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The Estates General were representatives from the 3 groups: the clergy, nobles, and the townspeople. They got the king to sign an agreement called the Great Ordinance, that allowed them to supervise the collection and spending of the "levée" or taxes. It also allowed them to meet regularly even when the king hadn't called them, gave them some power to judge, and to play a larger tole in the government.

However, the nobles took the power for granted and overused it. This caused a peasant rebellion in 1358 called the Jacquerie. The rebellion took place because of high taxes and forced-labor policies. The peasants marched through northern France and killed Etienne Marcel (a merchant) who had led the Estates General. The Estates General broke up after their leader was gone.

Because of high war taxes and noble efforts to make English peasants the lowest class, one hundred thousand peasants marched on London in 1381. It was called the "Peasant's Revolt," or "Wat Tyler's Rebellion." The townspeople murdered government officials and tax collectors and burned their houses.

Richard II (the king-to-be) stopped the revolt by promising to lower the taxes and do what they demanded. However, he never followed through. Around the same time, agents of the throne murdered Wat Tyler, a leader of the revolt.

Wat Tyler's Rebellion - 1381

Picture from: http://www.unc.edu/depts/chaucer/zatta/tyler.jpg

The Black Death