Tyler, Wat

Little is known about the early years of life, probably born in the village of Broxley ( Kent ), in the family of roofer Walter Hillard.

The events of the youth of Wat Tyler were reconstructed by historians in the book Life and Adventures of Wat Tyler, the Brave and Good ( 1851 ). In the book, Tyler after an unsuccessful romance enters the military service in the English army and goes to France . Wat takes part in a number of battles of the Hundred Years War . King Edward himself is distinguished by his courage and courage. Returning to his native village, Tyler marries and works as a village blacksmith .

Meanwhile, a rebellion is brewing in England , the situation is deteriorating due to news of the lower class uprisings in France and Flanders .

After the plague of 1348, known as the “ Black Death ”, the population declined by medieval estimates by one third. Agriculture fell into decay. There was no one to sow and harvest. Prices doubled. Requirements for higher wages followed. The village community, where peasant families are accustomed to live on the same land from generation to generation, began to disintegrate. Part of the peasants flees to the cities, becoming wage workers. Direct coercion by the landlords did not help. A new type of land holding is beginning to be introduced: the leasing of land, livestock, equipment, which was an important step on the path to capitalist agriculture. But the Lords tried to regain their old positions, as now they had to reckon with more free peasants and wage workers. This situation gave rise to the peasant uprising of 1381.

Escape from serfdom was only possible for a loner. For a man with a family, organization and armed uprising remained . Peasant unions gradually begin to grow. The uprising of 1381 was the work of people who had already won a certain degree of freedom and prosperity and now demanded more. The villans woke up human dignity. The demands of the peasants were as follows:

• The destruction of serfdom
• Commutation of all duties (replacement of natural duties with cash)
• Establishing a uniform cash rent of 4 pence per acre .

The country was ruled by a greedy venal noble, whose typical representative was John Gaunt , Duke of Lancaster. The foreign policy situation is worsening - recent expeditions to France end unsuccessfully, which causes a shortage of funds in the treasury. The government decides to introduce a poll tax of 3 grottos (a silver coin equal to 4 pence), which causes indignation of the masses. The protracted war with France and the introduction of a poll tax were the main reasons for the uprising of 1381.

Tyler leads the campaign of Kent peasants to London , along the way they are joined by peasants from other counties, as well as the poor and the urban mob. The rebels capture Canterbury , and then London. Peasants stormed the Tower and killed the Lord Chancellor and the Archbishop of Canterbury, Simon Sudbury .

With the rebels, demanding the abolition of serfdom, on June 14, 1381 in Mile End met King Richard II , who promises to fulfill all the requirements. The next day ( June 15 ), there is a new meeting with the king, on the Smithfield field, near the city wall of London, with a huge gathering of people. Now the rebels are demanding that all estates be equalized and communal lands returned to the peasants. However, during the meeting, Wat Tyler is killed by the close associates of the king (the mayor of London, William Walworth stabbed him in the neck with a dagger, one of the knights completed the job, drove up to Tyler from behind and pierced him with a sword). This introduces confusion and confusion into the ranks of the rebels, which Richard II took advantage of. The rebellion is quickly suppressed by the forces of the chivalrous militia. Despite the fact that the uprising was suppressed, a complete return to the previous order did not occur. It became apparent that the ruling classes could no longer relate to the peasants without some degree of restraint.

• In 1794, the English romantic poet Robert Southey wrote the drama Wat Tyler.
• The main and most significant work was devoted to this uprising by the Russian medieval historian academician D. M. Petrushevsky , the author of the book The Uprising of Tyler.
• In 1922, the Russian Soviet writer Andrei Globa wrote the poem Wat Tyler.
• The English composer Alan Bush created the Wat Tyler opera, dedicated to these events, which premiered on September 6, 1953 at the Leipzig State Opera House .
• Wat Tyler is one of the characters in the historical novel of the Soviet writer Z. K. Shishova “Jack Straw” (1943), dedicated to the fate of one of the associates of the peasant leader - Jack Straw.

• Morton, A. L. History of England. M .: Publishing house of foreign literature , 1950 . - 462 p.
• Parnov E. Under the crimson shower: A Tale of Wat Tyler. M .: Politizdat , 1988 . - 447 p. (Series " Flaming Revolutionaries ")
• Andrey Globa. Wat Tyler. Poem. Illustrations by M. Solomonov Petersburg State. Petersburg Publishing House 1922.- 78 p.
• Petrushevsky D. M. "The Rise of Wat Tyler." Part 1-2, St. Petersburg .; M., 1897-1901; M., 1937.
• Life and adventures of Wat Tyler, the good and the brave . L .: Collins Publishing , 1851 .