In the meantime, the rumour had gone abroad that the king was in danger, and some thousands of his friends came marching up. On seeing this body moving towards them, the insurgents fell on their knees, and begged the king to pardon their rebellious conduct. He promised to do so, and they retired to their homes.
The demands that these poor people made were not extravagant. They required to be set free from their state of slavery, to be allowed to buy and sell freely in the market towns, and to pay a fixed rent for the land they cultivated, instead of being compelled to work without pay for their feudal lords. Though the king promised pardon to all, he broke his word, and many were hanged; and the charters or letters of liberty that had been given to some of the rebels to appease them while the danger lasted, were taken from them as soon as it was over.*
From ‘A Picture History of England from the Invasion of Julius Cæsar to the Present Time, Written for the Use of the Young’ (1865), by Henry William Dulcken (1832-1894).
* GK Chesterton emphasised that this sudden change of policy came not from the King or his aristocratic advisers, but from an outraged House of Commons, which asked Richard, possibly instructed Richard, to reject the rebels’ petition out of hand. See The Commons Versus the People.