THE HENRICIAN REFORMATION 1509‑1547
THE
PILGRIMAGE OF GRACE
Basic introductions in A.J.
Fletcher, Tudor Rebellions (note changes between 1st ed. 1968,
2nd ed. 1973, 3rd ed., 1983, 4th ed. by D. MacCulloch, 1996), J.J. Scarisbrick,
Henry VIII (1968), pp. 339‑348, C.S.L. Davies, Peace,
Print and Protestantism 1450‑1558 (1976), pp. 200‑208.
C.S.L. Davies, 'The Pilgrimage of
Grace reconsidered', Past and Present, xli (1968), pp. 54-76;
(also in P.A. Slack, ed., Popular Protest and the Social Order in early
modern England (1984), pp. 16‑38), is a highly perceptive
assessment of the inspiration of these troubles. P.H. Williams, The Tudor
Regime (1979), pp. 316‑23 is also useful.
M.E. James, Change and
Continuity in the Tudor North, Borthwick Papers, xxvii
(1965), 'The first earl of Cumberland (1493‑1542) and the decline of
northern feudalism', Northern History, i (1966), pp. 43‑69,
'Obedience and dissent in Henrician England: the Lincolnshire rebellion of
1536', Past and Present, xlviii (1970), pp. 3-78 (all reprinted
in his Society, Politics and Culture (1986)) and Family,
Lineage and Civil Society (1974), pp. 45‑48 are remarkably
sensitive and imaginative. James' arguments have been challenged by R.W. Hoyle,
'Thomas Master's narrative of the Pilgrimage of Grace', Northern History,
xxi (1985), esp. pp. 55‑64, and 'The first earl of Cumberland: a
reputation reassessed', Northern History, xxii (1986), pp. 63‑94,
and by S.J. Gunn, 'Peers, Commoners and Gentry in the Lincolnshire Revolt of
1536', Past and Present, cxxiii (1989), pp. 52‑79. They were earlier thoughtfully considered by
M. Bowker, 'Lincolnshire 1536: heresy, schism or religious discontent?', Studies
in Church History, ix (1972), pp. 195-212, and in her The
Henrician Reformation: the diocese of
Lincoln under John Longland 1521‑1547 (1980), pp. 148‑156.
G.R. Elton, inspired by D.R.
Starkey, and taking further some of M.E. James' arguments, claimed the
rebellions for a disaffected court faction: 'Tudor Government: the points of
contact. II The Council', Transactions of the Royal Historical Society,
5th series, xxv (1975), p. 222, Reform and Reformation (1977),
pp. 260‑70, 'Politics and the Pilgrimage of Grace', in B. Malament, After
the Reformation (1980), pp. 25-56 (and in his Studies in Tudor
and Stuart Politics and Government, (4 vols., 1974‑91), iii. 183‑215.
For a rebuttal see C.S.L. Davies, 'Popular religion and the Pilgrimage of
Grace', in A.J. Fletcher and J. Stevenson, eds., Order and Disorder in
early modern England 1500‑1750 (1985), pp. 58-91.
G.W. Bernard, The Power of the
early Tudor nobility: a study of the fourth and fifth earls of Shrewsbury
(1985), ch. ii, on the role played by a loyalist.
R.B. Smith, Land and Politics
in the England of Henry VIII: the West Riding of Yorkshire 1530‑1546
(1970), ch. v. is a good study of one area.
C.A. Haigh, The Last Days of
the Lancashire monasteries and the Pilgrimage of Grace, Chetham Society,
3rd series, xvii (1969), summarised with some changes in Reformation and
Resistance in Tudor Lancashire (1975), ch. ix, emphasises
religious protest in Lancashire. S.M. Harrison, The Pilgrimage of Grace
in the Lake Counties (1981). G.W. Bernard, 'The piety of Henry VIII',
in N.S. Amos, A. Pettegree and H. van Nierop, eds., The Education of a
Christian Society (1999), pp. 68-73, touches on the significance of the
monasteries in the Pilgrimage of Grace.
A.G. Dickens, 'Secular and religious
motivation in the Pilgrimage of Grace', Studies in Church History,
iv (1967), pp. 39-64, (reprinted in his Reformation Studies
(1982), pp. 57-82, argues for economic causes as does R. Reid, The
Council in the north (1921).
M.L. Bush, '"Up for the
Commonweal": the significance of tax grievances in the English rebellions
of 1536', English Historical Review, cvi (1991), pp. 299‑318;
'"Enhancements and importunate charges": an analysis of the tax
complaints of October 1536', Albion,
xxii (1990), pp. 403‑19; 'Captain Poverty and the Pilgrimage of Grace', Bulletin
of the Institute of Historical Research,
lxv (1992), pp. 17‑36, are a series of recent papers arguing for the
primacy of taxation. They are perceptively questioned by R.W, Hoyle,
'resistance and manipulation in early Tudor taxation: some evidence from the
north', Archives, xc (1993), pp. 158-76 esp. pp. 172-4. M.L. Bush
has also published a book-length study of The Pilgrimage of Grace
(1995), dealing in great detail with what happened in Yorkshire and, with D.
Bowens, The Defeat of the Pilgrimage of Grace (1999).
M.H. and R. Dodds, The Pilgrimage
of Grace 1536‑37 and the Exeter Conspiracy (2 vols., 1915) is
largely narrative and is based heavily on LP.
H.F.M. Prescott, The man on a
donkey (1952) ‑ an historical novel by an academic historian
(author of Spanish Tudor).
R.W. Hoyle, The Pilgrimage of
Grace and the Politics of the 1530s (2001) is a very readable
one-volume assessment, especially good on the role of the commons, on the parts
played by Lords Hussey and Darcy, and on the dynamics of revolt.
THE
HENRICIAN REFORMATION 1509‑47
The
Lincolnshire Rising
For introductions
see main sheet. On Lincolnshire see particularly M.E. James, 'Obedience and
Dissent in Henrician England: the Lincolnshire rebellion, 1536', Past and
Present, xlviii (1970), pp. 3‑78, and reprinted in Society,
Politics and Culture (1986), pp. 188-269; M. Bowker, 'Lincolnshire
1536: Heresy, schism or religious discontent', Studies in Church History,
ix (1972), pp. 195‑212' G.A.J. Hodgett, History of
Lincolnshire vi. Tudor Lincolnshire
(1975); J. Cornwall, in M.A. Havinden, ed., Essays presented to W.G.
Hoskins (1975); ; R.W. Hoyle, 'Thomas Master's narrative of the
Pilgrimage of Grace', Northern History, xxi (1985), pp. 53‑79;
S.J. Gunn, Charles Brandon, duke of Suffolk (1988), pp. 144‑52;
S.J. Gunn, 'Peers, Commoners and Gentry in the Lincolnshire Revolt of 1536', Past
and Present, cxxiii (1989), pp. 52‑79; R.W. Hoyle, The
Pilgrimage of Grace and the Politics of the 1530s (2001), pp. 93-175.
The more important
documents are asterisked *.
(1) Assess the
role in the Lincolnshire rising of the commons.
LP, XI 533, 534, 553*,
567, 568, 581 (wages), 585*, 607, 609, 621, 665, 714*, 725, 780*, 789, 828* i
Melton, ii Trotter, iii Foster, v Bradley, viii Jenkinson, xii Kyme, 838, 842*,
843*, 853*, 854, 913, 939, 967 Sotheby,
Marshall, Metcalf 968 Melton, 969 Carr,
970 Kendall, 971 Moigne, 972‑5.
LP, XII i 70* viii Fletcher, ix Staynes.
Hoyle, Northern History,
xxi (1985), documents nos. 1, 5,
6, 7, 8, 21.
(2) Assess the
role in the Lincolnshire rising of the local noblemen (except Lord Hussey),
gentry and urban authorities.
LP, XI 532 Moigne, 533‑4,
536 Borough, 539, 552, 567, 568, 569, 571, 585*, 616*, 617, 618, 619, 658, 665,
673, 725, 728, 764, 780*, 789, 828* i
Trotter, iii Foster, vi Thornbeck, vii Laynton, Mowre, xi Ratford, xii Kyme;
842, 843*, 853* Hudswell, 854* Browne, 879 (2), 880, 888*, 939, 967 Sotheby,
Smythe, Marshall, Dixon, New, Wilson, Metcalf, 968 Melton, 970 Kendall, 971
Moigne, 972, 974‑5.
LP, XII i 70 iv Longbottom, v
Huddeswell, vi New, viii Fletcher, ix
Staynes, x Trotter, xi Leche, xii Ledes.
LP, XII ii 380 Morland.
Hoyle, Northern History,
xxi (1985), documents 1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 21.
(3) Assess the
roles in the Lincolnshire rising of Lord Hussey, Robert Aske and the earl of
Shrewsbury.
Hussey: LP, XI 222, 531‑2, 538, 547, 5 6 1, 567, 587, 589*, 620, 625, 772, 852*,
969; LP, XII i 70 (iii);
consider LP, VII 1206.
Shrewsbury: LP, XI 553, 536, 537, 561‑2,
587, 589*, 612, 618, 772.
Aske: (leave aside his later role in
Yorkshire) English Historical Review, v (1890), pp. 331ff.
(4) Assess the
role in the Lincolnshire rising of the clergy and the abbots and monks.
LP, XI 593, 649, 725, 805, 827,
828* i Melton, ii Trotter, iii Foster, v, vi Thorbeck, viii Jenkinson, 842,
843*, 853*, 854*, 939, 967 Sotheby, Marshall, Wilson, Sperlinge, 968 Melton,
970 Kendall, 971 Moigne, 972, 974, 975.
LP, XII i 69, 70* i Kendall, ii
Donington, v Barlings, viii Fletcher, ix Staynes, 192, 380.
(5) What did the
Lincolnshire rebels want?
LP, XI 534, 553*, 569*, 576, 585*, 598, 649, 656, 714*, 780* (2) in
full in State Papers, Henry VIII i. 463, 782, 828 i Melton, ii Trotter,
iii Foster, v Bradley, vi Thornbeck, 967 Sotheby, Dixon, 970, 971, 973, 974,
975.
LP, XII i 70* i Kendall, ii
Donnington, iii Sotheby, iv Longbottam, v Hudswell, vii New, x Trotter, xi
Leche; 370.
(6) How was the
rising suppressed?
LP, XI 534, 536, 537, 556, 557,
559, 560, 562, 567, 571,576, 579, 580, 581, 585, 587 (3), 600‑1, 603,
615*, 616‑7, 621, 625, 634, 637‑8, 640‑4, 650, 656, 658, 659,
661, 665, 670, 672, 674, 680, 690, 694, 706, 714*, 715‑8, 720‑1,
722, 728, 747, 764*, 773, 789*, 807‑8,
829, 833, 834, 838, 842, 843*, 850, 852, 854 (i), 866, 913, 930, 937‑8,
950, 958, 971.
LP, XII i 380.
Hoyle, Northern History,
xxi (1985), pp. 64‑79.
THE HENRICIAN REFORMATION 1509‑1547
(1) What did the
Pilgrims want? Was the dissolution of the monasteries their most important grievance?
(sources as for (2))
(2) Assess the
role in the (a) the commons, (b) the gentry and noblemen (except Darcy).
LP, XI, 563*, 622, 628, 635*, 645,
678, 687, 689, 702, 704, 705* (articles), 728, 729*, 768 (2), 773, 783*, 784‑6,
804*, 806, 807*, 841, 856-9, 872, 892* (demands), 894*, 895-7, 901, 902* (may
be misdated ‑ refers to December agreement), 919, 922, 947, 955, 956,
957* (answer to rebels' demands), 1009*, 1042, 1047, 1059, 1064, 1155, 1174‑5,
1182*, 1225‑8, 1234*, 1235, 1237, 1241‑3, 1244*, 1246, 1271, 1294,
1300*, 1306*, 1392, 1410 (1, 3,4).
LP, XII i 6* (best read in English
Historical Review, v (1890)), 20, 29, 98, 192, 201, 353, 369*, 370, 380
(pp. 178‑9), 392* (printed in full in Transactions of the East
Riding Record Society, x), 392, 393, 467, 479, 491, 533, 536‑7,
698 (incl. 2, 3), 788‑9, 849*, 852, 854, 900‑1*, 944‑6*, 1012‑3,
1018‑20, 1021*, 1022*, 1035, 1062, 1086‑7, 1090*, 1175*, 1186,
1199, 1207, 1227.
Smith, Land and Politics;
Bush, Pilgrimage of Grace.
Haigh, The Lancashire
Monasteries and the Pilgrimage of Grace; Reformation and
Resistance in Tudor Lancashire, ch. ix.
(3) Was Thomas,
Lord Darcy, a rebel?
LP, XI 522*, 563‑6*, 592,
598*, 604‑6*, 611*, 627*. 646, 662‑4*, 675, 678, 687*, 692*, 693‑5,
706, 723, 729*, 731, 734, 739*, 740‑2, 748‑9*, 750‑1, 757,
759*, 760‑2**, 768 (1), 781, 826*, 846, 909, 912*, 924, 928, 929, 949,
995*, 1007*, 1014, 1045, 1086*, 1121, 1225, 1402* Mansell.
LP, XII i 6* (EHR, v
(1890)), 26, 84, 847, 849*, 850, 852, 853*, 900*, 944*, 976*, 1013, 1087‑9,
1207.
look back to LP, V 805; VII 121, 1206*;
VIII 1, 121, 355, 590, 666, 750, 1018.
Articles by Elton, Davies; Smith, Land
and Politics; Bernard, Power
of the Early Tudor Nobility, pp. 35‑9, 43, 45‑9; Hoyle, Pilgrimage
of Grace, esp. ch. 9.
(4) How did Henry
VIII react to the rebellion? Did the rebels look like winning? What do you make
of Robert Aske's visit to the king's court at Christmas? How did the duke of
Norfolk and others bring the troubles to an end?
LP, XI 780 (2), 783, 864, 884,
894, 956, 1120, 1174, 1175, 1225, 1226, 1227, 1228, 1236, 1246, 1271*, 1279,
1319
LP, XII i 6, 20, 26, 43, 45, 67,
98*, 103, 115, 135, 136, 137, 128, 146, 155-6, 162, 171, 198, 201, 271, 292,
302*, 319, 321, 337, 338, 362, 378, 416, 479*, 666, 698, 710, 712, 787, 788,
804, 847 (5), 848 I (2), 848 II (8), 849 (1, 43), 901 (4), 1175. LP,
XIII ii 133, 228, 702 (1), 803, 804, 830 (5 ii), 831, 876, 960.
(5) What was the
significance of Bigod's rising and the troubles at Carlisle?
LP, XII i 46, 64, 67, 81, 103‑4,
112‑3, 115, 135‑8, 140‑6, 159‑64, 170‑2, 174, 176‑9,
183‑4, 200, 201*, 202*, 227‑8, 234, 248, 332, 369‑70*, 466,
532‑4, 578, 730‑1, 749, 847, 1130.
A.G. Dickens, Lollards and
Protestants in the Diocese of York (1959).
Bush and Bownes, The defeat of
the Pilgrimage of Grace (1999)