rebellion

• Rebellions between 1485-1603:

  • Yorkshire Rebellion, 1489
  • Cornish Rebellion, 1497
  • Resistance to Amicable Grant
  • Lincolnshire Rising, 1536
  • Pilgrimage of Grace, 1536
• Causes of Resentment:

  • Yorkshire: Taxation granted by Parliament in 1489 to finance the Brittany campaign
  • Poor harvest leading to resentment
  • Demand for extraordinary revenue to finance campaign against Scotland
  • Inability of poor regions to cope with increased burden of taxation
  • Cornish: Scottish border meant nothing to them
  • Amicable Grant 1525: Forced loan without Parliament approval
  • Resentment towards religious change and fear for Parish churches and traditional religious practices
• The Pilgrimage of Grace:

  • Started in Lincolnshire and spread over the Humber into East Riding of Yorkshire and continued into West Riding
  • Started in dales between Ripon and Richmond, spread to West Cumberland and eventually into West Riding of Yorkshire
  • Robert Aske led the rebellion with 40,000 rebels
  • North rebels captured Pontefract Castle
  • Easily suppressed by Earl of Surrey
  • Henry traveled north and issued pardons to those involved
  • Executed leaders
  • Dukes of Norfolk and Suffolk handled it sensitively and the King backed down
• Wyatt's Rebellion, 1554:

  • Religious grievances against the new Book of Common Prayer
  • Resentment of Sheep Tax implemented by insensitive local officials
  • Motives included the prospect of a Spanish marriage, religious motive, xenophobia, and economic decline in the cloth industry
  • Planned in Nov 1553 and leaked plans forced rebels into action
  • Duke of Norfolk retreated, Mary's speech at Guildhall, London
  • Wyatt surrendered at Ludgate
  • Rebels seized Durham and heard Mass, Catholic character of rebellion
  • Essex Rebellion, 1601:
• • Essex led a 300-strong band of noble followers through London, trying to seize strategic places like Whitehall Palace and the Tower
  • Rebellion quickly failed as few people actively joined it
  • Lord Russell defeated rebels at Clyst Heath and final defeat at Stamford Courtenay
  • Rebels finally defeated by forces led by Earl of Northumberland
  • Essex was tried and executed
• Impact of Rebellions:

  • Henry faced no more problems in the north but failed to collect the region's tax quota for the Brittany campaign
  • Pilgrimage of Grace was the largest single rebellion in Tudor England, most geographically widespread
  • 1549 was the worst year of the whole Tudor period with two major rebellions and considerable disorder throughout the country
  • Somerset's government found it difficult to cope, troops garrisoned against Scotland and in the south-east to ward off French
• • Demonstrated the extent of popular suspicion of the Spanish marriage and lack of understanding by the central government
  • Rebels gained no support from conservative nobility and it was geographically limited
  • Fall of Essex enabled Robert Cecil to establish good relations with James VI and ensured the peaceful succession of the English Crown upon Elizabeth's death in 1603