The Black Death arrived in England in 1348 and spread extremely quickly. It wiped out almost half of Englands' population in total.
Pay!
Due to this, workers realised that they could demand higher pay as there were fewer workers. Workers' wages went up which caused landowners to put pressure on the government. Eventually, King Richard II ordered that wages went back to how they were before. This happened in 1351 and was called the Statute of Labourers
We want higher pay!
John Ball was a radical preacher who was very critical of the feudal system and the Church. He had been excommunicated in 1366, having delivered sermons in which he suggested that society should not be organised by a class system. Medieval society regarded the monarchy and nobility as more important than the peasants, yet Ball preached that God saw everyone as equal and that peasants were unfairly treated. His ideas encouraged peasants to demand changes.
In 1377 King Richard II introduced the poll tax, which meant that all would have to pay the same. Noblemen and Lords could easily afford this however peasants couldn't. This made the peasants angry.
I won't be able to afford it!
Wat Tyler led many peasants into a rebellion. They demanded higher pay as they stormed across the country, starting in Essex but soon reached most of South-East England.
The revolt did not achieve all of the peasants’ aims . In the longer term, there were some changes and improvements to peasants’ rights. Wat Tyler was stabbed through the stomach by one of the kings squires.