322 Peasants’ Revolt King Richard II and his party retreated to the Tower of London, where they were safe from the mob of rebels but were trapped On Thursday morning, June 13, the mob arrived at the gates of London, and the city admitted them The exact number of rebels that day is unknown Once inside the gates, they released prisoners from the Fleet, Newgate, and the Marshalsea; burned the Savoy palace owned by the king’s uncle; and murdered foreigners, notably the Flemish and Italians The royal party soon realized it was trapped Though safe in the impregnable Tower, they were too few in number to break out Their only hope was negotiation The king agreed to meet the rebels on June 14 at Mile End Friday morning Richard and his bodyguard of lords and knights rode out to talk with the mob The king had to grant pardons and give charters of freedom to the rebels Furthermore they demanded abolition of serfdom, rent of servile land of 4d per acre, freedom to buy and sell in markets of their choice, and the right to enter service contracts of their own free will Finally the rebels made Richard promise to punish traitors He conceded and the mob dragged Hales and Sudbury from the Tower and executed them summarily By this point most of the rebels had grown tired and hungry from their long adventure, and many had received what they had wanted Charters in hand, they began to disperse homeward However a large contingent of the most dedicated and radical remained, buoyed by the day’s successes They wanted more from the young king, and Richard agreed to meet them again on Saturday While the king prayed at Westminster, his nobles and the mayor mustered the London militia The next day the rebels stood defiant, bearing a royal standard and a banner of St George Richard and a small retinue rode out to meet Wat Tyler Tyler built on the rebels’ previous demands, including abolition of serfdom and all of lordship but the king’s, and disendowment of the church and dismantling of its hierarchy He also asked for the annulment of all law except the law of Winchester, which granted responsibility for peacekeeping to local authorities As unrealistic as the demands were, Richard conceded everything except his regality and demanded that the rebels disperse The peasants seemed satisfied, but then someone in the king’s retinue provoked Tyler, who then attacked the armored man with his knife, not harming him Walworth ordered his arrest and when Tyler resisted the mayor struck him twice with his sword, and then a member of the king’s household ran him through two or three times Tyler fell mortally wounded The crowd became agitated and the young king rode toward the crowd to calm the rebels while his retinue sent for the militia Sources suggest that the royal party had acted deliberately, but whatever the case the revolt collapsed and the rebels returned home under guard Tyler’s vision of a self-governing countryside died with him, but the peasants carried home their charters of freedom, which they would use to challenge lordship for years to come Widespread uprisings included attacks on abbeys and the magistracy, and the burning of manorial records after the rebellion in Essex during mid-June The uprisings occurred in at least 240 places around England and participants included wealthier peasants, as well as laborers and craftsmen Often townspeople and peasants coordinated their efforts, but in some areas, such as York, Beverley, and Scarborough in Yorkshire, the protests drew little or no rural support; nor did they necessarily call for a reordering of society However all wished to reduce or remove the power that their lords held over their lands or property The young king was not happy Despite their ample willingness to recognize him as their only lord, Richard felt angry that his kingdom had come so close to destruction He rode with a strong force into Essex, executing a “bloody assize,” and brutally suppressed the revolts He revoked the charters on July 2, warning the peasants that they remained in bondage, and that things were going to get worse The gentry and officials who ran the counties did not like these harsh tactics In Kent and Hertfordshire, the gentry did not desire brutal punishment; nor did