William Walworth group conspired to keep food prices up, lent money to the king at inflated interest, and through personal and financial influence persuaded the king to issue edicts profitable to themselves. His most famous exploit was his encounter with Wat Tyler during the English peasants' revolt of 1381, in his second term of office as Lord Mayor. In June of that year, when Tyler and his followers entered south London, Walworth defended London Bridge against them. He was with Richard II when he met the insurgents at Smithfield, and killed the rebel leader with his baselard. The circumstances of the killing
Economics of English towns and trade in the Middle Ages system of poll taxes, aiming to spread the costs of taxation across the entire of English society. One result of the economic and political tensions was the Peasants' Revolt of 1381 in which widespread rural discontent was followed by invasion of London involving thousands of rebels. The rebels had many demands, including the effective end of the feudal institution of serfdom and a cap on the levels of rural rents. The ensuing violence took the political classes by surprise and the revolt was not fully put down until the autumn, with up to 7,000 rebels being executed in the aftermath.