Wat Tyler

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Wat Tyler (1341 or Template:Circa – 15 June 1381) was a leader of the 1381 Peasants' Revolt in England. He led a group of rebels from Canterbury to London to oppose the collection of a poll tax and to demand economic and social reforms. While the brief rebellion enjoyed early success, Tyler was killed by officers loyal to King Richard II during negotiations at Smithfield, London.

Early lifeEdit

Little is known of Tyler's early life. Historical sources give differing accounts of his birth. One claims that he was born on 4 January 1341, while another source claims he was born around 1320. Most historians agree that he was born around 1341. He was probably born in Kent or Essex. "Wat" may have been his given name (derived from the Old English name Watt), or a diminutive form of the name Walter; his original surname was unknown.<ref name="dartfordarchive">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> It is thought that the name "Tyler" came from his occupation as a roof tiler, but this is not confirmed. It is probable that he lived in Kent or Essex; he has variously been represented as coming from Dartford and Maidstone in Kent, from Deptford, which was in Kent at the time, and from Colchester in Essex.<ref name="dartfordarchive"/><ref>Template:Cite ODNB</ref>

Peasants' RevoltEdit

The Peasants' Revolt began in May 1381, triggered by a recently imposed poll tax of 4 pence from every adult, whether peasant or wealthy. The revolt was not only about money, as the peasants also sought increased liberty and other social reforms. They demanded that each labourer be allowed to work for the employer of his choice and sought an end to serfdom and other rigid social demarcation. There were uprisings across England, with much of the unrest focused on Essex and Kent. The uprising was opposed by a significant part of English society in those regions, including nobility and wealthy religious establishments.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Many peasants and labourers were inspired by the teachings of John Ball, a radical priest who preached that all humans should be treated equally, as descendants of Adam and Eve, and who asked: "When Adam delved and Eve span/Who was then the gentleman?"<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

How Tyler became involved with the revolt is unknown, although a much later 16th-century source indicates that a man of a similar name, John Tyler, was its initiator.<ref name="dartfordarchive"/> This account suggests that a poll-tax collector had indecently assaulted John Tyler's daughter. It is suggested the poll tax collector "pulled up his daughter's clothes to see if she arrived at the age of puberty".<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In revenge he killed the miscreant and triggered the insurgency.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> According to article "Boys of English History" from The Boy's Own Paper (1879), Tyler "slew the wretch with his hammer," presumably a tool used in his trade, after the tax collector "vilely insulted the maiden." Regardless of the basis of that story, by June 1381, when groups of rebels from across the country began a coordinated assault on London, Wat Tyler had emerged as a leader of the Kentish forces.

On 13 June 1381 Tyler with other rebels of Kent crossed London Bridge to enter the city, as Stow recorded in his Summary and Annals. Once in the city, they attacked civil targets, destroying legal records, opening prisons, sacking homes, and killing individuals they thought were associated with the royal government.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> In response, King Richard II (then 14 years old) met with the rebels on 14 June and agreed to make many concessions and to give full pardons to all those involved in the rebellion. While some of the rebels were satisfied by the king's promises and dispersed, Tyler and his followers were not. On 15 June Tyler and his Kentish forces met King Richard at Smithfield, outside London. There, Tyler spoke personally with the king and put forward his demands. At first, the meeting seems to have gone well, with Tyler treating the king in a friendly, if overly familiar, manner, and Richard agreeing the rebels "should have all that he could fairly grant".<ref name="The Death of Wat Tyler : Y55 CAC">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

However, tensions quickly rose. According to a contemporary chronicler, Tyler acted contemptuously, calling for a flagon of water to rinse his mouth "because of the great heat that he was in" and when he received the water "he rinsed his mouth in a very rude and disgusting fashion before the King's face". Sir John Newton (a servant of the king) insulted Tyler by calling him "the greatest thief and robber in all of Kent". Tyler attacked Newton but was restrained and arrested by the Lord Mayor of London, William Walworth. Tyler then attempted to stab Walworth who was saved by his armour. Walworth slashed Tyler across the neck and head with his sword, and another of the king's servants, possibly Ralph de Standish, stabbed Tyler again, severely wounding him. Tyler managed to ride 30 yards before he fell from his horse.

DeathEdit

File:Peasants' Revolt (death of Wat Tyler).jpg

The death of Wat Tyler, illustrated in the Chronicles of Jean Froissart

In the disorder that followed, Tyler was taken to a hospital for the poor but was tracked down by Walworth, brought back to Smithfield and by judgment of the mayor publicly beheaded.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite book</ref> Tyler's head was placed atop a pole and carried through the city, then displayed on London Bridge.<ref name="The Death of Wat Tyler : Y55 CAC" /><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In the wake of Tyler's death, his followers were driven from London and the movement was shattered. Subsequently, Richard II revoked all the concessions he had made to the rebels, and many were hunted down and executed. That effectively ended the revolt.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

In literature and the artsEdit

John Gower comments on Tyler in his 14th-century poem Vox Clamantis:Template:Rp "The jay's voice is wild and he has only learnt the art of speaking from the classes with whom the Latin poet is identified."<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> A number of works in the post-medieval period have featured Tyler as protagonist. Tyler is the protagonist of the play Wat Tyler and Jack Straw, or, The Mob Reformers (1730) first performed at Bartholomew Fair in 1730. Tyler is represented in Robert Southey's Wat Tyler, A Dramatic Poem, which was written in 1794 and published in 1813.

The first novel to feature Tyler is Mrs. O'Neill's The Bondman: A Story of the Days of Wat Tyler (1833). He is the protagonist in Pierce Egan the Younger's novel Wat Tyler, or the Rebellion of 1381 (1841), a highly radical text published at the height of the second phase of the Chartist movement that argued for republican government in England.<ref>Basdeo, Stephen 'Radical Medievalism: Pierce Egan the Younger's Robin Hood, Wat Tyler, and Adam Bell' in Leeds Working Papers in Victorian Studies Vol. 15: Imagining the Victorians Eds. Stephen Basdeo & Lauren Padgett (Leeds: LCVS, 2016), pp. 48–64.</ref> Egan's novel was subsequently abridged and plagiarised and published as The Life and Adventures of Wat Tyler: The Good and the Brave (1851). Tyler is the protagonist of the penny dreadful serial novel Wat Tyler; or, The King and the Apprentice which appeared in weekly parts in The Young Englishman's Journal in 1867. Tyler appears as a main character in William Harrison Ainsworth's Merry England; or, Nobles and Serfs (1874). In Charles Dickens' Bleak House (1853), his name is invoked by Sir Leicester Dedlock as an example of what would happen if any concessions were made to "some person in the lower classes". Dickens also makes reference to Tyler in the novel Our Mutual Friend. Tyler features as a sympathetic hero in the novel A Dream of John Ball (1888) by William Morris.<ref>Charles Harvey and Jon Press, William Morris: Design and Enterprise in Victorian Britain. Manchester, Manchester University Press, 1991. Template:ISBN (p. 192).</ref>

Tyler is mentioned in Redburn by Herman Melville<ref>Melville, Herman (1849), in the fictional work Redburn, mentioned in chapter 24.</ref> and in A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain.<ref>Mark Twain (1889), in the fictional work A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, chapter 13.</ref> Tyler features briefly in the historical fiction The Mediation of Ralph Hardelot (1888) by William Minto.<ref>John Sutherland, The Stanford Companion to Victorian Fiction. Stanford, Calif. : Stanford University Press, 1990. Template:ISBN (pp. 436–437)</ref> The juvenile novel A March on London (1897) by G. A. Henty, depicts Tyler briefly as a "sullen and resentful" demagogue. Henty's book was illustrated by W.H. Margetson.<ref>Taylor, Antony, London's Burning : Pulp Fiction, the politics of terrorism and the destruction of the capital in British popular culture, 1840–2005. London : Bloomsbury Academic, 2013. Template:ISBN (pp. 41–42)</ref> Long Will (1903), a novel by Florence Converse, depicts a meritorious Tyler.<ref>Ortenberg, Veronica (1981). In Search of the Holy Grail: the Quest for the Middle Ages. London: Hambledon Continuum. Template:ISBN. (p. 79).</ref>

The 1921 play Wat Tyler by Halcott Glover interprets Tyler as a sympathetic protester against feudal tyranny, who is driven into violence by John Ball's preaching.<ref>"Wat Tyler and the Phoenix" by "S.O." (Review of Wat Tyler by Halcott Glover). In The English Review, London, December 1921 (pp. 514–517)</ref> Riot at Gravesend (1952), a novel by William Howard Woods, focuses on the combats between the rebels and the authorities.<ref>McGarry, Daniel D., White, Sarah Harriman, Historical Fiction Guide: Annotated Chronological, Geographical, and Topical List of Five Thousand Selected Historical Novels. Scarecrow Press, New York, 1963 (p. 81)</ref> Who Then Was The Gentleman? (1963) is a novel by Charles E. Israel, that renders a courageous and charismatic Tyler.<ref>Smith, Myron J. War Story Guide: an annotated bibliography of military fiction. Scarecrow Press, 1980. Template:ISBN (p. 28)</ref> A Summer Storm (1976), a novel by Jane Lane, depicts Tyler as a villain.<ref>Bird, Brian, Rebel Before His Time : the story of John Ball and the Peasants' Revolt. Worthing : Churchman Publ, 1987. Template:ISBN (p. 150)</ref> The novel The Confession of Jack Straw (1991) by Simone Zelitch features Tyler as a central character.<ref>Lynda G. Adamson, World Historical Fiction: An Annotated Guide to Novels for Adults and Young Adults. Phoenix, AZ; Oryx Press Template:ISBN (p. 173)</ref> The children's novel Fire, Bed, and Bone (1997) by Henrietta Branford has Tyler as one of its characters.<ref>Barr, Catherine. Best books for children: preschool through grade 6. Libraries Unlimited, 2007 Template:ISBN (p. 453).</ref> Tyler is the principal character in the historical novel Now is the Time (2015) by Melvyn Bragg.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

English composer Alan Bush wrote an opera, Wat Tyler, about Tyler's life. Bush's opera was premiered at the Leipzig Opera in 1953.<ref>Nancy Bush. Alan Bush: Music, Politics and Life. London: Thames Publishing (2000). Template:ISBN (pp. 61–62)</ref> Singer-songwriter Martin Newell references Tyler and the Peasant's Revolt in his song "The Jangling Man" from the 1990 album Number Thirteen, in reference to the poll tax riots. English folk singer-songwriter Frank Turner references Tyler's negotiations at Smithfield in "Sons of Liberty" from the 2009 album Poetry of the Deed, and again mentions Tyler by name in "One Foot Before the Other" from 2011 album England Keep My Bones. Provisional IRA member and hunger striker Bobby Sands references "Wat the Tyler" and his poor in one of his wider-known poems written while in prison, "The Rhythm of Time".<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> A cultural history survey of Tyler's portrayals in post-medieval literature down to the modern period has been written by Stephen Basdeo who argues that most of Tyler's appropriations in popular culture appear at times of political excitement.<ref>Basdeo, Stephen, The Life and Legend of a Rebel Leader: Wat Tyler (Barnsley: Pen and Sword, 2018), p. 1.</ref>

TributesEdit

A section of the A249 road passing through Maidstone is named "Wat Tyler Way" in his honour.<ref name="cant">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> "Tyler's Causeway" running from Newgatestreet Village towards the A1000 in Hertfordshire named for the route taken by some of his followers fleeing the capital following his death. A road on the western edge of Blackheath is called Wat Tyler Road<ref name="cant" /> Wat Tyler Country Park in Essex is named after him. Swindon Borough Council's Offices are in Wat Tyler House. A memorial commemorating Wat Tyler and the Great Rising of 1381 was unveiled on 15 July 2015 in Smithfield, London.

ReferencesEdit

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External linksEdit

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Wat Tyler Country Park
Wat Tyler on historyguide.org – a description, from a chronicle of the time, which relates the final meeting between Wat Tyler and King Richard II.
Wat Tyler's Rebellion in Froissart chronicle. – excerpts, from a Full 12 volume edition of Froissart chronicle related to Wat Tyler's Rebellion.
EASF radical history wiki Template:Dead link An East Anglia-specific look at the rebellion
The Peasants' Revolt, BBC Radio 4 discussion with Miri Rubin, Caroline Barron & Alastair Dunn (In Our Time, Nov. 16, 2006)
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