merchants were beheaded. The Chief Justice
was murdered while fleeing. The archbishop, who was a notoriously
exploitive landlord, the chancellor, and the treasurer were
murdered. Severed heads were posted on London Bridge. A mob took
control of the king's empty bedchamber in the Tower. The villeins
demanded that service to a lord be by agreement instead of by
servitude, a commutation of villein service for rents of a maximum
of 4d. per acre yearly, abolition of a lord's right for their work
on demand (e.g. just before a hail storm so only his crops were
saved), and the right to hunt and fish. The sokemen protested
having to use the lord's mill and having to attend his court.

The revolt was suppressed and its leaders punished. The king
issued proclamations forbidding unauthorized gatherings and
ordering tenants of land to perform their customary services. The
poll tax was dropped. For the future, the duty to deal with
rioting and vagrants was given to royal justices, sheriffs,
mayors, bailiffs, and constables as well as the Justices of the
Peace. There was a high Peace in each hundred and a petty
constable in each parish. Justices of the Peace could swear in
neighbors as unpaid special constables when disorder broke out.

The sheriff was responsible for seeing that men of the lower
classes were organized into groups of ten for police and surety
purposes, and for holding of hundred and county courts, arresting
suspects, guarding prisoners awaiting trial, carrying out the
penalties adjudged by the courts, and collecting Crown revenue
through his bailiffs. Royal writs were addressed to the sheriff.
Because many sheriffs had taken fines and ransoms for their own
use, a term limit of one year was imposed. Sheriffs, hundreders,
and bailiffs had to have lands in the same counties or bailiwicks
[so they could be held answerable to the King].

Efforts were made to keep laborers at the plough and cart rather
than learn a craft or entering and being educated by the church.
The new colleges at the universities ceased to accept villeins as
students.

Due to the shortage of labor, landlords' returns had decreased
from about 20% to about 5%. But some found new methods of using
land that were more profitable than the customary services of
villeins who had holdings of land or the paid labor of practically
free men who paid a money rent for land holdings. One method was
to turn the land to sheep breeding. Others leased their demesn