NATURE OF REBELLIONS 🦐

• Pro-Yorkist areas


  • Yorkshire, 1487
  • Places where authority was weak
  • Kett's Rebellion, 1549
  • Western Rebellion
  • Ireland
  • Yorkshire
• POG


  Strong regional identity
• Places with strong regional identity


  • Cornwall, 1497
  • Western Rebellion, 1549
  • Ireland 1601
• Government had interfered in people's lives


  • Ireland Tyrones Rebellion 1601
  • Yorkshire
  • Cornwall
• Places cut off from power


  • Western, 1549 Courtenay's RONE
  • POG
  • Ireland
• Traditional centres of rebellion


  • Yorkshire, 1536
  • Ireland
  • Cornwall, 1497
• Places that were poor


  • Cornwall
  • Ireland
  • Devon
  • Yorkshire
• Major towns and cities


  • Exeter
  • Norwich
  • York
  • Knaresborough
  • Durham
  • London
  • Pontefract
  • Doncaster
  • Carlisle
  • Taunton
  • Bodmin
  • Lancaster
• Why rebellions happened


  • To gain popular support
  • Pressure government to respond
  • Gain a power base
  • Win over locally important people
  • Obtain food, supplies and weapons
  • Organise protest marches
• Protest marches were often to nearby towns rather than London
• The exception was the Cornwall rebellion in 1497, where 15,000 rebels marched to London
• Outcomes of rebellions


  • Repelled (Exeter, London, Carlisle, Cumberland)
  • Cracked (Norwich, Lancaster, Durham, York, Bodmin, Taunton)
  • Mayors openly supported (Bodmin, Lincoln, Torrington, Wells)
• Politically motivated rebellions


  • Essex
  • Wyatt
  • Warbeck
  • Simnel
  • RONE
• Politically motivated rebellions aimed to reach London
• Politically motivated rebellions failed (Wyatt came closest to reaching London)
• Size of rebellions


  Varied greatly, from just 4 people in the Oxfordshire Rising (1596) to around 40,000 in the Pilgrimage of Grace (1536-37)
• Examples of rebellion sizes


  • Cornwall 1497 - 15,000
  • Amicable Grant 1525 - 10,000
  • Pilgrimage of Grace 1536-37 - 40,000
  • Kett 1549 - 15,000
  • Wyatt 1554 - 5,000
  • Northern Earls 1569 - 5,000
  • Essex 1601 - 300
  • Tyrone's Rebellion - 6,000
• Rebellion sizes declined over time, especially after 1536
• Why rebellion sizes declined


  • Monarch became more secure, fewer people wanting to rebel
  • Nobility incorporated into the state through offices like Poor Law administrators
  • Later rebellions led by impoverished or excluded nobles, not popular support
• Irish rebellions usually had small numbers, except for Tyrone's Rebellion
• County towns taken by rebels


  • Norwich
  • Doncaster
  • Exeter
• Large rebellions with dates


  • Pilgrimage of Grace (1536-37)
  • Western (1549)
  • Cornish (1497)
• Small rebellions with dates


  • Oxfordshire (1596)
  • Essex (1601)
  • RONE (1567)
• Areas with lots of rebellion


  • Cornwall
  • Ireland
  • Yorkshire
  • London
• Rebellions that tried and failed to capture London


  • RONE
  • Wyatt
  • Essex
• Periods of most frequent rebellion


  • Under Henry VII due to insecurity and need for money
  • Mid-Tudor period (1536-54) due to religious turmoil and rule by minors/females
• Rebellion frequency and size declined over time as the Tudor dynasty became more secure and social/economic problems lessened
• Reasons for decline in rebellion


  • Removal of rival claimants
  • Moderate Elizabethan religious settlement
  • Improved social legislation like the Poor Law
  • Increased role of JPs and Lord Lieutenants
  • Gentry less willing to lead rebellions
  • Greater use of Parliament and law courts
• Rebellions by duration


  • Longest - Western, Pilgrimage of Grace
  • Shortest - Oxfordshire, Essex, Wyatt
• Why duration varied


  Rebellions further from London lasted longer as they took longer for the government to respond
• Types of rebellion leaders

  • Claimants (Simnel, Warbeck)
  • Nobility (RONE)
  • Gentry/yeomen (Kett, Western, POG, Wyatt)
  • Commoners (A.D. 1549)
• Nobility involvement was important for credibility, money, support, and legitimacy
• Nobility involvement in rebellions declined over time as they became less inclined to support rebel leaders from the gentry
• Reasons for little clergy involvement


  Clergy supported the 'middle way' and did not want to go against the line of succession or the divine right of kings
• Rebellions involving lawyers


  • 1531-1536
  • POG - Aske
  • 1497 - Flamank
• Commons leaders


  • Very few successful rebellions led by commoners, as they were usually more useful as followers
  • Exceptions like Kett and the 1549 Oxfordshire Rising
• Good and bad rebel leaders

  • Good - Robert Kett, Aske, Arundel
  • Bad - Northumberland, Michael Joseph, Essex, Simnel, Warbeck
• Main rebel objectives


  • Dynastic - remove monarch
  • Change government policy
  • In Ireland - end English rule
• Dynastic rebellion tactics


  • Attempt to capture London
  • Have a claimant ready to rule
  • Raise gentry and noble support
  • Raise a large army
• Anti-government rebellion tactics


  • Present list of demands/grievances
  • Raise as much support as possible
  • Use fear and intimidation
  • Use violence
  • Capture county towns