Walter atte Keye was a late-fourteenth-century

brewer Brewing is the production of beer by steeping a starch source (commonly cereal grains, the most popular of which is barley) in water and fermenting the resulting sweet liquid with yeast. It may be done in a brewery by a commercial brewer, ...

of Wood Street in the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London fr ...

. He is best known as one of the leaders of the 1381

Peasants' Revolt The Peasants' Revolt, also named Wat Tyler's Rebellion or the Great Rising, was a major uprising across large parts of England in 1381. The revolt had various causes, including the socio-economic and political tensions generated by the Black ...

in London. On 14 June 1381 Keye attempted to steal and destroy the Common Council's book of ordinances, called ''le Jubyle'', or Jubilee Book. It was stored in a

sheriff A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland that is commonly transla ...

compter A compter, sometimes referred to as a counter, was a type of small English prison controlled by a sheriff. The inmates were usually civil prisoners, for example dissenters and debtors. Examples of compters include London's Wood Street Compter, Pou ...

. The rebels also attacked the

Guildhall A guildhall, also known as a "guild hall" or "guild house", is a historical building originally used for tax collecting by municipalities or merchants in Great Britain and the Low Countries. These buildings commonly become town halls and in som ...

and other civic buildings first and at least the former he attempted to burn down. Since the book was subsequently burned by a later Mayor of London,

Nicholas Exton Sir Nicholas Exton (died 1402) was a medieval English merchant. A leading member of the Fishmongers' Company and citizen of the City of London, he was twice elected Mayor of London, Mayor of that city during the troubled years of the reign of ...

, little is known of its contents of the book. Historians have been unable to ascertain Keye's motive for his "frenzied" search for it. Keye also appears to have personally led a small armed force to the Milk Street

, which they assaulted and despoiled. Keye also took advantage of the general turmoil of the time to extort money from fellow brewers. He and his associates have been described by

Barrie Dobson Richard Barrie Dobson, (3 November 1931 – 29 March 2013) was an English historian, who was a leading authority on the legend of Robin Hood as well as a scholar of ecclesiastical and Jewish history. He served as Professor of Medieval History ...

as showing that there was at least one rebel group "prepared to challenge the authority of the civic hierarchy as well as that of royal officials and agents."

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* * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Keye, Walter atte 14th-century English people Peasants' Revolt Brewing in London