Causes of the Pilgrimage of Grace Flashcards
Why was Henry prepared to support reformist views when he was catholic?
It helped undermine the authority of the pope and the Catholic Church, it helped ensure his supremacy
What did the top down approach mean?
Reformist ideas were present in London and in the South East but Catholic ideas were prominant in the North and the South West
How was Cromwell able to make doctrinal changes?
In 1535, Henry appointed Cromwell to be Vicegerent in Spirituals
(created for Cromwell and meant that he was Henry’s deputy in all spiritual and religious matters)
What doctrinal changes were pushed by Cromwell? - bishops
New bishops were appointed who shared Cromwell’s views e.g. Hugh Latimer
What doctrinal changes were pushed by Cromwell? - injunctions
injunctions (instructions) in 1536 to the English Clergy that attacked traditional practices such as pilgrimages and the worships of saints
What doctrinal changes were pushed by Cromwell? - articles
The Act of Ten Articles 1536:
The doctrine of the New English Church, mostly in line with the Catholic belief although the number of sacraments necessary for salvation was decreased from 7 to 3
What doctrinal changes were pushed by Cromwell? - royal letters
In April 1535, royal letters were sent to all bishops, nobility and JPs ordering them to imprison clergymen who continued to preach in support of the pope’s authority
Changes to the royal succession
Mary being declared illegitimate
How did the Act of Supremacy ensure obedience
made provision for an oath to be taken - loyalty from English subjects that recognized Henry’s marriage to Anne Boleyn
The 1534 Treason Act - ensuring obedience
made it possible to prosecute (and execute) those who refused as traitors (for treason) e,g Thomas More (one Henry’s chancellors) and John Fisher (Bishop of Rochester)
The impact of High-profile executions
created an atmosphere of fear and suspicion:
At court, a conservative faction emerged whose aim was to restore the Catholic church, this included…
Thomas Howard (Duke of Norfolk) and Henry Percy (Earl of Northumberland)
What did those who wanted the restoration of the catholic church see of Mary?
saw Mary (a practicing catholic barred from the succession in 1534) as their natural figurehead as restoring her would mean the promise of return to Rome in the future
What role did the monasteries and convents play in people’s lives?
Mostly religious but also provided support for the poor and care for the sick and elderly.
Provided education and learning facilities and were significant employers
Why were monasteries significant for farmers?
Farmers leased land off the monks and often did agricultural work for them
Why were monasteries significant for employment?
provided employment on their estates for both unskilled agricultural labourers and skilled craftsmen - dissolved = fate of those relied for work becomes uncertain
Why had the english monasteries had grown in power
Amount of people in religious houses and religious orders
their important religious function and the respect they held
By the 1530s there were nearly 900 religious houses in England about 12000 people in religious orders
Why were monasteries more important in the North?
It was often badly hit by social and economic hardship and was therefore seen as a lifeline
Why did Henry want to dissolve the monasteries?
monks and nuns owed obedience to the pope in Rome - Henry could not risk wealthy insitutions taking orders from potential hostile powers
Henry saw them as a valuable source of income for a potential catholic invasion
Why did Cromwell want to dissolve the monasteries?
monastries represented the wealth and corruption of the Church
Promoted superstitious belief in purgatory
What did the process of the dissolution begin with?
1535 Valor Ecclesiasticus: a survey of the finances all Church property and revealed the wealth of the monastries
ommissioners also had to find evidence of corruption
What did the 1536 Act of Parliament mean?
Authorisation of dissolving the smaller monasteries (those worth less than £200 p/a)
How did they dissolve the monasteries?
They were destroyed: lead stripped from roofs and melted down, stained glass images smashed
How did the dissolution of the monasteries cause rebellion
communities became worried their local parish churches were under threat too
e.g. people at Louth (Lincolshire) were worried that their recently built spire for their church was going to be destroyed
What first sparked the Lincolnshire rebellion?
The dissolution of the monasteries and the activities of government officials in the localities
Why did rebels dislike Cromwell and Cranmer?
They attacked traditional practices like pilgrimages and worshipping saints which scared people as they didn’t think their souls would be prepared for afterlife
What does the name the ‘Pilgrimage of Grace’ suggest?
Religious motivations as they were modelling themselves on Catholicism
(traditional catholic rite of peaceful pilgrimage)
What did the rebels carry that also represented Catholocism?
A banner showing the 5 wounds that Christ received in his crucifixion
How many of the demands in the Pontefract Articles were religious?
9 out of 24
Why were religious causes the most significant factor in causing the 1536 rebellion?
Religious changes was a factor that united gentry and landlords (political causes) and the commons (economic causes)
How did the government make social and ecomonic grievances worse in 1534?
made worse by the government demands for taxation in the 1534 subsidy
hit the North the hardest as it coincided with two years of bad harvest and poor weather
What methods were used to collect the subsidy and how did these contribute to growing resentment in the North? (social cause)
Commissioners had to inquire into each person’s ability to pay which strengthened the feeling of government intrusion in people’s lives - existing already from valour
Why did tenants rebel?
about the demands placed upon them on by their landlords e.g. entry fines and enclosures
What were entry fines?
fine paid when a tenant died and was succeeded by an heir - placed a burden on tenant farmers who were unable to/unwilling to pay
What was enclosure?
Tenant farmers forced off their lands by landlords so it could be incorporated into a larger farm closed off for profitable sheep farming
more of an issue particularly in York as it was a more populated area and therefore there was an increased demand for land
Who rebelled because of
social and economic causes?
poorer peasants and agricultural workers - most affected by economic hardship
These issues did not affect members of the gentry and nobility and Robert Aske
Why were social and economic causes a significant factor in causing the rebellion
certainly increased support
primary cause was certainly religious as this cause was only motivation for peasants
Which members of the Northern nobility were involved in the revolts of 1536?
Sir Thomas Percy,
Lord Darcy
Lord Hussey
Political cause of the rebellion?
Possible pilgrimage was the result of a Court-based plot by the conservative faction to restore Princess Mary to the royal succession and remove Cromwell.
Evidence of political causes of rebellion
Catholic sympathies of northern nobility/gentry explain some of the articles e.g. repeal of 1534 Act of Supremacy and the removal of Cromwell and Richard Rich + The Act of Uses 1535
Who rebelled because of
political causes?
Gentry and landlords
unlikely that these grievances affected majority of rebels who did not have extensive lands or property
does suggest why the rebellion may suggest that the rebellion was increasingly directed/controlled by the genry and nobility but not how and why it stated
Why were political causes a significant factor in causing the rebellion
The impetus for rebellion came from below with the commons trying to recruit the genty not the other way around
does suggest why the rebellion may suggest that the rebellion was increasingly directed/controlled by the genry and nobility but not how and why it stated
Doctrinal changes by Cromwell summary
Bishops
Injunctions
Articles
Royal letters
