, South Essex obviously just beyond London. And Schama says, “In South Essex in the spring of 1381, "tax commissioners had ordered the men in villages "around the town of Brentwood to appear there in Brentwood "before a certain date and make their payments. "The commissioners were indeed a formidable group, "four justices and the sheriff. "But on the 30th of May, they found themselves "engulfed by a hostile crowd led by Thomas Baker "from the village of Fobbing.

"Baker was accompanied not just by his own villagers, "but by Essex men from a wide sweep of countryside.” And it’s always so fascinating when you dig into local history. I lived in Essex. I know these villages. And it just seems unbelievable that revolution would start in these villages. But it did. “From Rayne, Billericay, Goldhanger, and Bocking "did they come. "The numbers were sufficient for the rebels "to feel brave enough to threaten physical harm "to one of the commissioners if he persisted "in collecting their money. "Instead, he got on his horse and spread the news. "The stakes now escalated. "Heavily reinforced, the Chief Justice of the Court "of Common Priest was sent from London to Brentwood.” I mean, that’s incredible. “But he, too, was taken captive by a still bigger group "and made to swear he would never repeat the effort. "When the rebels discovered the identity of informers "who had named names, they hacked their heads off. "By the 2nd of June, something extraordinary happened. "At Bocking, the leaders of another uproarious crowd "had it swear an oath, not just against wicked impositions "but against feudal lordship itself. "They said they vowed to have "no law in England except only they themselves move "to be ordained.” So it’s gone from a tax riot into a revolution in the tiny village of Bocking, which is near the tiny town of Braintree in Essex. I know both extremely well and it’s mind blowing to think this tiny village of Bocking made a stand for democracy that all of you, wherever you live, have benefited from. From the villagers of Bocking taking a tax revolt into a major political rebellion against the entire feudal system.

It’s a moment, and it’s actually a moment not in Essex history, not in English history, but in world history because of the influence of England, later Britain, on the constitutions of the United States, of Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa. It started here in a tiny village in Essex. I find that amazing and humbling because these men were uneducated, illiterate, and yet, and yet they knew the difference between right and wrong, and they dug their heels in. And I might add, for those of you who heard my talk a couple of weeks ago, they’re Saxons. They’re not Normans. This is Saxon sense of freedom that I spoke about before. Now it’s revolution. The revolt centred on the counties around London, Essex, Kent, Suffolk, Norfolk, Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire. And it has been pointed out that these counties had suffered the worst from the Black Death. And that may well have influenced it. But let me turn from north of London in Essex to south of London in Kent. In Kent, the rioters occupied Canterbury, released prisoners held by the archbishop, moved on to the Kent County town of Maidstone, and burnt all the land records they could get their hands on. On the 11th of June, 1381, there was an agreement between all the rebel groups across the southeast to March on London. Now that’s the other mystery. How did they communicate? Did someone actually walk, or ride, go by boat? What sign? It’s really very difficult to understand how they managed to organise this. We don’t know, really. But they did. By now, it’s estimated that there were 30,000 peasants in arms around London, both north and south and west of London.

But it wasn’t only in London. Outside this epicentre of rebellion, there was rioting right across England. From York in the north to Winchester in the south there was trouble. This is revolution in any definition of the phrase. The leader of the rebels in Kent was Wat Tyler. I’m no relation as far as I know. And his force came up to London and camped on Blackheath near Greenwich, just south of the city. The Hertfordshire force came down to the north and they camped at Highbury, where Arsenal play in the north London. And the Essex men came to the east and based themselves in Mile End, very near the city of London, just to the east. So London is, in a sense, surrounded. I’ve written on my notes the very fabric of English society was now threatened, and the king and the government were trapped inside London. They’re surrounded. One contemporary has written, wrote at the time, we don’t know who, but the contemporary wrote, “Appalling threats force all to rally "regardless of ploughing and sewing. "Some had sticks, others rusty swords, axes, "or smoke-stained bows. "They slew lawyers, old and young.” Oh, the lawyers were top of the list. “And they decided to burn all the court rolls "and all muniments.” They were destroying land records. “During Matins,” in the morning service, “during Matins on Friday, the 14th of June, 1381, "hasty messengers from Barnett to Saint Albans said "the commons bade speed to London "with the Barnett and Saint Albans men with their best arms "or else 20,000 would burn the villages and coerce them. "Informed at once, the abbot dreaded,” this is the abbot at Saint Albans, “dreaded the damage of such a raid, "and quickly summoned the servants and village of his court "to bid them speed to London to appease and stop them. ”

So they hammered off enthusiastically. “They found a mob of 2,000 burning the valuable farm "of the hated hospitalist at Highbury "and busy pulling down the ruins. "Their ringleader, Jack Straw, made them swear loyalty "to King Richard and the Commons. "Other mobs were at Mile End in the Tower Hill, "where they killed Archbishop Sudbury. "Richard II gave them charters dated the 15th of June, "granting freedom to the serfs of various counties.” Wow. Now take think a minute. The Abbey of Saint Albans, the abbot has to order his own men to join the revolt in the hope that they can stop them doing worse in London than they intended, and to save his own abbey. In London, they get hold of the Archbishop of Canterbury, who was seized when he was in prayer. They took him to Tower Hill and they beheaded him. Now that is revolution. They beheaded the Archbishop of Canterbury. Richard II, in the tower with his advisors who are there, is petrified. The news had brought a burnt John of Gaunt’s palace, the so-called Savoy Palace. It’s where the Savoy Hotel is today. That was his palace. They burnt it to the ground, ransacked it. They destroyed all the paperwork and murdered lawyers in the temple, the city of London where the lawyers still are today.

They attacked Lambeth Palace, the archbishops of Canterbury’s home in London, and destroyed records. They were on the loose in London. And Richard, in a desperate attempt, said, “I will free all serfs.” Now remember, serfs are not slaves. There are no slaves in London. Serfs are simply tied to their feudal lord and can’t leave the land. If a feudal lord sells his land to another feudal lord, they go with the land. But they do have certain rights, and they’re not slaves. But it. And the king grants 'em what they want. And it’s said that the king watched the chaos in London from a window in the tower. And Peter Ackroyd in his book, “The History of England”, again, it’s on my blog, writes this. “And the king asked what should be done. "No one knew. "But at age 14, he was old enough to think for himself. "He would ride out to Mile End and address "all of the rebels. "He hoped that this would draw them from the city "into the eastern suburb, and thus allow "his court and household to escape from the tower. "But he was only partially successful.” He rode to Mile End accompanied by the Lord Mayor of London, a man called William Walworth. “The king was already showing signs,” says Ackroyd, “of personal courage worthy of a king. "When the Royal Party approached the rebels, "who knelt upon the ground, some of their numbers shouted, "Welcome, King Richard! "We wish for no other king but you.” “Richard then asked them what else they wanted.

"They wanted the traitors, "by which they meant the officials who had taxed them "and harassed them beyond measure. "They wanted to remove a government of scoundrels. "The king replied that he would surrender "to the many men who were convicted of treachery "according to the law. "One of their other demands was that all serfs "should be given their freedom and that land "should be rented at fourpence per acre. "Richard agreed to these proposals.” And news arrives of worse atrocities. In the Suffolk town of Bury St Edmunds, the Prior had run away. And one of the leading landowners of the area, Sir John Cavendish, had also run away. The peasants caught them. They chopped off their heads and they brought their heads back to the marketplace in Bury. Just the heads. And they put the head on a stake. And then they put string around the lips. So there’s two heads facing each other and there’s string hanging down. And they moved the string and did a puppet show with the heads. And then they finished the show by having the two of them kiss. Hilarious in the 14th century. Horrific to us. But it shows the depth of feeling. Can you blame them? Can you blame them when you think of the lives they led and how the church and the nobility treated them? Well, maybe you can blame them, but at least you can understand why. At least you can understand why. On the 14th of June, Richard II, again accompanied by the Lord Mayor of London William Walworth, went and met them, and met them right in the middle of the city at Smithfield. The actual meeting took place on the 15th of June. There was 20,000 peasants there under the command, well under the leadership at least, of Wat Tyler from Kent. 20,000 had gathered at Smithfield in the heart of the city. And Wat Tyler went forward to speak to the king. And he made a gesture which was his undoing.

He seized, remember, the king is on horse, Tyler is foot, he seizes the bridal of the king’s horse. And William Walworth, the Lord Mayor on a horse next to the king, stabs him. How dare he hold the bridal of the king’s horse? He’s seriously wounded and he’s carried to the nearby, it’s only a matter of hundred yards or so, to Saint Bartholomew’s Hospital. The peasants are now more than angry. It’s like putting a stick in a wasp’s nest, having stabbed Tyler. And Richard saved the situation by himself appealing to the rebels, so the peasants. And this is what he said, “The rebel,” this is Ackroyd, “The rebels were shocked and angered at the event. "Some of them drew their bows. "The young king galloped up to the front line of archers. "What are you doing?” he called out to them. “Tyler was a traitor. "Come with me and I will be your leader. "He did literally lead them a little way north "into Islington where 1,000 armed men "had been summoned by the mayor. "It seems like the rebels had walked "into a hastily improvised trap. "The leaders fell to their knees and begged for pardon. "Some of the court wished to punish them on the spot "but the king desisted. "He ordered the rebels to return home "and forbade any stranger from spending the night in London. "Soon afterwards, Tyler was taken "from the hospital of Saint Bartholomew "and beheaded at Smithfield.” But it was all a nasty piece, a political chicanery, for within days, the king’s promise of emancipation of the serfs granted at Mile End on the 14th of June was rescinded on the grounds that it had been extorted from him by force. And military retribution was swift and awful.

John Ball was arrested at Saint Albans, and he was hanged, drawn and quartered. And his four body parts were distributed to the four corners of the kingdom as a warning to others. In Suffolk, the returning peasants made a liath last stand in the green outside of the parish church. And they were buried where they fell. And there’s an awful modern story. About a decade ago, it was decided that they would put up a statue to the murdered Archbishop Simon of Sudbury. And where did they put it? Over the graves of the men who had made a last stand at Sudbury. And when I lived in East England, I used to go through Sudbury lecturing there lots of times. I hated that statue of Simon of Sudbury. How dare they put that there. But if you go into the parish church, that same parish church in Sudbury, and you make arrangements to do so, and I’ve seen it and done it, made arrangements for a group that came with me, they will produce what I can only describe as a hat box from a locked cupboard. And they bring it out. And they said to me, “Well open it up.” Drop the top off. And their inside is a skull said to be that of Simon of Sudbury whose head was chopped off in 1381. Now whether it’s his skull or not, who knows? I mean, skulls look like skulls. I couldn’t possibly say it was Simon of Sudbury’s, but it is said to be Simon of Sudbury’s. And it’s kept in a hat box. In Essex, the worst retribution took place at the town of Billericay, very near today’s railway station. And they’re quite a large group of peasants made a last stand and were butchered by the king’s army.

And the field is still there. You can walk and you can see it. And I’ve taken many people to see it. And every time, I think, “This is one of the most awful places in England.” And worse, there is no sign board to say, “This is where the peasants who had stood for freedom fell, "betrayed by their king who’d promised them the earth "and given them the sword.” That’s where they died. There’s no memorial. Nothing at all. It’s just a field. And I’ve always felt so bad about that because it is the root of all our democracy. These were ordinary people, not educated in any way, but they knew the difference between right and wrong. And they knew about freedom and liberty. But they lost. Well, in the grand scheme of things, they had not lost. They had won. Gradually serfdom disappeared over the next hundred years or so. It simply disappeared. And the rulers in England could never take the rule for granted ever again. And the long march to modern democracy had begun in that bloodstained summer of 1381. It was reported at the time that when Wat Tyler addressed the rebels from Kent on Blackheath, he said to them, “Remember, we come not as thieves and robbers. "We come seeking social justice.” There’s no better quote to end on as we reflect on the importance of this first step on the road to democracy that the peasants have taken so long ago.

“Remember, we come not as thieves and robbers. "We come seeking social justice.” I wish I could reach back over the centuries and say to Tyler, and Straw, and Wrawe, and Ball, and all the others, “You did not die in vain. "You did not die in vain. "But you set a path "or set out on a path "which was followed subsequently. "And here today, before the law "across the English-speaking world, we are equal. "But we still seek in our own countries today, "in new circumstances, social justice. "Social justice in all sorts of ways "and from all sorts of angles.” Remember, we come not as thieves and robbers. We come seeking social justice. Thanks for listening. I’m sure there’s lots of questions, and comments, and points. Can I take some?

• [Host] Go ahead, William.

Q&A and Comments:

• Yeah. Okay. David, I guess you’re a medic. “Buboes are enlarged lymph nodes "not lesions on the skin.” There, well, good.

That’s true. Yes, Jews were have been blamed for every disaster, even COVID. In England, of course, they weren’t blamed for the Black Death, although they were in other the European countries, simply because Jews have been thrown out. I’m sure if they’d been in England at the time, they would’ve been. Yes, you are right about some villages put themselves in isolation. That is much more with the Great Plague in the 17th century than it was with the Black Death. “Surely the Spanish Flu deaths will be closer "for figure of COVID without vaccine.” Well, you may be right. I don’t know the answer to that.

Somebody said, “Surely the Spanish flu deaths "will be closer to the figure for COVID without vaccine "rather than the Black Death.” I’m not sure about that. I don’t know the answer, is the truth. Yes, “Many deaths were caused,” this is somebody who must be here in England I think, “Many deaths were caused by returning patients "to nursing homes instead of putting them "in areas of isolation.” Absolutely right. I love, I love, David again. Wonderful, David, to have you. It says, “The Black Death is from a bacteria, not a virus.” “Shades of Dick Wittington.” Absolutely. “The streets of London are paved with gold.” That’s absolutely true. “Also today,” says Anita, “COVID has caused a shift "in lower-paid jobs similar to that of the feudal peasants, "people looking for better-paid jobs "and able to choose due to shortages.” Yep. Yeah, somebody else has made the same point.

Q: Imene, says, “How did the Black Death pass?”

A: Well, by herd immunity.

“Madagascar still has outbreaks of plague.” Didn’t know that.

The hymn, “The Lord in his Castle,” that peasant, yeah. “It keeps the lower classes down and got them to know their lowly position.” Well that’s Victorian society. In fact, the pay of farm labourers didn’t really go up from after the Black Death until the 19th century. And I’m interested at the moment, have been reading widely across Europe about 19th century peasants, and you are absolutely right. The rich man in his castle, the poor man at his gate. And when I was a child, we still sang that hymn in church. It’s appalling to think that.

“But later history still gave the lords and landowners "power over the common people.” Well, yes, it clearly did, but there is significant change. Serfdom disappears. Ordinary people have the right to law and they do use it. And they can walk away and go where the lords don’t have power, that is to say, into the new towns and cities.

“I thought that was Margaret Thatcher’s idea.” No, it wasn’t. And if she knew her history, she wouldn’t even attempt a poll tax.

Somebody said, “I bet you don’t watch much TV.” I do. I watch football, or soccer to the Americans, and I also watch lots of crime things to just switch off at night.

The name of the author of “The History of Disease” is, gimme half a second and I will put the book in front of me. Let me just, well, I can’t, there it is. The man’s name is Sean, S-E-A-N, Martin, Sean Martin. “Short History of Disease.” And it has a chapter on, it’s a very good book, it has a chapter on Black Death.

Oh, that’s very clever, Peter. “You mentioned that Billericay was one of the towns "where it started. "No wonder Harold Wilson once said, "Where Billericay goes, the country goes.” He did. And it’s one of those constituencies that goes between the two parties.

Don’t ask why Mrs. Satran had advised us. The problem with politicians is, the biggest problem with politicians is arrogance, isn’t it? On both sides of the Atlantic and wherever you are, politicians are arrogant. And they believe, they just don’t believe they can be wrong.

Q: “Wasn’t the first urban labour revolt "undertaken by the Chartist movement?”

A: Well, the Chartist movement was awfully middle class. That was a problem with it. It didn’t reach, it was a very middle class led and very middle class sort of movement. The industrial revolution, there are, you have to think more if you want a working class movement against industrialization, you have to think of people like the Luddites, I think, rather than the Chartists.

Q: “How did they get into the Tower of London?”

A: Oh, normally they got him through the water gate, by the river.

“What a great person the king was, only 14 years old.” Well, hmm, you’ll be please to know that in the end, he himself is murdered by Henry Bollingbrook who becomes Henry IV and he’s accused of being over French. I think I mentioned to you before, he introduced handkerchiefs. Why we need handkerchiefs, I don’t know. And he was also homosexual, which also did for him in the Middle Ages.

Q:“How come the peasants had so much power "that they were conquered so easily?”

A: If I understand you correctly, you are saying there were so many of them, why were they conquered? A, they were alarmed. And when the king sent arms in, they also really didn’t know what, they wanted the king just to do what they asked. When he didn’t, they had no other plan. There isn’t a plan to establish a republic or a new king or anything like that. And they, what happened, happened. They simply didn’t have the power to change it.

Yes, “What a modern concept, social justice.” Exactly, it is.

“There is a memorial in Smithfield.” Absolutely right. That’s Karen.

Q: “How did it come about peacefully?”

A: Well, that’s a big question. How does social justice come about peacefully? Well, it’s a long, long haul and it isn’t peacefully. If you think in America, let’s do American history instead of British history. In America, you are talking about the Black Rights movement. In England and America and Canada and Australia, and New Zealand, you were talking about suffragettes.

And before, someone in New Zealand said, “We were first.” Yes, they were, in terms of votes for women. “How is it the laws of Magna Carta were not invoked?” There was no one to invoke them. The peasants wouldn’t have done that. And the lawyers are their enemies. They see lawyers as, they see lawyers as rather like vampires. No, I don’t think Richard’s intentions were genuine.

Q: Yes, ah, “Is the Bubonic Plague "the same as the Black Death?”

A: Now who was it that was giving me answers to medical questions? There is a view today that it may not have been. There’s a huge argument about what sort of plague it was. Do I think there was a difference between the Saxon character and Norman attitude? Well, yes, I think there was, but it’s more to do with class in the end. There is a big division of class, obviously, between the nobility and the peasantry. But there is also a distinction between the Normans and the English. The king, Richard II, didn’t, well, he could speak English, but he spoke, his first language was French. Henry IV who replaced him is the man that speaks English as his first language.

Oh, well that, Muriel must be American. “Just as the serfs we’re so naive with respect to the king, "I think the British common folk still have a naive respect "for the British royalty nobility.” No, not, not nobility. But yes, our view of royalty is different in terms of from the inside than from the outside as it looks in America. It is that we see it as outside of politics and we see it as a symbol of unity rather than naive respect. Yeah, it’s good to respect people. There’s nothing wrong with respect. Oh, I’ve lost it. Hang on. There’s nothing wrong with respect. It doesn’t mean to say you kowtow. When I got a award and had to go to Buckingham Palace to receive it, I didn’t feel in any sense kowtowed by them.

I just thought, “This is nice.” Can I tell you a naughty story? A friend of mine, who was born in England, in his 80s now, has American citizenship. And I won’t tell you where he was an academic, but in a top ranked American university. And he said he’d be, and he asked me what it was like when I got my gong and went in Buckingham Palace. And I said, “Well, it was very British, very ordinary. "And we had a glass of orange juice and nothing else "before we went actually into the ceremony. "And everybody was very friendly "and it was not posh in any way at all.” And he said, well, he once went into the White House for I don’t know which president, and he said it was not like that at all. It was quite different. And so there, yeah, different cultures and America and Britain have different cultures now and we view things differently. But I don’t think you’d find many people naive about the royal family. And of course there’s a Republican movement here, but not strong. And that says everything at the minute, which is why most of us are quite worried about Queens’ health at the minute. And that means what happens afterwards. And if you’re listening from Australia and Canada, you know what I mean. Hang on. I’ve lost my, hang on.

There’s so many people have put things in. “There are old play picks outside Winchester.” Yes, Catherine, there are.

“There was a poll tax attempted in the 1990s "by Mrs. Thatcher. "It also failed. "It brought her down politically.” Yes. “Democracy in action "when Mrs. Thatcher’s government was toppled.” Yes, absolutely right.

“The Jacquerie in France at that time.” Yes, I’ve not, ah, well, one of the consequences of Black Death led to things like the Peasants’ Revolt in other places in Europe. And the Jacquerie in France is exactly that. But it did not lead on to a line of democracy and of changes which happened here. France is a very, very different country. And the French Revolution is bloody and dreadful and 18th century. And it’s a total overthrow of the past, church, state, and everything. No, ours became a gradual revolution in the English speaking world, not a red blooded guillotine revolution. No, there were no laws introduced afterwards. No, I think that’s, I think what is reported that, someone said,

Q: “Do you know his exact words?”

A: No, that’s what were reported. We can’t say what the exact words were. That was how contemporaries reported it.

Oh, Judith, “To meet you.” Oh, well, Judith, thank you so much for that. “Growing up in a communist country, "John Ball’s stanza about Adam and Eve was used "in the English class, out of context of course, "but showing this class struggle.” Yes, now that is, Judith, thank you so much for that because this is exactly what it is. I called it Christian socialism. It’s obviously Christian, so you can’t describe it as Marxist, but it’s Christian Marxist if you like. And it’s exactly the same thing. That’s absolutely true.

Yes, somebody’s put me in the thing. Oh, who was that that put it in? Karen. Yeah, about bubonic plague, pneumonic plague. Lots of arguments about it.

“The benefit of Magna Carta "was that it was subsequently used. "It’s not used in the Middle Ages.” The the point is it was used during the Civil War. And because it was used in the Civil War and by clergy and thinkers in the Civil War, that’s how it got to America. So it’s the Civil War period where Magna Carta becomes very important again.

“You know, public,” who says?

Abigail. “Public education is the ultimate tool.” I’ve gone and lost it again. Oh dear. “Is the ultimate tool to further social justice.” I can’t keep up with so much here. Let me get back to where I was. Where am I? No, I’m nearly there, I think.

There’s Judith again. Excellent.

Here we are. Let me read all of what Abigail said. “Jews learn about freedom and social justice "and the early Passover "in their general educational process. "Public education is the ultimate tool "that will promote social justice without revolution. "And you can add it and Christians learnt it from the Bible. "But of course it’s how you interpret these things "that is the problem.”

David, again, “The bubonic plague was mainly lymph nodes "while the pneumonic plague involved the lungs "and was more dangerous. "Cases could be both.” Yeah, that’s what they think today.

“I believe in,” Muriel’s replied now, “I believe in respect that is earned, not inherited. "One has to curtsy at trolleys, "accepting that royalty is above the average man.” No, you do not have to curtsy anymore, nor do you have to bow. It’s a voluntary thing, and they make it quite clear. And lots of people don’t. I bowed when I went in because I thought it was the right and proper thing to do. But I’m a monarchist. And you don’t have to if you don’t want to. There was a, when I went to the palace for my gong, there was a very elderly lady who was an actress, and she was on two sticks. And they explained to the ladies that if they wanted to, they could curtsy but they were, in no way were they to do a full, full curtsy. They could just do a bob, if they wanted to. And when she walked into the throne room, she had one of the palace aids with her because she had two sticks. And he said just as she was going in, “And you don’t have to curtsy. Please don’t.” So she went in and Princess Anne was doing the ceremony, and she said, “I’m not going in there without curtsying.” So she went in, she handed her sticks to the attendant and virtually fell over. Princess Anne had to go forward to grab her before she fell on the floor. It was a, it was a very, it was one of those moments. No, I can’t say anything about Barnett and Saint Albans’ armies. We don’t know any more about those.

I think that’s probably everything. I think I’ve done most of the questions.

• [Host] Wonderful, William. Thank you so much again for another riveting lecture. We’ll see everybody tomorrow. Everyone, have a good night, and enjoy the rest of your day.

• Bye. Bye, folks. Bye-bye.