Recently a tax collector and his men were   thrown out of a village  because tax rates were too high.  The tax collector got away safely but his men were injured badly and one or two men were killed.  The peasants and their leader Wat Tyler marched down to Smithfield to meet the King.  As Wat Tyler rode forward to talk with the King, the Mayor  Of  London rode towards him and stabbed Wat Tyler in the chest killing him. The reason for this being Wat Tyler  did not take his hat off to the King. 
     
     After the death of  Wat Tyler the King did a  very brave thing.  He road up to the peasants and told them that if they went homeand did not hurt him then they would not hear anything more from him.  The peasants did as they were told and went back to their villages.  This was very brave of the King  because this could have started a war. The King unfortunately did not honour his word and a few days later his army surrounded the villagers who had met him at Smithfield and had them hanged as traitors. The problem started a week earlier when over 20,000 villagers from Kent and Essex  marched down to London.  The King would not let the 20,000 peasants in but other peasants  from inside London let them in because they were not happy with the taxes either.  In London the main peasants killed the Archbishop of Canterbury, who was also the chancellor. The peasants blamed the Archbishop of Canterbury for imposing the unfair taxes.  While the peasants were in London they burnt down  John of Gaunts palace.  The peasants also killed the Archbishop of Canterbury because we all look up to god more than we look up to the King. The King  is now apparently worried incase the peasants intend to try to kill the King next.

                 
INTERVIEWS

THE KING 

Q.  Do you  think that the Lord Mayor of London should have killed Wat Tyler?
A.  " Yes because he was leading an uprise against me."

Q.  Were you afraid when the peasants killed the Archbishop Of Canterbury?
A.  NO !  Because if they killed me that would be Treason, so they wouldn't dare.

Q.  Why did you impose the high taxes?
A.  Because lots of people died in the Black Death so I was getting less money from taxes and the people were getting a bigger  share of the land for the same taxes.

Q.  What did you think started the peasants revolt?
A.  They were beginning to get greedy and  did not want to pay my taxes.

THE PEASANTS

Q.   Why do you think the Lord Mayor of London killed Wat Tyler?
A.  Because he doesn't want us to get what is rightfully ours.

Q.  Do you think that the King was afraid when you killed the Archbishop of Canterbury?
A.  Probably, because if we did get done for treason he would not be here so that is what we want.

Q.   Why do you think the King imposed high taxes?
A.  Because he thinks that we are getting too much land and we is not paying enough tax money.

Q.   What did you think started the peasants revolt?
A.   We did not want to pay high taxes just because we have more land and crops. 


THE EDITORIAL

Peasants and their leader's Wat Tyler and John Ball marched down to Smithfield to meet the King and discuss what was going to be done about the tax rise in the villages.    Wat Tyler rode out from the crowd of  angry peasants and road towards the King.  The King handed a glass of water to Wat Tyler, as Wat Tyler drank the water he spat out some thinking that it might have been fiddled with the Lord Mayor of London road forward towards Wat Tyler and stabbed Wat Tyler in the back leaving Wat Tyler lying dead on the floor and the crowd of peasants shocked.  At that very moment in time the King did a very brave thing he road over to the peasants and told them that everything was OK and the taxes would stay as they are.  The king did not keep his promise because a few days later villages were destroyed and people were hanged.  The rest of the villagers who were saved marched down to London to meet the king.  Villagers from inside London let the outsiders in.  When they were inside 4 brave men killed the Archbishop of Canterbury.  They also blamed him for imposing the  unfair taxes because he was also the chancellor.  The king got worried incase they were planning to kill him next.

By Anna Burchall