Wat Tyler
Why the revolt began
The Peasants' Revolt began in May 1381, triggered by a newly imposed poll tax of four pence on every person aged fifteen and above.1
The tax was the spark, but its root lay in tensions between peasants and landowners caused by the economic and demographic consequences of the Black Death and later plague outbreaks.2
The rebels demanded that each labourer be allowed to work for the employer of his choice and sought an end to serfdom and rigid social distinctions.3
Entering London
On 13 June 1381 Tyler and other Kentish rebels crossed London Bridge to enter the city.4
Once in London, the rebels destroyed legal records, opened prisons, sacked homes and killed those they thought associated with the royal government.22
On 14 June, the 14-year-old King Richard II met the rebels and agreed to many concessions and to give them full pardons.6
Smithfield and his death
On 15 June Tyler and his Kentish forces parleyed with King Richard at Smithfield outside London, where Tyler put forward his demands.7
After an altercation broke out, William Walworth, the Lord Mayor of London, pulled Wat Tyler from his horse and killed him.8
Tyler was taken to a hospital but was tracked down by Walworth, brought back to Smithfield and publicly beheaded by judgment of the mayor. His head was placed on a pole and carried through the city, then displayed on London Bridge.17,26
After his death
After Tyler's death, Richard II revoked all the concessions he had made, and many rebels were hunted down and executed, effectively ending the revolt.21
A memorial commemorating Wat Tyler and the Great Rising of 1381 was unveiled on 15 July 2015 in Smithfield, London.10