Hello, and thanks for joining me for another Oak Academy history lesson.

My name is Mrs. Knox, and today I'll be taking you through the resources that you need to complete this lesson.

So let's get started now.

Our lesson today is part of the unit of work on the peasants' revolt, where we we're asking why do historians disagree about the causes of the peasants' revolt? In our lesson today, we'll be looking at Richard II and the War in France, and by the end of the lesson, you'll be able to explain how a background of conflict influenced Richard II's policies.

In our lesson today, we'll come across a couple of keywords.

So let's take a look at those now.

The first word we'll see is heir, which is a person who expects to inherit a position.

We'll also hear the term poll tax, which is a payment made to the government by every adult regardless of how wealthy they are.

So we'll get started now with the first section of our lesson, which will focus on King Richard II.

Having first arrived on English shores in 1348, the Black death returned in waves throughout the remainder of King Edward III's reign.

The worst outbreaks were in 1361 and 1369.

The shadow of death and disease continued to stop the peasants who worked the land.

The royal family was less badly affected.

Edward III lost a daughter, Joan, to the first wave of the plague in 1348, but richer people tended to be able to escape the worst effects of the plague.

Indeed, five of Edward's sons survived to be adults, so he knew that there would be an heir to his kingdom when he died.

In 1376, his eldest son, commonly known as the Black Prince, died unexpectedly leaving Edward's 9-year-old grandson, Richard, as heir to the throne.

When Edward died in 1377, Richard, now age 10, became King Richard II.

At this time, the young King was largely controlled by his uncle, the wealthy, and unpopular John of Gaunt.

This particularly angered representatives in parliament who felt that John of Gaunt was exercising too much power over royal policy and the government of England, trouble was brewing.

Okay, let's have a check now of your understanding so far.

I'd like you to answer this question.

Which group of people were more likely to escape the worst effects of the plague, A, the poor.

B, the rich, or C women? Press pause now and then press play to hear the answer.

You should have said, the correct answer was B, the rich were more likely to escape the worst effects of the plague.

Here's another question now.

True or false? Richard II was able to govern England alone as soon as he came to the throne.

Press pause now and then press play for the answer.

You should have said, the correct answer is false.

I'd like you to press pause again now to write an explanation about why the answer is false.

You could have said that Richard was too young to rule alone, so he took advice from his uncle, John of Gaunt.

Finally, in this section, I'd like you to answer the following questions in full sentences.

Press pause to complete the questions, and then press play to see what you could have written.

Welcome back.

Let's have a look at the correct answers.

For question A about why Edward III knew there would be an heir to the kingdom.

You could have said that when he died, five of his sons had survived to adulthood.

For question B about who died unexpectedly, in 1376? You should have said it was Edward's eldest son, the Black Prince.

For question C about who controlled Richard II when he first became King? You should have said that he was controlled by John of Gaunt.

And finally, for question D about why parliament became angry with John of Gaunt controlling Richard II? You could have said that Parliament thought he was exercising too much power over royal policy and the government of England.

Well done if you answered all of the questions correctly.

We're ready to move on now to section two of our lesson today, which will focus on Richard II and the poll tax.

Richard inherited a kingdom locked in an expensive and difficult war with France.

Historians have later come to call this conflict the Hundred Years' War, though people at the time could not have known that it would last until 1453.

It had begun in 1337 when Edward III formally claimed that he was the rightful king of France.

He argued that he had a right to the French throne because his mother's brother had been the French king, Charles IV.

The war had begun well for the English with a series of impressive victories across northern France.

Edward III had earned himself a reputation as a brave and wise warrior.

However, as the conflict continued, the English began to suffer some defeats and the cost of sustaining an ongoing war grew and grew.

By the time of Edward's death in 1377, the English government was preparing to raise even more money from the people so that the claim of the English came to the French throne could continue to be upheld.

Okay, let's have a quick check again of your understanding.

Which one of the following was the main reason for the outbreak of the Hundred Years' War? A, the French king claimed to be the rightful heir to the English throne.

B, Edward III hated France and wanted to conquer it or C, Edward III claimed to be the rightful heir to the French throne.

Press pause now and then press play to hear the correct answer.

That's right, you should have said the correct answer was, C, a Hundred Years' War started because Edward III claimed to be the rightful heir to the French throne.

In order to prepare for future conflict against France, a poll tax had been raised in 1377.

This was a form of taxation in which every person had to pay the same amount.

It did not matter if you were the richest barren, or the poorest farmer, you would expect you to pay the same.

In 1377, the rate had been set at four pence.

Richard II charged the tax again in 1377 and tripled the charge to 12 pence in 1381.

This was considered to be particularly unfair by the peasants and yeomen farmers, who farmed their own land, who felt that the burden was falling most heavily upon them.

Although they had less money, they would expected to pay the same as the richest in the kingdom.

Popular anger about the poll tax combined with ongoing resentment of John of Gaunt's wealth and power now hung in the heir of England.

When a tax collector arrived in Brentford in Essex to collect the latest money owed, he was met by an angry crowd who refused to pay.

The peasants' revolt had begun.

Here's another question for you now.

Which one of the following best explains why English kings began charging the poll tax? Is it because A, they needed money to continue the war against France? B, they needed money to pay John of Gaunt for his services, or C, they wanted to ensure that everybody from the richest lord to the poorest farmer contributed? Press pause now and then press play for the correct answer.

You should have said the correct answer was, A, they needed the money to continue the war against France.

Let's put your knowledge now into practise by first completing this task.

You should tick two statements from the list below, which best explains why there was anger about the poll tax.

Press pause to complete the task and then press play to hear the correct two statements.

You should have said that the first correct statement was B, everybody was forced to pay the same regardless of how wealthy they were.

And the second statement you should have ticked was D.

People were angry because Richard II had recently tripled the tax from 4 pence to 12 pence.

Finally, today, I'd like you to answer this question, in just two sentences, explain why the poll tax was so unpopular.

Press pause now to write your answer and then press play to see what you could have written.

Your answer might have included some of the following.

The poll tax was so unpopular because everybody had to pay the same amount regardless of whether they were the richest lord or the poorest farmer, which many felt was unfair.

This was made worse in 1381 when Richard II tripled the size of the poll tax from 4 pence to 12 pence, which was unaffordable for many, particularly peasants and yeomen farmers.

We've now reached the end of today's lesson, so it's time for a summary of everything you should take away.

The Hundred Years' War had been fought between England and France since 1337, beginning with a series of impressive victories across northern France.

The Hundred Years' War had begun to go badly for the English, so the government raised a poll tax to collect more money.

As the heir to the throne had died in 1376, Richard II came to the throne at the age of 10 in 1377.

He was controlled by his uncle, the unpopular John of Gaunt.

Anger about the poll tax and the resentment of John of Gaunt led to the beginning of the peasants' revolt in 1381.

Well done on all of your hard work in our lesson today.

I hope you feel you've met your learning objective for the lesson.

I look forward to you joining me for a future Oak Academy history lesson.