unrest & opposition under Henry VIII

• opposition to Henry VIII

  1. Pilgrimage of Grace
  2. nobility/gentry
  3. ordinary people
• Pilgrimage of Grace

  -  Over: dissolution of smaller monasteries, Ten Articles & Injunctions

  -  8th October – 8th December 1536

  -  Involved 40,000+ rebels & outnumbered King’s forced 5:1

  -  Started in Louth & spread across Lincolnshire, took control of major city of York

  -  Rebels controlled Pontefract Castle (handed over by Lord Darcy), seen as the gateway to the south

  -  Rebels well-organised under lawyer Robert Aske’s leadership

  -  Rebellion attracted support from all classes

  -  Francis Bigod’s force raised shortly after in January 1537 & small attack on Carlisle in Cumberland

  - Due to religious causes – claimed dissolution was ‘greatest cause’; rebels restored monks to monasteries; number of religious grievances in demands; rebels wanted to end Royal Supremacy & attack heretics
• Pilgrimage of Grace (counter)

  -  Henry sent Duke of Norfolk to negotiate w/ rebels, asked for demands (“The Commons’ Petition”) & truce was reached (for now)

  -  Bigod force collapsed quickly & he was arrested in Cumberland

  -  178 rounded up & executed, including Aske & Darcy

  -  Rebellion did not move south towards London & directly threaten Henry

  - Not due to religious causes – poor harvests in 1535-36; enclosure = an issue near York; complaints abt scale of rents & entry fines; taxation through 1534 Subsidy Act; complaints abt Cromwell & other advisors; supported Catherine of Aragon & Princess Mary
• nobility/gentry

  - Sir Thomas More (Lord Chancellor) supported papal supremacy & refused to sign Oath of Supremacy -> resigned as Lord Chancellor & was executed
• nobility/gentry (counter)

  -  Very little move to Protestantism by 1536 & no guarantee reformed faith would triumph (little to oppose)

  - Pressure put on bishops & parish priests to ensure changes were implemented – followed up by visitations to check they were enforced
• ordinary people

  -  Monastic groups, eg. Carthusian monks & Franciscan friars, disagreed w/ break from Rome & resisted changed -> houses closed, imprisoned & some executed, others died of starvation rather than surrender

  - Dissolution of Smaller Monasteries, Ten Articles & Injunctions brought changes to everyday life
• ordinary people (counter)

  -  Little opposition to changes from 1529-35 – little impact on people (King replaced Pope as Head of Church, but no change to doctrine or ritual of church, church services & mass continued as before)

  -  Treason Act (1534) – people could be put to death for simply uttering words, gave govt new powers (300+ put to death btwn 1532-40)

  - Cromwell sent letters sent to JPs ordering them to arrest people who supported the pope