Lesson Y7-U05-L06

Y7-U05-L06 The Peasants' Revolt of 1381 Quiz: KS3 History, Unit 5

20 questions

Written by Revision Ninja · Last reviewed 11 October 2026

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Lesson Y7-U05-L06, The Peasants' Revolt of 1381: 20 multiple choice questions for the KS3 History (National Curriculum), Unit 5: Year 7: Medieval Lives, written with Revision Ninja.

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The 20 questions

  1. In what year did the Peasants' Revolt take place?

    • 1351
    • 1381
    • 1215
    • 1348

  2. Which law froze wages at the pre-Black Death level?

    • The Statute of Labourers, passed by Parliament in 1351 to freeze wages at their earlier level
    • The Domesday Survey, which recorded the land, people and wealth of England in 1086
    • The Poll Tax, which charged every person over the age of fifteen the same amount each year
    • Magna Carta, which had promised that no free man could be punished without lawful judgement

  3. In what year was the Statute of Labourers passed?

    • 1348
    • 1381
    • 1351
    • 1215

  4. Why did the Black Death make workers valuable?

    • Workers were exempt from the tithe and from taxes after the plague
    • So many people had died that workers were scarce and could demand higher wages
    • Workers were given the right to vote in the Witan after the plague
    • Workers were given their own manor by the king for their loyalty

  5. What did the Statute of Labourers make illegal?

    • Building new churches in the villages of the manor without the permission of the local lord
    • Eating meat on a Friday in the village church, which was a rule in every parish across England
    • Selling crops at the local town market without first paying the rent and fines to the lord
    • Peasants moving from village to village to find a better-paid lord on another manor

  6. Who was the boy-king in 1381 who faced the rebels?

    • Richard II
    • Henry II
    • Edward the Confessor
    • Harold Godwinson

  7. What was the poll tax?

    • A tax on each cottage paid to the local priest
    • A tax paid only by the richest lords in the kingdom
    • A tax on wool that was paid to merchants in towns
    • A tax that every person over 15 paid the same amount

  8. Why did peasants see the poll tax as unfair?

    • A poor peasant paid the same as a wealthy lord
    • Peasants had to pay it twice in the same year to the king
    • Peasants paid it while lords were exempt from paying any tax
    • Peasants could only pay it with gold coins from the Church

  9. Why was England losing its war with France by 1380?

    • It was losing an expensive war, so the government needed money
    • It had given Normandy back to the French king as a gift
    • It had been defeated by the Scots at the battle of Durham
    • It had been defeated by the Vikings in the north of England

  10. How many times was the poll tax charged in four years?

    • Ten times
    • Five times
    • Once
    • Three times

  11. What happened when peasants refused to pay the poll tax?

    • The Church paid the tax on their behalf to keep them quiet
    • Tax collectors were sent into villages to force them to pay
    • The lords moved them to new manors where the tax did not apply
    • The king pardoned them and cancelled the tax at once

  12. What is a short-term cause of the Peasants' Revolt?

    • The poll tax and its collectors in 1381
    • The Black Death in 1348
    • The Statute of Labourers in 1351
    • The long-running anger over wages and freedom

  13. What was a long-term cause of the Peasants' Revolt?

    • The Black Death, which made workers scarce and raised hopes for higher wages
    • The poll tax of 1381, which was new that year and charged to every person over fifteen
    • A raid by the Danes on the coast of Kent in the summer, which frightened the villagers greatly
    • The collectors who came to villages to force the poll tax from people who had refused to pay

  14. Which of these shows why the poll tax was so hated?

    • It was a tax that was refunded to each village every year
    • It was a flat tax that fell hardest on the poorest
    • It was a tax that only the richest lords had to pay
    • It was a tax paid only in wine and grain for the king's army

  15. Why did the Statute of Labourers anger peasants more than the Black Death itself?

    • The Statute was made by the Danes who had settled in the north
    • The Statute was a law that stopped them from earning the wages they now deserved
    • The Statute was made by the Pope, who was not in England
    • The Statute was made by the Church, which controlled every village

  16. What was the main reason the Peasants' Revolt broke out in 1381?

    • A famine that ruined the harvest across the whole of England for several years in a row
    • A decision by the Pope to remove Richard II from the throne and crown a new king in London
    • A sudden invasion of England by the French king's army landing on the south coast
    • Anger built up from the Black Death, the Statute of Labourers and the poll tax over many years

  17. Which word describes a tax where everyone pays the same amount, rich or poor?

    • Wine tax
    • Land tax
    • Income tax
    • Flat tax

  18. Why was the poll tax the trigger for the revolt, rather than the cause of all the anger?

    • Long-term pressures had already built up, and the poll tax set them off
    • The poll tax was introduced for the first time in 1381 with no earlier cause
    • The poll tax was the only grievance peasants had against the lords
    • The poll tax had been paid happily by peasants for many decades before

  19. Why was 1381 the year of revolt, rather than 1352?

    • The Pope asked the peasants to rise up against their lords in 1381
    • The Statute of Labourers was cancelled by the king in 1381
    • The Black Death returned in 1381 and killed many more people
    • The poll tax was the highest yet and was charged to everyone in 1381

  20. Why is it a mistake to say the Peasants' Revolt had only one cause?

    • Several causes built up together, including the Black Death, the Statute and the poll tax
    • Historians have agreed that the poll tax was the only real cause of the revolt in 1381
    • The Black Death happened after the poll tax and so it could not have been a cause of the revolt
    • The Statute of Labourers was passed after the revolt had already ended and so had no effect

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