Peasants' Revolt Rebels Enter London and Burn Savoy Palace

Context

England in the late fourteenth century labored under the strains of prolonged warfare with France, which had required repeated parliamentary grants of taxation. The most recent burden was a poll tax levied in 1380 that fell equally on rich and poor alike, exacerbating resentment among rural laborers already chafing under the Statute of Labourers, which sought to cap wages after the Black Death had created acute labor shortages. Preachers such as John Ball amplified these grievances by calling for an end to serfdom and greater social equality.

What Happened

Kentish rebels led by Wat Tyler reached the southern approaches to London on June 13 after gathering at Blackheath. Defenders on London Bridge opened the gates, either in sympathy or under pressure, allowing the Kent contingent to cross into the city. At the same time, Essex rebels approached Aldgate, which was also opened to them. Once inside, the combined force, reinforced by many Londoners, broke open several prisons and released the inmates. The rebels then marched westward along the Strand to the Savoy Palace, the lavish London residence of John of Gaunt, the king’s powerful uncle. They systematically wrecked its contents—smashing plate, burning furnishings and records, and casting valuables into the Thames—while taking almost nothing for themselves, before setting the building ablaze. Nearby, they also attacked legal records and buildings in the Temple district.

Aftermath

The following day the young King Richard II met Essex rebels at Mile End and granted temporary concessions, including the abolition of serfdom and limits on further taxation. While the king was absent, Kentish rebels entered the Tower of London and executed Archbishop Simon Sudbury, the chancellor, and Sir Robert Hales, the treasurer, both closely identified with the poll tax. On June 15 at Smithfield, Wat Tyler was killed during negotiations, after which the rebels dispersed under promises of reform that were soon revoked.

Legacy

Although the revolt was crushed within weeks and its leaders executed, it exposed the fragility of royal authority and the depth of popular discontent with serfdom and regressive taxation in late medieval England. The episode remained a touchstone for later agrarian unrest and radical thought, even as serfdom itself gradually declined for economic rather than political reasons. Chroniclers and later historians have interpreted the events as both a spontaneous outburst of rage and a more organized protest against specific royal policies.