The Burning of the Savoy Palace: The Rebels’ Fury Against John of Gaunt

On 13 June 1381 the rebels of Kent and Essex reached the Strand and set fire to the Savoy, the grandest private house in England and the home of the most hated man in the realm — John of Gaunt. What they did there, and how carefully they refused to steal a single thing, tells you everything about what the Peasants’ Revolt really was.

The Poll Tax of 1381: The Tax That Sparked a Rebellion

In four years the English Crown demanded three poll taxes to pay for a failing war. The third — a flat shilling a head — was the spark that lit the greatest popular rising in medieval England. This is how a tax broke a kingdom’s patience.