THE PEASANTS REVOLT, of 1381.

THE PEASANTS REVOLT OF 1381 DURING MEDIEVAL TIMES IN LONDON AND THE AFTER EFFECTS

This Revolt, was the most severe and widespread rebellion by Medieval Peasants in England's history. It took place in June 1381, and although the revolt failed, it brought attention to their abject misery and plight, with which they had been burdened, as a result of their enforced slavery.

It was later seen as the beginning of the end of Feudalism in England.

Over the course of the centuries, the nobility had thrived, but at the expense of the peasants, who occupied the lowest end of the social scale.

The conditions under which these poor people had to strive in order to survive, had with each generation, become increasingly intollerable, until a point had been reached when they could take no more.

Having survived that terrible epidemic of the Bubonic Plague, those Medieval Peasants, now faced the prospect of starvation as a consequence of the high food prices. In order to afford the higher cost of living they now required extra money and therefore demanded higher wages.

With their Lordships being desperately short of labour, they would increasingly give in to the demands of these Medieval Peasants and give them what they asked for, which eventually included fewer hours of toil and increased demands for their release from slavery, making them free men.

The Peasants Revolt had the impetus to set in motion and then to increase the awareness which had begun to dawn within the upper classes, of the desperate need for the reform of feudalism in England.

The most significant events of the Peasants Revolt of 1381, took place in London, where they found a substantial amount of support. It was one of the most important incidents of many, to have taken place in the city during the Medieval Times in London.

The Bubonic Plague or Black Death between 1348 and 1350, had devastated the population of England, leaving many manor houses desperately short of labour. Fields were left unreaped and therefore no harvesting could take place.

With no harvesting, there could be no sowing of new crops, a vicious circle indeed. In the wake of this vicious circle, there came widespread food shortages, resulting in high price increases.

In an unprecedented act, most Lords submitted without protest and gave them their freedom, while also paying them increased wages to work on their land and look after their livestock.

This led some landowners to complain to the king about their higher wage bills and the added worry of the peasants roaming the country in search of landowners, or other masters, who were willing to pay the highest wages in an effort to entice labour.

This situation of course had the effect of bringing about economic instability which somehow had to be addressed. King Edward III, in an attempt to curb these demands for better terms, sought to bring wage levels under control by taking them back to their previous level prior to the outbreak of the Bubonic Plague.

The result was the imposition of a new law, which was both practically impossible to enforce and highly dangerous,

as it both deeply angered the already restless peasant class and it tended to be divisive.

Not one of them wanted to relinquish their new found freedom for they had now become painfully aware of, the unbearable misery and deep injustice, in which inherited servitude had placed them by the accident of their birth.

It was a situation they could no longer endure. This alone, was sufficient reason for the Peasants Revolt.

Next The Peasants Revolt: The Statute of Labourers Act.

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