Unrest among peasants as well as prosperous…

Unrest among peasants as well as prosperous artisans and urban workers, a result of economic hardships related to the Black Death, peaks in 1380 when the English crown, through John of Gaunt, imposes, for war purposes, an oppressive poll tax of a shilling a head (a week’s pay for a free peasant; villeins, or vilage peasant-serfs, receive no wages) on every adult.

Its collection sparks revolt in June 1381 in Essex, where a village expels an overzealous tax collector, and spreads …