Rebellion Starts in Essex & Kent
History: KS3, topic 7.2.1
The Rebellion Starts - Essex and Kent
The Revolt started in Essex on 20th May 1381 when John Bampton arrived to investigate the non-payment of the poll tax.
John Bampton
- John Bampton, a Member of Parliament and Justice of the Peace, summoned representatives from each village.
- They arrived armed and refused to pay.
- Bampton tried to arrest the villagers. Violence broke out during which three government officials and several villagers were killed.
- Bampton escaped back to London.
Bocking meeting
- On 4th June, the rebels met at a village called Bocking to discuss their plans.
- Several thousand rebels then marched from Essex towards London.
- One group headed into Suffolk to start another rebellion.
- At the same time, rebels in Kent attacked the jail in Maidstone and the town of Rochester, where the commander of Rochester Castle surrendered.
Wat Tyler's election
- On 7th June, Wat Tyler was elected as the rebels' leader at a meeting in Maidstone.
- Historians don't know much about him apart from that he was from Essex and fought as an archer in the war against France.
- He may have used the nickname Jack Straw.
March to Canterbury
- The rebels, led by Tyler, marched to Canterbury and captured it on the 10th of June.
- They attacked government buildings and dragged suspected enemies out of their homes to execute them.
- They also deposed the Archbishop of Canterbury, Simon Sudbury, and freed all of the prisoners in the jail.
Other revolts
- Revolts also broke out in Hertfordshire, Somerset, Cambridgeshire, Norfolk, Yorkshire, Lincolnshire and Northumberland.
Test yourself on Rebellion Starts in Essex & Kent
Who triggered the Peasants Revolt on 20th May 1381 when he investigated the non-payment of poll tax in Essex?
Where did other revolts break out?