Chapter 7: Rebellion and unrest 1547-58

• social & economic causes of unrest (1547-58)

  • population growth
  • rising prices
  • poor harvests
  • increasing poverty
  • enclosure
• factional & political causes of unrest (1547-58)

  • accession of a minor (Regency Council ruling)
  • members of Council looked to increase own personal wealth & influence
  • Somerset/Northumberland struggle (until Somerset's execution, 1552)
  • Northumberland placing Lady Jane Grey on throne, close to civil war (1553)
  • Mary's marriage (eg. Wyatt Rebellion, 1554)
• How big of an issue was enclosure in 1547-58?

  • significant role in Kett's rebellion (1549) & unrest at Northaw in Hertfordshire (1548)
  • Somerset established the Enclosure Commission (convinced many peasants he was sympathetic to cause)
• religious causes of unrest (1547-58)

  • uncertainty under Henry 8th
  • abolition of traditional practices & introduction of new Prayer Book led to the Western/Prayer Book Rebellion (1549)
  • Kett's rebels had some religious grievances (further moves TOWARDS Protestantism, rather than abandonment)
  • potential restoration of Catholicism by Mary led to Northumberland deciding to put Protestant Lady Jane Grey on throne
  • possibility that Wyatt rebelled because he was against the Catholic regime (unlikely - more factional)
• Population rise

  • Why was it a problem?
  • 1525-51 pop. rose by about 0.7 million -> agriculture unable to keep up with demands
  • Young population: more people to feed but children do not work
  • How serious was it?
  • fairly serious as food rose which affected people particularly in bad harvests
  • BUT also a sign of prosperity
  • feeds into all other issues
• Inflation and rising rents

  • grain prices rose faster than meat etc. and grain = staple diet
  • serious: people couldn’t afford to eat and feed themselves
• Enclosure

  • landowners often ignored the rights of others -> disquiet
  • Serious: less jobs for people, fewer crops grown -> less food meant prices rose
• Decline in living standards

  • estimates that half the population were unable to support themselves
  • more issues with food prices, food availability and opportunity
• Poverty and vagrancy

  • rising prices meant that many peasants found themselves in poverty, since wages struggled to keep up with rising prices.
  • Dissolution of the Monasteries removed institutions that helped poor and lessened employment. Large no. of vagrants
  • Serious: increase in crime and begging (no police force) forced gov. into harsher methods -> 1547 Vagrancy Act condemned vagrants to slavery for 2 years for 1st offence and life for second.
  • NOT SUPPORTIVE OF POOR
• Rising rents

  • landlords chose to increase rent from 40 shillings -> £40 etc. (payed more than people earned)
  • Serious: increase poverty and homelessness ->crime
  • Coinage = debased: bad for peasantry
• poor harvests

  • drove price of food up even more
  • 6 years in period saw bad harvests
  • failed to provide sufficient food
  • Serious: people live in subsistence economy (earn just enough to live off -> if jobs lost etc. then nothing to keep them going)
• Influenza and epidemics

  • spread quickly due to living conditions
  • no monasteries to help the sick -> die or stay sick for a while
  • Serious: reduce population and ability to work -> less food
• 1547 Vagrancy Act


  1st offence of vagrancy = 2 years in prison

  2nd offence = life in prison

  • put in place by govt after increasing poverty led to a lack of police force to maintain order & prevent crime
• subsistence economy

  people making just enough to live off (if they lost jobs, they had literally nothing else to help them survive)
• events of the Western/Prayer Book

  • large crowd gathered at Bodmin to protest Act of Uniformity & major unrest in Sampford Courtenay to protest new Prayer Book
  • more rebels joined from Devon & Cornwall
  • demands drawn up by priests (mostly religious, but also some complaints about sheep & cloth tax, & agst local gentry)
  • laid siege to Exeter
  • mayor of Exeter provided relief for the poor (feared they'd take over the whole city)
  • unable to restrain rebels so a force was sent out under Lord John Russell (slow to deal with unrest due to other unrest along the way)
  • more skirmishes broke out
  • rebels defeated eventually = 3000 killed & further retribution
• motivations/demands of the Western/Prayer Book rebellion

  • protesting Act of Uniformity & subsequent new Prayer Book
  • William Body murdered at Helston (1548) when he returned to supervise the destruction of images = religious tension
  • largely religious = wanted to restore traditional doctrine & belief in transubstantiation
  • demands made by priests
  • complaints about sheep & cloth tax
  • gentry attacked = robbed at St Michael's Mount, shouted 'Kill the gentlemen!', murdered William Hellyons (gentry)
• events of the Kett rebellion

  • rebellion in East Anglia, led by Robert Kett
  • enclosure riots in Attleborough & Wymondham (John Flowerdew, local lawyer, bought a church & enclosed land)
  • Kett raised 16,000 men & set up camp in Mousehold Heath, Norwich
  • rebels were offered a pardon but instead they seized Norwich
  • govt sent a force under Marquis of Northampton = was defeated
  • Duke of Northumberland was sent & his force defeated the rebels, killing 3000+
  • Kett was hanged for treason but many rebels were treated leniently
• motivations/demands of Kett rebellion

  • agricultural = enclosure concern, gentry abuse of the foldcourse system (animals & plants on the same land to fertilise crops), overstocking of common land
  • economic concern over rising rents
  • complaints about gentry manipulation of local govt
  • wanted better preachers & further religious reform (pro-Protestant)
• other unrest in 1549

  • opposition to enclosure, with rebels attacking hedges
  • Oxfordshire, Yorkshire & Hampshire = religious changes were major cause of unrest
• causes of the Lady Jane Grey affair

  • political:
  • Northumberland's son was married to LJG in 1553 (however, Edward's health was good at this point so little to gain)
  • Edward's eventual declining health
  • change made to Devise meant Northumberland would be father-in-law to the prospective queen (plotting to further his career)
  • religious:
  • Edward = strong Protestant & concerned by Catholic Mary
  • Northumberland = originally reformist, then converted
  • fear that Mary would execute him once on the throne
  • thought he'd gain support from elite as he had restored stability after Somerset's failures
  • those who gained land from Dissolution might support him (would lose land with a Catholic restoration)
• How did Mary deal with the Lady Jane Grey affair threat?

  • Northumberland initially had support of Privy Council
  • Mary fled to East Anglia before she could be captured by Northumberland
  • Mary gained Privy Council support by:
  • sending letters of summons
  • issuing proclamations
  • raising a force
  • proclaiming herself queen
  • Mary gained support from Charles V
  • Northumberland lost advantage & fled London to confront Mary
  • many Privy Council members changed their opinions to support of Mary while he was absent
  • Northumberland was unable to gain support as he marched east, some of his force fled
  • had to abandon his march & retreat to Cambridge, proclaiming Mary queen
• aftermath of the Lady Jane Grey affair

  • sudden collapse of the plot by Northumberland = never stood a chance
  • Mary greeted with enthusiasm when she entered London
  • some feared instability so supported legitimate ruler
  • those who supported Northumberland = in a difficult position
  • Mary showed leniency (saw her position as weak & needed support)
  • soon released Gardiner & Norfolk from jail
  • appointed Paget to Privy Council
  • Northumberland, Lady Jane Grey & Guildford Dudley all arrested and executed
• motivations/causes of the Wyatt rebellion

  • Mary's marriage
  • hatred of foreigners
  • fears English court dominated by Spaniards
  • fear of being dragged into Habsburg conflicts
  • rumours of Mary being removed & replaced by Elizabeth (became a plot in December 1553)
  • religious motivation
  • four-pronged attack leaders had Protestant sympathies
  • area around Maidstone (gained most support) = Protestant
  • Wyatt received advice from deprived Protestant Bishop of Winchester
  • no prominent member of plot was Catholic
  • rebels attacked Catholic Bishop of Winchester's property in London
  • economic factors helped win support
  • Kent cloth industry in decline
• events of the Wyatt rebellion

  • court was aware of the plot
  • Edward Courtenay was examined (who the plotters were going to marry to Elizabeth) who revealed details
  • rebels forced to act before being fully prepared
  • originally planned as four-pronged attack but only Kent rebelled
  • led by Kentish gentry Thomas Wyatt (loyal supporter of Mary agst LJG but feared removal of position & influence)
  • Wyatt gathered 3000+ men by using xenophobia
  • some troops sent to deal with Wyatt changed sides - "We are all Englishmen"
  • laid siege to Cooling Castle instead of straight to London, giving Mary time to gather troops
  • Mary made a speech at Guildhall, bringing rebellion to an end
• Was the Wyatt rebellion a threat to Mary?

  was a threat:

  • troops sent to deal with Wyatt had changed sides, crying "We are all Englishmen!"
  • many waited to see what would happen & didn't initially support Mary
  • rising happened close to London
  • lack of punishment following revolt suggests Mary feared further unrest through punishment (Elizabeth & Courtenay escaped with lives)

  was not a threat:

  • Mary's Guildhall speech = relatively easy & pragmatic course of action, flattered subjects & supporters
  • lack of punishment following revolt showed it was not a major threat
  • Mary refused to flee London, as advised by her Council