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Year 7

The impact of the Black Death on England

I can recognise that the Peasants' Revolt had multiple causes and describe the appearance of the Black Death in England.

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Year 7

The impact of the Black Death on England

I can recognise that the Peasants' Revolt had multiple causes and describe the appearance of the Black Death in England.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. The Peasants' Revolt took place in 1381.
  2. The Peasants' Revolt had many long-term causes.
  3. Some historians argue that the Black Death was related to the causes of the Peasants' Revolt.
  4. The Black Death arrived in England in 1348.
  5. The Black Death killed around half of the English population.

Keywords

  • Peasant - a person in the medieval period who worked the land and had few legal protections

  • Rebellion - an act of direct resistance against a leader or government

  • Feudal system - the social system of medieval England, with peasants, lords and the king in a strict hierarchy

  • Bubo - a swelling of the lymph nodes and a symptom of the plague

Common misconception

Historical events have one cause.

This will be addressed across the course of the unit, but within this lesson it is worth drawing attention to the competing causes listed in the discussion of the Peasants' Revolt.


To help you plan your year 7 history lesson on: The impact of the Black Death on England, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

Encourage pupils to think about the different causes of the Peasants' Revolt by sketching out the three mentioned diagrammatically.
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Adult supervision required

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This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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Starter quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
Which of these do you think best describes a peasant?
Correct answer: poor, few possessions, grew food to feed themselves and their families
poor, some possessions, worked in towns as servants
rich, many possessions, owned land in the countryside
rich, many possessions, owned many houses in a town or city
Q2.
Peasants were at the bottom of a social hierarchy known as feudalism or the system.
Correct Answer: feudal
Q3.
The Black Death was a...
Correct answer: pandemic disease
religious movement
terrorist organisation
Q4.
Put these rulers of England in chronological order. They did not all succeed each other: there is usually a big gap between their rules.
1 - William I
2 - Henry II
3 - John
4 - Edward II
5 - Edward III
Q5.
What three-letter word means money that individuals pay to the government, which then uses it to fund its spending?
Correct Answer: tax, taxation
Q6.
Historians often consider different factors in their explanations and interpretations. Which of these would be about the decisions and policies of a government or ruler?
cultural factors
economic factors
social factors
Correct answer: political factors

Exit quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
In which year did the Peasants' Revolt take place?
Correct Answer: 1381
Q2.
In which year did the Black Death first reach England?
Correct Answer: 1348
Q3.
How many people do historians think died of the Black Death in the first year it affected England?
between a quarter and a third of the population
Correct answer: between a third and and half of the population
between a half and two-thirds of the population
between two-thirds and three-quarters of the population
Q4.
Which of the following were most likely to be targets of the Peasants' Revolt?
Correct answer: advisors to the king
peasants who remained loyal to the king
Correct answer: tax collectors
well-off farmers
Q5.
Put these symptoms of the Black Death in the order in which they appeared.
1 - Swellings began to grow in the groin, armpits and neck.
2 - The swellings then grew to the size of an apple.
3 - The infected person began to feel feverish.
4 - The infected person began to vomit blood.
5 - If the swellings did not burst, death inevitably followed.
Q6.
Why is Melcombe famous in relation to the Black Death?
Correct answer: First point of entry of the Black Death into England
Last place in England to report infections from the Black Death
Place where the most people died of Black Death as a proportion of population
Nobody in this settlement died of the Black Death

Additional material

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