1. Give students money as they come in.

2. What can you see?
What do you think happened to this man?

3. This is the skull of Simon Sudbury.
In the year Sudbury was murdered, peasants from Essex and Kent formed an army and marched to London and attacked lots of buildings and people.
They were revolting against the way the country was being run.
Simon Sudbury was one of the people they killed. They cut off his head and stuck it on a pole on London Bridge.
Why did the peasants revolt in 1381? And, how important was this man, John Ball, in causing the revolt?
What is shocking about this is that Sudbury had thought he was safe. He had hidden in the King’s castle, the Tower of London. But the rebels had managed to break in.
What is more shocking about this is that Sudbury, like Becket before him, had been the Archbishop of Canterbury!
Give four sweets to everybody and give ten to the knights.
So in this lesson we are going to find out why the peasants revolted in 1381 and stuck the head of the Archbishop of Canterbury on a pole. They even managed to capture the Tower of London, something that nobody has ever done since. Never mess with an Essex peasant.
First of all we’re going to recap what life was like for a fourteenth century peasant. For the purposes of this lesson we are going to be peasants. So can you put on your best peasant expressions. Thank you.
Ignoring the Black Death just for a minute, I’m going to ask three people what they know about what life was like for a peasant.
Hard – lots of work for landowners; Poverty – had to work really hard but didn’t get much money to feed their family; Unfair – had to do all the work, didn’t get very much food for it whereas there were all sorts of other people who didn’t have to work as hard but had much more to eat and got to wear clothes that weren’t brown.
Does anyone know the word for the system in the middle ages that set out a peasant’s position in society? I’ll make them a knight if they can tell me…
The Feudal System – give out sweets for right answer.
What had gone so wrong that ordinary people wanted to do something as drastic as murder the most important man in the Church?

4. How important was John Ball in the peasants’ revolt?
Our new Enquiry Question
Today I will practice:
Explanation skills: Identifying relevant reasons (causes) of an event
And making decisions about which reason (cause) is most important
In this lesson, we will begin a new study of the Peasants’ Revolt of 1381, which took place in the Fourteenth Century – just after the Black Death.
One of the causes (reasons for) the Peasants Revolt was the Black Death!
Yet there were other causes, too, including John Ball – how important was he, compared to the Black Death? What was his role in causing the Peasants Revolt?

5. RECAP: The Feudal System
King
Archbishops
Nobles
Bishops
Knights
Priests
Peasants
Peasants…
were the lowest members of society
had to work hard on the land with little pay
had to pay taxes and work for the church without pay

6. How important was John Ball in the peasants’ revolt?
Cause:
What happened?
How do you feel?
Justification
(why do you feel like this?)
Peasant Life
Peasants were the p_____members of society. They had to work on the l______ for little money, they had to pay t_____ and work for the C______ and the L______without pay
Peasants had a hard life, with little f_____ _______ and a lot of w_____. However, this had been their lot for centuries and they were used to it. They believed that G____ had said that it should be this way.
Statute of Labourers after the Black Death
The Poll Tax
John Ball

7. How important was John Ball in the peasants’ revolt?
RECAP: The Black Death
Peasants who survived the Black Death got richer/poorer because there were more/fewer peasants to do the work. This meant that the peasants could charge more/less money for the work they did.
This made the King and the nobles happy/unhappy as they were worried that they were losing/gaining power.
In 1351 they introduced the Statute of Labourers. This said that peasants could only be paid the same as they had before/after the Black Death.
This made the peasants richer/poorer and therefore happy/angry and this was an important cause of the Peasants’ Revolt.

8. How important was John Ball in the peasants’ revolt?
Cause: The Black Death
What happened?
I was getting richer because there were fewer people and I could ask for higher wages but now I am getting poorer again because of the Statute (law) which put a cap on my wages.
Firstly we’re going to recap the black death to put into your table. I’d like two people to see if they can remember an adjective, or describing word, about the black death:
Devestating – whole families died, villages deserted, husbands left their wives, affected everyone; Shocking – agonising, buboes in the armpits up to the size of an apple, people drowned in their own blood. Yuk.
But, the rats didn’t carry just fleas, they carried some good news for the surviving peasants, what was that?
Fewer people to farm the land so they could ask for more money.
So after the Black Death in 1348 some peasants had more money, they could make bigger houses, eat more meat and wear green clothes rather than brown. Many were able to buy their freedom. Does that mean we can put in a smily face onto our table?
NO! many peasants are still not free ALSO along came the Statue of Labourers in 1351 to keep wages low. Peasants can’t earn more than 2 pence per day!
So I am going to have to take another piece of your food away, peasants. [second sweet taken]
So now its time to put in an explanation for the Black Death in your table. I’ve put one up here. Copy it down please in the right part of the table, draw an expression and then write why you feel like that.
You have three minutes only.
[5 mins]
Jenny, what expression did you put on yours? Were you angry? Were you upset? [draw an expression on board on the following slide]

9. How important was John Ball in the peasants’ revolt?
Cause: The Black Death

11. How important was John Ball in the peasants’ revolt?
Cause: The Poll Tax
The poll tax is a tax that Richard II and his uncle John introduced. There had been a long war with France. Wars cost money.
So the King made everyone pay 4p every year. Then he raised the amount in 1379 and raised it again in 1381 to 12 pence.
1377: First Poll Tax introduced (4 pence)
1379: Second Poll Tax (8 pence)
1381: Third Poll Tax (12 pence)
Sorry, but I’m going to have to take away another part of your income.
[while collecting] Does anyone notice anything about the date 1381? Why was that date important?
It was the year of the peasants’ revolt.
Right, peasants, how are you feeling now? Nikki, how many sweets do you have left?
What do you think about the Knights?
Unfair. Is this a new feeling about the Knights? Or part of an existing problem?
Knights, how are you feeling?
Write down what happened, how you feel and explain why you feel this way on your table please. You have 3 minutes.
Will, what expression did you put on yours? Were you angry? Were you upset? [draw an expression on board using next slide]
OK peasants so you’re really annoyed now. Is it about time we heard some good news? Do you want to hear from somebody might be on your side? Let’s talk to John Ball.
But first, before Mr Stanford brings him in, we peasants need to think about some questions we might want to ask John Ball.
He’s a very busy man and only has about 10 minutes to spare.
We need to think really hard about what to ask him, so that we get straight to some answers about how John Ball was important in the peasants revolt.
So turn over the page and have a look at a list of questions...

12. How important was John Ball in the peasants’ revolt?
Cause: The Poll Tax

13. How important was John Ball in the peasants’ revolt?
Cause: John Ball
What is a good question to ask John Ball to find out how important HE was in the event?
Mr Stanford, can you bring in John Bull for us please? We’d like to hear what he has to say….peasants, are you ready with your questions?
Hello, have you come far today? Did you have a pleasant journey here? Many horses on the roads at this hour?
Ok, quickly, I want you to write in your tables. You have three minutes.

14. What is a good question to ask John Ball?
That depends on what you want to find out! The enquiry question is: How important was John Ball in the peasants’ revolt?
Try to find out what John Ball did or didn’t do that might help you understand why the peasants revolted.
Try to avoid anachronism (i.e. asking questions about something that didn’t exist then)
Choose from the following list of questions or make up your own:
What do you do for a living?
How do you feel about the poll tax?
Can you marry a nun?
Why have you come to talk to us peasants?
What do you think about how peasants are treated by other people?
Can you help me untie my goat?
Do you earn more than a Bishop?
Do you talk to God a lot?
Make NOTES about IMPORTANT things John Ball says.

15. Cause: John Ball How important was John Ball in the peasants’ revolt?
“When Adam delved and Eve span, Who was then the gentleman?
“From the beginning all men by nature were created alike.”
“Consider that now the time is come, appointed to us by God, in which ye may ( if ye will ) cast off your chains, and win back your freedom.”

16. How important was John Ball in the peasants’ revolt?
John Ball was a priest who worked at St James' Church in Essex. He believed it was wrong that some people in England were very rich while others were very poor. He made the peasants angry against the Lords who were taking money from them, and he encouraged the peasants to try to improve their lives. Ball's church sermons (lectures) criticising the feudal system upset the bishops. In 1366 he was sacked.
John Ball became a travelling priest and gave sermons in local churches. He was told that he should not be allowed to preach in church. He responded by giving talks on the village green. Eventually he was sent to prison.
On 7th June, 1381, Ball was rescued by rebels led by Wat Tyler. After ransacking the Archbishop of Canterbury's palace, the rebels, led by Tyler and Ball, began their march on London. When the rebels arrived at Blackheath it was estimated that there were about 30,000 people in Wat Tyler's army.

17. How important was John Ball in the peasants’ revolt?
Cause: John Ball

18. How important was John Ball in the peasants’ revolt?
CONCLUSION:
How important was John Ball in the peasants’ revolt?
Which of these answers do you like the best?
Would you like to combine any of these answers?
Would you like to come up with your own theory?
John Ball wasn’t important. He was just one man.
John Ball was the most important cause of the peasants’ revolt. He got all the peasants really worked up and angry which made them want to take action.
John Ball was important, but he wasn’t the most important. All the causes were as important as each other.
John Ball helped start the revolt, but he was not as important as the Poll Tax or Black Death. John Ball didn’t do anything to change peasants’ lives, like make them poorer.
So to finish off, I want you to choose one of these statements about how important John Ball was in the peasant’s revolt…