English Peasants' Revolt of 1381 (Wat Tyler's Rebellion)

Timeline

1. 1381Brentwood and Fobbing, Essex · EssexThe third poll tax of 1380 prompted widespread tax evasion, and the crown sent commissioners including John Bampton to Essex to collect. After a confrontation at Brentwood on May 30, the conflict spread; villagers in Fobbing and elsewhere burned court records and freed prisoners, while Kent also rose up and chose Wat Tyler as leader.
2. 1381London · LondonEssex and Kent rebels approached London via Blackheath, entering the city on June 13 and joining forces with local residents. They attacked the Savoy Palace, the Temple legal district, and prisons, executing some foreigners and officials connected to John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster.
3. 1381Mile End and the Tower of London · LondonRichard II met Essex representatives at Mile End, verbally promising to abolish serfdom, open trade, and issue charters. While the king was out of the city, another band of rebels stormed the Tower of London, executing the Lord Chancellor, Archbishop of Canterbury Simon Sudbury, and the Treasurer Robert Hales.
4. 1381Smithfield, London · LondonWat Tyler presented more radical demands to the king at Smithfield; a clash broke out during the talks, and Tyler was killed by the Lord Mayor of London, William Walworth, or his guards. Richard II stabilized the situation and lured the rebels away, then summoned the city militia to break the main Kentish force.
5. 1381–1390North Walsham, Norfolk · NorfolkThe revolt spread to East Anglia, York, and Somerset. Around June 25, Bishop Henry Despenser defeated the rebels at North Walsham; Richard II revoked the Mile End charters and carried out large-scale arrests and executions of leaders. By November 1381 at least 1,500 people had been killed, and the poll tax was not levied again for a long time afterward.