When Medieval Peasants Attacked London
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London, 1381. A teenage king sits behind the walls of the Tower of London. Outside, thousands of rebels have flooded into the capital. They've burned records, stormed prisons, and have executed several members of the king's inner circle. Their demands are simple. Freedom, justice, and an end to the taxes and feudal obligations that have bound them for generations. At their head stands Watt Tyler, a man who just weeks earlier was virtually unknown. Now he's leading a rebellion that threatens the kingdom itself. From the chaotic mess that is medieval England, welcome to After Dark.
Hello and welcome to After Dark. I'm Maddy.
And I'm Anthony. We are taking you back to 1381 in today's episode, where thousands of ordinary people rose up against the crown, marched on London and came close to bringing England's political establishment to its knees. Today we're exploring the Peasants' Revolt, why it happened, who led it and what this extraordinary uprising tells us about life in medieval England.
Today's guest is none other than History Hit's very own Matt Lewis, our resident expert on all things medieval history. Listeners have caught him, can catch him, will catch him on our sister show Gone Medieval, as well as Echoes of History. You're a bit greedy, Matt, with your two podcasts. Yeah, you're
the only one, right? I'm literally all over the place
and
figuratively all over the
place. We love that for you. Peasants Revolt, there's a film about to come out. How are you feeling about it?
I'm excited to see it. I mean, I've only seen the trailer at this point. It looks traditionally medieval, grey, muddy and miserable.
It was all greyscale in the medieval period. I'm surprised you don't know that as a medieval historian.
Yeah, that bothers me slightly. It looks like it's just going to be a big, violent historical epic, which I'm here for.
I
wonder whether it's going to be another Braveheart to bookend the century with, but we'll find out.
Oh, interesting. Can't beat a Braveheart.
I love Braveheart.
It's
atrocious history, but it's a brilliant film.
Yeah, it is. Apart from the whole, I hate the dead wife, so I go for vengeance trope, which is just so frustrating.
Would you not look for vengeance if someone killed your wife?
I'm not challenging
you. I haven't seen it, so I don't know.
No, I would, but it's just, she was an interesting character. Could we not have kept her in? Oh, I
see, I see, I see, I see, I see.
Yeah.
I should probably watch it. I haven't seen it. You need to watch Braveheart. I need to watch more films, I think.
You've not seen Braveheart?
No. And we discovered during lunch break I haven't seen, what is it?
What sparked the Peasants' Revolt in 1381?
Indiana
Jones.
Any
Indiana Jones
films. Not a single one, even though he's dressed as Indiana Jones. I had a high opinion of you
before today started. You were wrong.
Yeah, well, you're cancelled now. Let's do some history, Matt. We are in the 14th century. Medieval England in this time. It's not a great century, is it? There's a lot going on. There's death and destruction everywhere we look. Talk us through some of that said
destruction. It is a fairly horrific century.
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