What were the reasons for the French of 1358 and the English Peasants' Revolt of 1381?

Question

These were around the Dark Ages of European history.

Answer 1

The English Peasants' Revolt - The revolt was precipitated by heavy-handed attempts to enforce the third poll tax.

There were far fewer labourers to do all the work on the manors of England, so the ones that were not wiped out by the Black Death were left to work alone on the land. These people began to ask for higher wages and fewer hours of work. Some of them asked for their freedom. They often got what they asked for: the lords of the manors were desperate to get their land farmed and their animals looked after. Then, in 1351, King Edward III summoned parliament to make a new law. The law was called the Statute of Labourers and it tried to make sure that the landowners had as many labourers as they wanted - and that they paid them no more than before the Black Death. This angered the peasants greatly.

French Peasants' Revolt - The uprising was in part a reaction to widespread poverty during the Hundred Years War. Peasants revolted against the écorcheurs (mercenaries who fought in the war), who pillaged their land, and the nobles, who made extortionate demands but did not protect them.