Chronicles

Led by John Ball, whom Froissart describes as a “crack-brained priest” (212), peasants revolt in England. Ball preached that since all people are descended from Adam and Eve, there should be no nobles superior to the serfs. Ball organized the peasants to demand that the king free the serfs. Led by two other peasant leaders, Jack Straw and Wat Tyler, the followers of John Ball looted the residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury along with several abbeys and homes of lawyers and judges. The movement spread to different towns and killed a number of judges while forcing several nobles and knights to join them.

When the people of London shut the gates of the city against the peasants, the peasants attacked the city, robbing and killing officials and foreign merchants and bankers, burning down several churches and palaces, and releasing the prisoners in jails. Then, the peasants refused to leave the city unless the king came to them and agreed to their demands. Following that, they broke into the Tower of London and beheaded the Archbishop of Canterbury and looted the residence of the king’s mother.

Richard II went to the peasants in person. The peasants asked Richard II to free them. Richard II promised to follow their demands and asked them to return to their villages, giving them letters that officially granted their requests. However, the three leaders of the peasant revolt stayed in London, planning to massacre the nobles in the city. Meanwhile, in the city of Norwich, the peasants offered to make the captain of the city, Robert Salle, who was a knight but came from the peasantry, lord over a fourth of England. When Salle refused and threatened to have them hanged as traitors, they attacked him. Salle was able to kill many of his attackers, but he was eventually slain, and his body cut into pieces.

Back in London, Richard II spoke with Wat Tyler personally. During the talk, a dispute broke out between Wat Tyler, one of the squires accompanying the king, and the mayor of London. In the course of the squabble, Wat Tyler was attacked and killed. When the crowd of peasants grew restless, Richard II rode on his horse toward them, saying, “You have no other captain but me. I am your king, behave peaceably” (227). When it was wrongly rumored that the king was assassinated by the mob, Londoners organized and armed themselves to fight. Richard II convinced the peasants to give up their banners and the royal letters. The mob split up, and Richard II ordered that anyone not a native of London had to leave the city. Next, the king and a number of armed men went around England to hunt down the ringleaders and participants of the revolt. Froissart estimates “fifteen hundred” were executed (230).