The leader of the Peasants' Revolt in England in 1381. Supposedly, Wat was brought to the point of rebellion by a visiting tax collector, who tried to show that Wat's daughter was old enough to be a taxable adult (at least 15) by stripping and assaulting her. Wat smashed the taxman's head in with an axe; his Kent neighbors applauded and elected him their leader. Their group joined with another group led by John Ball and Jack Straw, but Wat's name is remembered more. The combined groups marched across southeastern England, gathering more to their mob, to London, where 14-year-old King Richard II came and spoke to them in person, promising freedom and lower taxes and calming the rioting. (Unfortunately, during a later meeting, King Richard ordered Tyler arrested and stabbed. The peasants watching from a distance grabbed their weapons, but the King rode up to them and told them Wat Tyler had been a traitor. Soldiers dispersed the peasants and eventually many were railroaded through a trial and hanged; the King's promises never happened.)