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Lecture

William Tyler
The Peasants Revolt: England’s Only Revolution?

Monday 15.11.2021

Summary

The Peasants’ Revolt of 1381 was the first and the last working class attempt at revolution in England and has great importance, because it was one of the first steps on the road to democracy. William Tyler breaks down the circumstances leading to the revolt, the details of the revolt itself, and the significance of what came after.

William Tyler

An image of William Tyler

William Tyler has spent his entire professional life in adult education, beginning at Kingsgate College in 1969. He has lectured widely for many public bodies, including the University of Cambridge and the WEA, in addition to speaking to many clubs and societies. In 2009, William was awarded the MBE for services to adult education, and he has previously been a scholar in residence at the London Jewish Cultural Centre.

Well, the Chartist movement was awfully middle class. That was a problem with it. It didn’t reach, it was a very middle class led and very middle class sort of movement. The industrial revolution, there are, you have to think more if you want a working class movement against industrialization, you have to think of people like the Luddites, I think, rather than the Chartists.