He moved across East Anglia towards Norwich and then onwards to North Walsham to deal with the rebels, led by Geoffrey Litster, the so-called "King of the Commons".

[2] Further discontent erupted from the behaviour of those nobles who ruled on behalf of the boy-king Richard II, and also from the position of the Church; as many priests were ill-educated, and the bishops and abbots themselves were landowners, it was generally hated by the common people.

Feelings were stirred up by rebellious priests such as John Ball, who criticised the Church wherever the common people flocked to him to listen to his words.

According to the Anonimalle Chronicle, the "evil actions" of the commons in both Essex and Kent were "because of the exceptionally severe tenths and fifteenths and other subsidies lightly conceded in parliaments and extortionately levied from the poor people".

In Norfolk, the rebellion started on 14 June, when a group of rebels from Suffolk reached the county, and spread westwards towards the Fens and north-eastwards towards Norwich and Yarmouth.

He obtained a reputation as the "Fighting Bishop" after playing his part in suppressing the Norfolk rebels during the Peasants' Revolt, and later embarking on an ill-fated enterprise for Pope Urban VI, who in 1382 employed him to lead a crusade in Flanders against the supporters of the anti-pope Clement VII.

At the same time, men led by Geoffrey Litster moved across the north-eastern part of the county and tried to raise support throughout the local area.

His armed force initially consisted of his personal retinue,[10] but grew as he was joined by knights and other men who had previously not dared to confront the rebels.

On 17 June rebels from the north and east of the county assembled on Mousehold Heath outside Norwich: shortly afterwards, Sir Robert Salle, who had come out of the city to speak with the commons, was killed.

Hearing that the rebels were close, Despenser travelled the short distance from Felmingham to North Walsham Heath, where he encountered Litster and his men.

[17] The contemporary chronicler Thomas Walsingham related that there was a fierce engagement at North Walsham Heath, south of the town, in which "the warlike Bishop" led a successful attack on the rebels' entrenched position.

Writing in the 19th century, Walter Rye quoted a local man, "They dew say a'mazin' lot of men are buried in that pightle".

Many sources of information tell of a massacre in North Walsham, in Chase's account of events: 'The rebels ... fled in confusion back to the town, many seeking refuge in the church which, perhaps, they had helped to build.

According to Capgrave's chronicle, "The traitor was sought and found; he was captured and beheaded; and, divided into four parts, he was sent through the country to Norwich, Yarmouth, and Lynn, and to the site of his mansion; that rebels and insurgents against the peace might learn by what end they will finish their career".

[20] Walsingham wrote an account of the mercy shown by the bishop to Litster during his execution: "After hearing his confession and absolving him by virtue of his office, he followed him to the gallows, showing, although he had overcome him, a deed of kindness and piety, for he supported his head lest it should be bruised by the ground when he was being drawn to the hanging".

A sculpture in the Memorial Park, North Walsham, carved in 1999 by Mark Goldsworthy from the trunk of a 120-year-old oak tree, commemorates the 1381 battle.