Death and Rout
20,000 people assembled at Smithfield. Richard II agreed to meet the leaders of the revolt, and listen to their demands. Wat Tyler decided to ride out alone and parley with the king. What was said between Tyler and the king is largely conjecture and little is known of the exact details of the encounter; however, by all accounts the unarmed Tyler was suddenly attacked without warning and killed by the Lord Mayor of London, Sir William Walworth, and John Cavendish, a member of the king's group. This unprovoked betrayal of the truce flag and Tyler's killing threw the people into a panic. Not being organized as a military force, they broke ranks and began to flee for their lives.
Read more about this topic: Wat Tyler
Famous quotes containing the words death and/or rout:
“Death destroys a man, but the idea of death saves him.”
—E.M. (Edward Morgan)
“The flies swarmed on the putrid vulva, then
A black tumbling rout would seethe
Of maggots, thick like a torrent in a glen....”
—Allen Tate (1899–1979)