1381: rebellion in England

After epidemics and wars, English employers, authorities and workers disputed pay and service amid reduced population. Poll taxes for warfare brought collectors into households. Peasants faced seigneurial labor duties, while townspeople had fiscal and local grievances. In 1381, refusal of collection developed into collective action across several areas. Villages, markets and roads carried information, helping participants identify targets and assemble people whose particular complaints could support a wider movement.

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Protesters from Kent, Essex and elsewhere entered London, attacked officials and powerful figures, released prisoners and sought royal responses. Wat Tyler and John Ball appear in events and accounts. Demands concerned freedom, rents and obligations. The young Richard II met participants and made promises as royal and urban officers sought control. Violence, rumors and negotiations unfolded rapidly, with different groups understanding shared demands and immediate objectives in their own ways.

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Tyler was killed during a meeting, and royal forces regained control, reversing promises and punishing participants. Trials and searches recorded regional events as residents again confronted landlords and government. Longer changes in service, rents and wages continued through population, markets and negotiation. Chroniclers and administrative records preserved demands and actions, allowing later readers to examine claims about freedom, work and public burdens voiced during this brief but extensive rebellion.

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