The Peasants Who Almost Destroyed Medieval England

[00:00:00]In 1381, ordinary farmers dragged England to the edge of collapse. [music] They burned a royal palace, executed the Archbishop of Canterbury, and the king was [music] only 14 years old.

[00:00:12]This was the Peasants' Revolt, and it came terrifyingly close to dismantling the entire medieval English order.

[00:00:19]Serfs, the lowest people in society, were furious over a brutal new poll tax, >> [music] >> and they stopped begging and started marching.

[00:00:28]Tens of thousands flooded into London, seized [music] the Tower, and burned the palace of the most powerful man in England to the ground.

[00:00:35]But here is the part [music] that will genuinely disturb you. It gets so much darker before it ends.

[00:00:41]Their leader, Wat Tyler, [music] met the teenage King Richard II face-to-face for peace talks and was stabbed by the Lord Mayor mid-negotiation.

[00:00:51]With his leader bleeding out, the crowd raised their weapons, >> [music] >> and a 14-year-old king rode directly toward them alone and talked them down.

[00:00:59]Richard promised the [music] rebels freedom, pardons, the end of serfdom, every single demand.

[00:01:05]>> [music] >> The moment the crown stabilized, he broke every promise, hunted the rebels down, and had hundreds executed.

[00:01:12]The underclass [music] nearly toppled a kingdom, and a child's lie crushed them completely.

[00:01:17]Drop a comment if your history class [music] never taught you this.

[00:01:20]Follow for the dark history they buried in the footnotes.