Chapter 3 - How did governments deal with rebellion?

Question 1

How did Tudor governments deal with rebellion?

Answer 1

Propaganda, consulting advisers, buying time, raising troops, the fate of the rebels, pre-emptive measures.

Question 2

How did Tudor governments deal with rebellion through propaganda?

Answer 2

• Largely religious rebellions
• PoG, Western attacked for religious ignorance in Catholic demands
• Kett’s (Protestant) similar methods used - preachers sent to camps to reason.
• Deference, custom, hierarchy, - great chain of being a very effective suppressor of rebellion. Commons unwilling to rise up and fight the crown e.g. Yorks 1536- reason why they dispersed. Reason why Northumberland failed & Mary succeeded in 1553: Mary the rightful heir. Loyalty towards the Tudors explained failure of Oxfordshire & Essex.
• Hold of Propaganda broke down when subjects feel disrespected e.g. Northern Earls, O’Neills- the contract between monarch & subject was broken.

Question 3

How effective was propaganda in dealing with rebellion?

Answer 3

• Largely ineffective, masses involved illiterate.
• Did not take kindly to being lectured on morality by gov or church.
• Only really ever used to emphasise other solutions, for example in the Amicable Grant, Henry VIII used propaganda for the purpose of emphasising the extent of his army.
• More to keep up gov morale than to alter the view of rebels.

Question 4

How did Tudor governments deal with rebellion through consulting advisers?

Answer 4

• Relied on advisers to help form a measured response -to varying degrees.
• Henry VII very involved in fighting rebellions – led his army to battle Stoke and Blackheath – only few trusted advisers used.
• Henry VIII – chief ministers ran gov, kept informed of plans – Wolsey, Cromwell dominated the council and formed strategy.
• Mary and Elizabeth relied on councillors – input central to response
• Mary – conflicting advice when Wyatt’s army closing in on London
• Elisabeth’s advisers – including the Cecil’s, successfully planned responses to defeat Essex in the Northern Earls quickly and efficiently.

Question 5

How effective was consulting advisers in dealing with rebellion?

Answer 5

• Consulting advisers ensured monarch gave measured and sensible response
• Important throughout the period – reliance on councillors differed

Question 6

How did Tudor governments deal with rebellion through buying time?

Answer 6

• Avoid confrontations: outcome uncertain and always expensive
• Rebels could be unable to supply men and keep up morale
• Buy time with pardons E.g. Amicable Grant and the pilgrims of 1536
• 1536 concessions used to divide rebels. Successful here – not against Western, refused pardons offered by Somerset in 1549
• Concessions less effective in Ireland – Elizabeth many attempts to reconcile O’Neill – abandoned attempts in 1566 – military solution.

Question 7

How effective was buying time in dealing with rebellion?

Answer 7

• Useful if needed time to raise troops – no more than delay.
• Wait until they had enough men to defeat the rebels.

Question 8

How did Tudor governments deal with rebellion through raising troops?

Answer 8

• No royal army, relied on nobles to provide men
• Henry VII appeased nobility – double Simnel’s men when they met at Stoke.
• Norfolk and the West Country in 1549 influential nobility was lacking – difficulty finding nobles to put down in those counties.
• 1525 Suffolk and Norfolk dealt with the Amicable Grant
• Ireland raising troops is important because only beat Irish once troops e.g. O’Neil’s rebellion, using troops efficiently (under Earl of Essex wasn’t effective)
• Wyatt’s rebellion, ineffective Duke of Norfolk, raised troops doesn’t mean ultimately successfully.

Question 9

How effective was raising troops in dealing with rebellion?

Answer 9

• Nobles important – lack of support allowed protest to grow - expensive, large army.
• Couldn’t remove threat of rebels completely without effective military response.
• Needed effective troops

Question 10

How did Tudor governments deal with rebellion through trials and retribution?

Answer 10

• HVII & Mary lenient: HVIII & Elizabeth vindictive.
• HVII rewarded loyalty. Bound men under surety of good behaviour & imposed bonds.
• Anxious to appease subjects and avoid excessive reprisals. e.g Simnel spared.
• HVIII vindictive dealing with PoG. Lots incl Aske executed 1537. Harsh on clergy - set e.g.
• Edward VI. After Western determined to silence western counties. 100 rebels hanged.
• Kett to ToL, tortured, tried, convicted & to Norwich to hang from city walls.
• Mary. LJG, Northumberland & close associates executed. LJG and others imprisoned. Wyatt 600 pardoned, 71 executed.
• Liz. Oxfordshire, extensive arrests, no more than 20 men were involved. Leaders imprisoned, tortured & killed.
• Ireland, many punishments excessive and barbaric.
• Ireland, Geraldine Rebellion, massacred entire garrison. Head of Earl of Desmond on display in London.

Question 11

How did Tudor governments deal with rebellion through information gathering?

Answer 11

• Find out size, location and nature. Getting reliable information wasn’t easy, delays leading to inactivity & unwise decisions.
• PoG, HVIII Sawley Abbey reoccupied by monks, not sufficient info, ordered Earl of Derby to execute, in no position to carry out order.
• Western rebellion, Duke of Somerset faced communication difficulties - difficult to deal as 200 miles away, reliant on out of date reports.
• Elizabeth relied on Sir Francis Walsingham to gather intelligence. Over 50 agents home & overseas - detect conspiracies, identify & arrest, reduced the likelihood of rebellion. Ineffectiveness of continental schemes after 1572 owed great deal to his vigilance.

Question 12

How did Tudor governments deal with rebellion through the role of the nobility?

Answer 12

• Relied on nobles particularly in early rebellion to provide troops.
• Called to restore order if JPs proved ineffective.
• Had to be in nobles interest to contain the unrest. E.g. Amicable Grant
• Lincolnshire rising Hussey had considered mediating with the rebels, failed to raise enough men, fell to Suffolk & Norfolk.
• Where no influential nobility struggling to put down rebellion e.g. Devon & Cornwall
• Could also be the source of instability.

Question 13

How effective was trials and retribution in dealing with rebellion?

Answer 13

• Excessive in an attempt to warn people of future rebellions.
• Lenient in attempt to gain support.
• Neither tactic had noticeable impact.

Question 14

How effective was the role of nobility in dealing with rebellion?

Answer 14

• Had to be in their interest.
• Where no influential nobility was unsuccessful.
• Where influential effectively removed threat.

Question 15

How effective was gathering information in dealing with rebellion?

Answer 15

• Find out what was happening and forward intelligence reports.
• Important to gather information to formulate appropriate response.
• If caught early may prevent further involvement.

Question 16

How did Tudor governments deal with rebellion in Ireland?

Answer 16

• Tudors treated Ireland like the northern counties.
• Rarely had sufficient resources to deal with disturbances. Until 1534, small garrison of 700 troops in Pale. Periodically increased, 2000 in the 1570s. Never enough if simultaneous rebellions broke out.
• Main strategy to defend English interest, areas under English control & play for time. E.g. O’Neill, Elizabeth bought time with pardons 1561, 1566 turned to military solution.

Question 17

How did Tudor governments deal with rebellion through pre-emptive measures?

Answer 17

• Tried to apply political pressure to undermine rebels weaken their cause.
• HVII, 1487 a papal bull that excommunicated all rebels. Papal condemnation used on eve of battle Simnel and Cornwall. Paraded real Earl of Warwick through the streets. Warbeck - put pressure on diplomats to deny support.
• Mary, when first heard whispers of 1553 plot to depose her acted speedily. Interrogated suspects, letters sent to counties for local authorities to take measures e.g. discouraging people to join
• Elizabeth, 1569 plot to secure succession of Mary Stuart, Norfolk denied permission to marry Mary, Norfolk put in tower of London, Mary moved to Coventry.

Question 18

How effective was pre-emptive measures with rebellion?

Answer 18

• Rarely prevented rebellion from occurring

- Sometimes removed possible support

Question 19

How did Tudor governments deal with rebellion through raising troops?

Answer 19

• Somerset faced the prospect of having to suppress revolts and rebellions in over half the English counties in the summer of 1549, as well as waging war against Scotland.
• The Treasury was short of money and Somerset was short of soldiers.
• Somerset’s caution in deploying his troops could be explain why Devon and Norfolk took so long to suppress, also arguable that supressed eventually because of his decision to raise troops and his caution.
• Ireland raising troops is important because only beat Irish once troops e.g. O’Neil’s rebellion
• Whilst raising troops seems to provide a solution to rebellion, it was also dependent on how effectively troops were used.
• Wyatt’s rebellion, ineffective Duke of Norfolk, raised troops doesn’t mean ultimately successfully.-

Question 20

What was the role of nobles in raising troops?

Answer 20

• No royal army, relied on nobles to provide men
• Drawback of this strategy is licences were required to hold more than a reasonable number of retainers and if any noble raised his army to fight without receiving a Royal commission, he was technically committing treason.
• This was the dilemma facing men like the Earl of Shrewsbury and the Earl of Huntingdon in 1536; when they knew that they were likely to be called on
  Norfolk and the West Country in 1549 influential nobility was lacking – difficulty finding nobles to put down rebellion in those counties.

Question 21

How did Tudor governments deal with rebellion through local nobility?

Answer 21

Finally, once it was confirmed that rebellion had broken out; letters were written to JPs and sheriffs of a disturbed region ordering them to deal with the problem.

• Nobles and councillors who had estates near the disturbance were then called on
• Amicable Grant in 1525, when the protesters threatened to march on London.
• The Dukes of Norfolk and Suffolk assumed command and successfully dealt with the rebellion.
• It is arguable that nobles can be reluctant to oblige, however when it was in the nobles’ interest, as it was in the Amicable Grant, this strategy was very effective in containing the unrest.

Question 22

How effective was local nobility in dealing with rebellion?

Answer 22

One of the issues with this strategy was the issue created if there was an absence of a powerful Privy counsellor or landowner in the south-west and this proved to be a serious weakness:

• June 1549, when the Duke of Somerset first heard of the disturbances in Devon and Cornwall; he considered the problem to be an isolated incident that could be dealt with locally.
• However, Lord John Russell, who had estates in Devon, spent most his time in London and the most powerful Cornish landowner was Sir John Arundell, who had fallen out of favour with the Protestant regime.