The Peasants’ Revolt remembered, in Islington … Former Cabinet
member Tony Benn will unveil a plaque commemorating one of the
most important events to have happened in Islington: the
Peasants’ Revolt of 1381. Rebelling peasants led by Wat Tyler
and Jack Straw, held their final major rally in Highbury in June
1381. Now Islington residents have voted to commemorate the
event with the first Islington People’s Plaque, which will be
installed by Islington Council on Saturday 11 June at the
Highbury Barn Tavern, N5. In 1381 the rebels were objecting to
an unpopular poll tax introduced by Richard II. Opposition to
the tax started in Essex and Kent, but soon spread to London,
with villagers marching on the city and storming the Tower of
London. Several officials were beheaded by the peasants,
including Sir Robert Hales, the Lord Treasurer, who was in
charge of collecting tax. Hales was Prior of St John of
Jerusalem in Clerkenwell, which was burnt to the ground by the
rebels. An estimated 20,000 insurgents then conver