Entry taken from the book The Plantagenet
In 1377, only ten years old, Richard II became King of England after the death of his grandfather Edward III; Ricardo inherits the throne because before his grandfather died his father "The Black Prince" had done it. We dedicate an article to both characters in this blog (see links).
The situation of the child-king is complicated, both because of the power struggles during his minority between the different factions of the court (especially the one led by the king's uncle Juan de Gante), as well as the growing discontent and protests of the population due to the complicated economic situation in the country. This second aspect is the object of this entry.
To place ourselves in the environment in which the events that we are going to narrate occurred, we must first take into account that Europe had just gone through the worst epidemic in its history, known as the "Black Death", which in the mid-14th century devastated the continent and killed practically a third of its population. This produced as a consequence that the number of labor available to attend to the tasks of the field was drastically reduced. In England, as in other countries, the land was owned by the nobles, who leased it to the serfs of the gleba in very harsh conditions that worsened when the number of workers decreased as a result of the plague.
In addition, the English suffered a suffocating burden of taxes to cover the very costly undertaking of the long and unproductive Hundred Years' War against France. These taxes were also especially burdensome and unfair for ordinary people who had to pay them almost on an equal basis with the nobles of the kingdom, despite the different purchasing power of one and the other. On the other hand, the nobles acted in their territory at their free will, with the consent (if not with the collaboration) of the representatives of royal justice and against ordinary citizens.
So things were a matter of time before the population of the countryside and cities rebelled against the situation. Although the first fuses lit in 1380, the real fire broke out in 1381 and is known as Peasant's Revolt or "Peasants' Rebellion" despite the fact that representatives of cities from all over the country also played a leading role.
Led by John Ball and Wat Tyler, the rebels converged on London from the four cardinal points, liberating prison inmates as they went (John Ball himself was imprisoned in Canterbuy, where he was released and led the rebellion). Once in London, a number close to 30,000 men sowed panic, also freed the prisoners in the prisons of the capital and camped in Mile End, while the young monarch remained locked up in the Tower of London.
Since nobody seemed to know quite what to do, the king decided to take the initiative and go out to parley with the rebels; After two meetings with them, in the second of which Wat Tyler was wounded and arrested (he would later be executed), the teenage monarch convinced the rebels to drop their attitude and return home after promising to fulfill their demands (removal of those responsible for tax policy, review of the draconian land lease conditions and pardon for all those involved in the revolt). What the king could not prevent is that many tax collectors and political and religious authorities (including the Archbishop of York) were executed throughout England before the revolt was over.
However, with a coldness and maturity unbecoming of his fourteen years, Richard managed to put an end to a rebellion that could very well have ended his reign and his life, and all this through base of making some promises that at no time had the intention of fulfilling.
After managing to calm the waters and the rebels returned to their homes, Ricardo revoked all the provisions he had granted in London and began a policy of arrest and execution of the main leaders ( including John Ball). When in Essex some of the former rebels reminded him of the promises made and urged him to respect them, Richard II responded angrily calling them "accursed, rustic and unworthy of living" and promising that their conditions of life and work would be even harsher.
In this way Richard II successfully ended one of the dangers of his reign; However, he was not so successful with the threat that was closest to him, that of his own family and that of his cousin Enrique Bolingbroke... but that's another story.
Image| Peasant's Revolt
Dan Jones. Plantagenets, The Kings Who Made England.. Ed. William Collins, London. 1st edition (2103)
Peter Ackroyd. A History of England Volume I (Foundations). Ed. Mcmillan, London. 1st edition (2011)
Roy Strong. The Story of Britain. Ed. Pimlico, London. 1st edition (1998)
Simon Schama. A History of Britain. BBC Worldwide Limited, London. 1st edition, fourth printing (2000)
Derek Wilson. The Plantagenets, The Kings That Made Britain. Quercus Edition Ltd., London. Ebook edition (2014)