The Anonimalle Chronicle<\/a>, an anonymous 14th-century account written at St Mary\u2019s Abbey in York by a probable eyewitness of the revolt, reported that the rebels had a watchword among themselves. The challenge was \u201cwith whom haldes [holds] yow?\u201d \u2013 to which the appropriate reply was said to be: \u201cWyth kynge Richarde and wyth the trew communes [commoners].\u201d Anyone who provided the wrong answer was said to have been put to death. <\/p>\n What, then, were the aims of the rebels portrayed in the film, and why were they seemingly so loyal to the king?<\/p>\n \n The uprising of 1381 was in part caused by widespread discontent at government corruption. Richard succeeded to the throne in 1377 at just ten years old. His young reign was largely overseen by his uncle, John of Gaunt<\/a>, and royal councillors.<\/p>\n The hundred years war (1337-1453) between England and France was going badly for the English cause, and the crown needed to raise money. It turned to a new form of taxation. The deeply unpopular \u201cpoll taxes\u201d were raised three times in five years (1377, 1379 and 1381) \u2013 the last of which triggered the uprising.<\/p>\n Medieval chroniclers had little sympathy for the rebels. Yet even the Anonimalle Chronicle<\/a> reported that it seemed the taxation \u201chad not been properly or honestly collected, but had been raised from the poor people and not the rich to the great profit and advantage of the collectors\u201d.<\/p>\n The rebels did not blame the king himself, but rather those around him who had misspent this money. This was a common political tactic in medieval England, whereby critics of the government blamed the king\u2019s corrupt advisers.<\/p>\n During the parliament<\/a> of Edward III\u2019s reign in 1376, it had been claimed that various people \u201chave in their hands without the king\u2019s knowledge his wealth and treasure\u201d. <\/p>\n Similar complaints were made in 1381. The Anonimalle Chronicle<\/a> reported that the rebels said they had risen to save the king, \u201cand to destroy traitors to him and the kingdom\u201d.<\/p>\n The rebels had very specific targets in mind. They destroyed the Savoy Palace in London belonging to John of Gaunt, along with his household possessions. In his contemporary chronicle, Henry Knighton<\/a> described how one rebel stole a fine piece of silver there \u2013 only to be thrown into the fire by other rebels who said \u201cthey were lovers of truth and justice, not robbers and thieves\u201d.<\/p>\n The rebels besieged the Tower of London and managed to enter it. Among others, they seized and beheaded the archbishop of Canterbury, Simon Sudbury<\/a>, who was also the chancellor of England, and Sir Robert Hales<\/a>, the treasurer of England. Both men were held directly responsible for the poll taxes by the rebels.<\/p>\n Thomas Walsingham<\/a>, a 14th-century monk of St Albans Abbey, questioned how the rebels managed to extract them from the tower. He claimed there were 600 men at arms and 600 archers garrisoned there \u2013 and accused them of cowardice, saying they were \u201cinclined to appear more like the dead than the living\u201d in allowing the rebels to take the officials.<\/p>\n When the king finally met the rebels at Mile End, the Anonimalle Chronicle<\/a> reported that the rebels were said to have knelt before him, saying: \u201cWelcome our lord king Richard, if it pleases you, and we will not have any other king but you.\u201d<\/p>\n The rebels\u2019 complaints went far beyond government corruption. They also wanted an end to all serfdom.<\/p>\n Serfs were forced to work the land for their lords and had many legal restrictions on their lives. Serfdom was seen as degrading and heavily resented by the peasantry.<\/p>\n Some of the demands of the rebels included that there should be no outlawry \u2013 a harsh legal penalty which meant anyone was technically allowed to kill an outlawed criminal. They also demanded that there should be no lords except the king himself; that the goods of the church be divided among the people of the parish; and that there should be no serfdom but that all men should be free. <\/p>\n They also targeted written records. The Anonimalle Chronicle<\/a> reported that they \u201cburnt all the register books and chancery remembrancers\u2019 rolls\u201d they found at Lambeth Palace. And they destroyed Temple Bar, including the \u201cmany muniments which the lawyers were keeping in custody\u201d.<\/p>\n The young king Richard acceded to many of the rebels\u2019 demands. Knighton<\/a> described how the king granted a charter under his great seal \u201cdeclaring that all men in the realm of England should be free\u201d. After the suppression of the uprising, however, the charter was \u201cquashed, annulled and adjudged worthless\u201d.<\/p>\n The uprising was unsuccessful in many of the rebels\u2019 aims. It was harshly suppressed and many of its leaders were tried and executed. Wat Tyler, a key leader of the revolt, was killed by William Walworth, the mayor of London, at Smithfield.<\/p>\n
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\n Read more:
\n Who were the \u2018peasants\u2019 of the 1381 Peasants\u2019 Revolt? New database has answers<\/a>
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\nThe aims of the rebels<\/h2>\n
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\n British Library<\/a><\/span>
\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\nAn end to serfdom<\/h2>\n
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\n Biblioth\u00e8que nationale de France<\/a><\/span>
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