Many lords who had given their villeins freedom began to regret having done so and tried to get them back on to their land again. The villeins, however, realizing their value, demanded high wages which the lords could not pay. In many places the lord decided to keep sheep instead of growing crops, because fewer men would be needed to tend them than to plough, sow and harvest crops.
Parliament tried to control wages by making a law called the Statute of Labourers, but the rules laid down in this
Statute were often broken and masters had either to pay higher wages or see their crops go to ruin.
AFTER the Black Death England was in a state of unrest, Those peasants who were still villeins, and so the property
of their masters, longed to be freemen and to be able to rent their property without any restrictions. Those who
were free were angry because there had been attempts to reduce their wages and new game laws had restricted their
hunting. In some counties the feelings of the people were fanned into flames by a fiery preacher, John Ball, who
told them that all men were equal and that the rich men lived in luxury at their expense. In 1381 a tax called
the poll tax was introduced. This tax was the final blow, and the peasants of Kent, Essex, Sussex and Bedfordshire
decided to revolt. They marched towards London, led by a man called Wat Tyler.
When they arrived in London, the peasants destroyed the homes of the rich, and seized Lambeth Palace, where the
Archbishop of Canterbury lived. Young Richard II, although only a boy, had inherited much of the bravery of his
father, the Black Prince, and he decided that the only way to stop the rebels was to meet them himself. At Mile
End, in London, Richard II met the rebels and asked them why they were so troubled.
"We ask that you make us free,"
they cried. "We want to be villeins no longer."
"Sirs," replied the
young king, "what you demand shall be granted. Go back to your villages
and leave behind two or three members of each village so that documents can be prepared granting what you desire,
and if you promise to obey me in future, I will pardon all that have taken part in this revolt."
Unfortunately, while Richard II was speaking to the rebels at Mile End Wat Tyler and some of the peasants had seized
the Tower of London, and killed the Archbishop of Canterbury. The king decided he would have to speak to the rebels
again, and another meeting was arranged at Smithfield.
At this meeting Wat Tyler spoke angrily to the young king, and it looked as though he was going to draw his dagger.
But, before he could do so, the Lord Mayor of London drew his dagger and killed the rebel leader. The mob, when
they saw their leader killed before their eyes, became furious and lifted their bows to shoot. It was at this moment
that Richard showed his great bravery. Unarmed and alone he rode towards the mob and asked them to accept him as
their leader. The crowd were overawed by this act of bravery, and quickly dispersed, returning to their villages.
Richard probably hoped to keep his promises, but the lords were far too powerful, so the rebels were punished and
forced to work as before. Although the revolt was unsuccessful, it did mark the beginning of the end of the lords'
control over the peasants, and within a hundred years the villeins had all become free.
