On Monday preceding the feast of the Holy Sacrament, in the year 1381, did these people sally forth from their homes, to come to London to remonstrate with the king, that all might be made free, for they would not there should be any slaves in England. At Canterbury they met John Ball (who thought he should find there the archbishop, but he was at London), Wat Tyler, and Jack Straw. On their entrance into Canterbury, they were much feasted by every one, for the inhabitants were of their way of thinking; and, having held a council, they resolved to march to London, and also to send emissaries across the Thames to Essex, Suffolk, Bedford, and other counties, to press the people to march to London on that side, and thus, as it were, to surround it, which the king would not be able to prevent. It was their intention that all the different parties should be collected together on the feast of the Holy Sacrament, or on the following day.

On Corpus Christi Day, King Richard heard mass in the Tower of London, with all his lords, and afterwards entered his barge, attended by the Earls of Salisbury, Warwick, and Suffolk, with other knights. He rowed down the Thames toward Rotherhithe, a manor belonging to the crown, where were upward of ten thousand men, who had come from Blackheath to see the king and to speak to him. When they perceived his barge approach, they set up such shouts and cries as if all the devils in hell had been in their company.

When the king and his lords saw this crowd of people, and the wildness of their manner, there was not one among them so bold and determined but felt alarmed: the king was advised by his barons not to land, but to have his barge rowed up and down the river. “What do ye wish for?” demanded the king: “I am come hither to hear what you have to say.” Those near him cried out with one voice, “We wish thee to land, when we will remonstrate with thee, and tell thee more at our ease what our wants are.” The Earl of Salisbury then replied for the king, and said, “Gentlemen, you are not properly dressed, nor in a fit condition for the king to talk with you.”

Nothing more was said; for the king was desired to return to the Tower of London, from whence he had set out. When the people saw they could obtain nothing more, they were inflamed with passion, and went back to Blackheath, where the main body was, to relate the answer they had received, and how the king was returned to the Tower. They all then cried out, “Let us march instantly to London.” They immediately set off, and in their road thither they destroyed the houses of lawyers, courtiers, and monasteries. Advancing into the suburbs of London, which were very handsome and extensive, they pulled down many fine houses: in particular, they demolished the prison of the king, called the Marshalsea, and set at liberty all those confined within it. They did much damage to the suburbs, and menaced the Londoners at the entrance of the bridge for having shut the gates of it, saying they would set fire to the suburbs, take the city by storm, and afterwards burn and destroy it.

With respect to the common people of London, numbers were of their opinions, and, on assembling together, said, “Why will you refuse admittance to these honest men? They are our friends, and what they are doing is for our good.” It was then found necessary to open the gates, when crowds rushed in, and ran to those shops which seemed well stored with provision: if they sought for meat or drink, it was placed before them, and nothing refused, but all manner of good cheer offered, in hopes of appeasing them.

Their leaders, John Ball, Jack Straw, and Wat Tyler, then marched through London, attended by more than twenty thousand men, to the palace of the Savoy, which is a handsome building on the road to Westminster, situated on the banks of the Thames, belonging to the Duke of Lancaster: they immediately killed the porters, pressed into the house, and set it on fire. Not content with committing this outrage, they went to the house of the Knights Hospitalers of Rhodes, dedicated to St. John of Mount Carmel, which they burnt, together with their hospital and church. They afterwards paraded the streets, and killed every Fleming they could find, whether in house, church, or hospital: not one escaped death. They broke open several houses of the Lombards, taking whatever money they could lay their hands on, none daring to oppose them. They murdered a rich citizen called Richard Lyon, to whom Wat Tyler had been formerly servant in France; but, having once beaten this varlet, he had not forgotten it, and, having carried his men to his house, ordered his head to be cut off, placed upon a pike, and carried through the streets of London. Thus did these wicked people act like madmen; and on this Thursday they did much mischief to the city of London.

Toward evening they fixed their quarters in a square called St. Catherine’s, before the Tower, declaring they would not depart thence until they should obtain from the king every thing they wanted, and have all their desires satisfied, and the Chancellor of England made to account with them, and show how the great sums which had been raised were expended; menacing, that, if he did not render such an account as was agreeable to them, it would be the worse for him. Considering the various ills they had done to foreigners, they lodged themselves before the Tower. You may easily suppose what a miserable situation the king was in, and those with him; for at times these rebellious fellows hooted as loud as if the devils were in them.

About evening a council was held in the presence of the king, the barons who were in the Tower with him, Sir William Walworth the mayor, and some of the principal citizens, when it was proposed to arm themselves, and during the night to fall upon these wretches who were in the streets, and amounted to sixty thousand, while they were asleep and drunk, for then they might be killed like flies, and not one in twenty among them had arms. The citizens were very capable of doing this, for they had secretly received into their houses their friends and servants, properly prepared to act. Sir Robert Knolles remained in his house, guarding his property, with more than sixscore companions completely armed, and would have instantly sallied forth. Sir Perducas d’Albreth was also in London at that period, and would have been of great service; so that they could have mustered upward of eight thousand men, well armed. But nothing was done, for they were too much afraid of the commonalty of London; and the advisers of the king, the Earl of Salisbury and others, said to him, “Sir, if you can appease them by fair words, it will be so much the better, and good-humoredly grant them what they ask: for, should we begin what we cannot go through, we shall never be able to recover it: it will be all over with us and our heirs, and England will be a desert.” This counsel was followed, and the mayor ordered to make no movement. He obeyed, as in reason he ought. In the city of London, with the mayor, there are twelve sheriffs, of whom nine were for the king and three for these wicked people, as it was afterwards discovered, and for which they then paid dearly.

On Friday morning those lodged in the square before St. Catherine’s, near the Tower, began to make themselves ready; they shouted much, and said, that, if the king would not come out to them, they would attack the Tower, storm it, and slay all in it. The king was alarmed at these menaces, and resolved to speak with them: he therefore sent orders for them to retire to a handsome meadow at Mile-end, where, in the summer, people go to amuse themselves, and that there the king would grant them their demands. Proclamation was made in the king’s name for all those who wished to speak with him to go to the above-mentioned place, where he would not fail to meet them.

The commonalty of the different villages began to march thither; but all did not go, nor had they the same objects in view, for the greater part only wished for the riches and destruction of the nobles, and the plunder of London. This was the principal cause of their rebellion, as they very clearly showed; for when the gates of the Tower were thrown open, and the king, attended by his two brothers, the Earls of Salisbury, of Warwick, of Suffolk, Sir Robert de Namur, the Lords de Vertain and de Gommegines, with several others, had passed through them, Wat Tyler, Jack Straw, and John Ball, with upward of four hundred, rushed in by force, and, running from chamber to chamber, found the Archbishop of Canterbury, whose name was Simon, a valiant and wise man, and chancellor of England, who had but just celebrated mass before the king: he was seized by these rascals, and beheaded. The Prior of St. John’s suffered the same fate; and likewise a Franciscan friar, a doctor of physic, who was attached to the Duke of Lancaster, out of spite to his master; and also a sergeant at arms of the name of John Laige. They fixed these four heads on long pikes, and had them carried before them through the streets of London: when they had sufficiently played with them, they placed them on London Bridge, as if they had been traitors to their king and country.

These scoundrels entered the apartment of the princess, and cut her bed; which so much terrified her, that she fainted, and in this condition was by her servants and ladies carried to the river-side, when she was put into a covered boat, and conveyed to the house called the Wardrobe, where she continued that day and night like to a woman half dead, until she was comforted by the king her son, as you shall presently hear.