The English Peasants' Revolt of 1381 That Briefly Captured London, Beheaded the Archbishop of Canterbury, and Was Ended When the Lord Mayor Stabbed Wat Tyler in Front of the King
The Peasants' Revolt began in Essex on 30 May 1381 in response to the third Poll Tax in four years. About 60,000 rebels marched on London by mid-June. They beheaded the Archbishop of Canterbury Simon Sudbury on Tower Hill. The Lord Mayor William Walworth stabbed the rebel leader Wat Tyler in the throat at Smithfield on 15 June while Tyler was negotiating face-to-face with the 14-year-old King Richard II.
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