Peasants' Revolt: Murder in the Tower of London

After Dark: Myths, Misdeeds & the Paranormal

History Hit

Myths, Folklore, Mystery, History, Ghosts, Society & Culture, Murder, Ufos, True Crime, Paranormal, Supernatural, Serial Killers

4.6 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 17 February 2025

⏱️ 43 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

(2/2) A boy King, a rebel army, and the first ever execution at Tower Hill. Maddy Pelling tells Anthony Delaney the days in the summer of 1381 when rebels took control of London and King Richard II, only fourteen, restored a world turned upside down.

Edited by Tomos Delargy. Produced by Freddy Chick. Senior Producer is Charlotte Long.

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After Dark: Myths, Misdeeds & the Paranormal is a History Hit podcast.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi, we're your host's Anthony Delaney and Maddie Pelling.
0:03.7	And if you would like After Dark myths, misdeeds and the paranormal, ad free and get early access, sign up to History Hit.
0:11.1	With a History Hit subscription, you can also watch hundreds of hours of original documentaries with top history presenters and enjoy a new release every week.
0:20.7	Sign up now by visiting historyhit.com forward slash subscribe. top history presenters and enjoy a new release every week.
0:24.8	Sign up now by visiting historyhit.com forward slash subscribe.
0:38.9	At the heart of the story of the Peasants Revolt is the ruler and the mob, the king and the rebels.
0:46.1	We met the rebels in our last episode. Now it's time to meet the king, or rather the boy king,
0:59.2	Richard the second. Richard is only 14 years old in 1381, but it's him the rebels want to deal with. They want no intermediary, and no king but him. Perhaps young Richard likes the sound of that. It's the morning of Thursday
1:06.7	the 13th of June 1381, and the king's councillors have been struck dumb by the speed of the
1:13.5	rebels advance. Out of options, they have agreed that the king will meet the rebels at Rotherhide
1:19.8	on the banks of the Thames. So now, Richard II and his advisers are on the river's choppy waters, being rowed the short distance from the Tower of London to Rotherhide itself.
1:34.4	They're expecting to meet Watt Tyler and the other rebel leaders for a private meeting.
1:40.4	But as they near the banks, they gradually realise that there are thousands of people waiting for them there.
1:48.1	It seems like the whole horde from Blackheath has come to meet their king.
1:54.3	The king and his already rattled advisors are panicked now, unsure what to do.
1:59.6	On the muddy banks of Rotherhide, what Tyler and the rebels
2:02.9	watch the king's boat slow, Bob on the waves caught in indecision, then turn around and flee back
2:11.8	to the tower. When they see this, the rebels explode. If the king will not share words with them, they will take action, and London will fall.
2:25.5	By the afternoon, the men and women from Blackheath are through the city gates, across the river and into the heart of the capital.
2:33.2	They meet their fellow rebels from Essex inside.
2:37.1	Do not picture, though, a wild rampage, or a mob looting and pillaging while good citizens
2:43.8	cower. The rebels are organised, and they're targeted, but they will not be timid.
	...

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