Depth Study 1 - The Pilgrimage of Grace

Question 1

How many articles did the Pilgrims draw up?

Answer 1

• 24 Articles.

Question 2

How many of the Pilgrims articles were based on religion?

Answer 2

• 9 out of 24.

Question 3

What issues did the 9 religious articles contain?

Answer 3

• Abolition of ‘Holy Day’.
• Attacked new taxes on marriage, burials and baptism. They claimed the poorer members of society could not afford these taxes.
• Attacked reformist Bishops such as Thomas Cranmer.
• Closure of Smaller monasteries. The pilgrims feared more monasteries would soon close.

Question 4

What symbols did the Pilgrims use to suggest it was Religiously motivated?

Answer 4

• Banner depicted the ‘Five wounds of Crist.’
• Pilgrims Ballad and Oath contained a strong religious message. (The Oath stated that the Rebellion was being conducted in the name of God.)

Question 5

How did the downfall of Catherine of Aragon cause the Pilgrimage of Grace? (Political)

Answer 5

• Aragonese faction had lost influence in Court and Parliament, so they attempted to rise a popular rebellion under the guise of religion to regain influence.

Question 6

How did Henry’s policy of centralising power in London cause the Pilgrimage of Grace? (Political)

Answer 6

• Exclusion of the North and cutting feudal ties with the North had caused Lords such as Darcy and Hussey to become angered with his policy of centralisation.
• North was excluded from decision making, so the Pilgrims asked for a ‘Parliament of the North’ to be set up.

Question 7

How did Changes to the succession cause the Pilgrimage of Grace?

Answer 7

• Rebels demanded that Mary be restored to the succession.

Question 8

What were the economic causes of the Pilgrimage of Grace?

Answer 8

• 1534 Subsidy Act - Attempted to raise money in peace-time and came during a period of poor harvests.
• Encolsure - Serious problem in the more populated areas of the Lake District.
• Complaints about high entry fines to leases.
• Rumours of a new tax on Cattle & Sheep.

Question 9

What debate surrounds the leadership of the Pilgrimage of Grace?

Answer 9

• Debate surrounding whether the rebellion was caused by court faction, gentry or the commons.

Question 10

Why is it thought that Court Faction was responsible for the Pilgrimage of Grace?

Answer 10

• Nobility and Gentry who took up arms in the rising had lost political power in court, due to the increase in the influence of Cromwell and Boleyn.
• Hussey and Darcy had personal ties to court. Hussey’s wife was arrested for supporting Mary.
• Policy of centralisation had undermimed the power of many Northern nobles.

Question 11

Why is it thought that the Gentry was responsible for the Pilgrimage of Grace?

Answer 11

• Organisation of the rebellion suggests that it was not spontanteous, and that only the Gentry had the influence to organise and sustain such a large scale protest.
• Gentry lost out due to the policy of centralisation.
• Demand including the Statute of Uses only affected the Gentry.
• Heretics effected in the demands would only be known to the Gentry.

Question 12

Why is it thought that the Commons caused the Pilgrimage of Grace?

Answer 12

• Could be argued that the commons pressured the Gentry to lead the rising, as it would give their concerns greater credibility.
• ‘Pilgrimage of Grace for the Commonwealth’ is the full title of the Rebellion.

Question 13

Why did the Clergy play a significant role in the rising?

Answer 13

• Their Lives had been most affected by the religious changes.
• Priests in Louth supported the rebellion.
• Clergy supplied money.
• Monks took up arms.

Question 14

What debate surrounds the impact of the Pilgrimage of Grace?

Answer 14

• Debate surrounding if the Pilgrimage of Grace caused religious changes to slow down, or if they increased as a result.

Question 15

How did Religious Changes slow down as a result of the Pilgrimage of Grace?

Answer 15

• Bishops Book of 1537 was conservative and restored many traditional religious practices.
• Restoration of the four lost sacraments from the 10 articles of 1536.
• Radical preaching was attacked.

Question 16

How did Religious Changes speed up as a result of the Pilgrimage of Grace?

Answer 16

• Dissolution of larger monasteries.
• Publication of the Great Bible in 1539.

Question 17

How threatening was the Rebellion to the Tudor regime?

Answer 17

• Rebel force was composed of 40,000 men.
• Government could only raise a force of 8,000 men.
• Rebellion was also a direct attack on flagship government policies.

many historians now consider the rebellion to have been the greatest internal threat that Henry had to face in his reign. They base their judgement on the basis that it would have been very difficult for Henry to have gathered together an army that was big enough to fight against the 35,000 men in the rebellion. There is also no evidence that Henry had anyone capable of handling such a large military force even if he had been able to raise so many men. It is also accepted that anger was not just a preserve of the north. If the rebels had marched south it is almost certain that others would have joined them. Therefore, as the rebels marched south, their numbers may well have grown greatly. There was also the real fear that a foreign nation would use the disruption that the rebels would have caused to attack England in the south. With Henry’s army engaged against the rebels, there would have been little to stop a landing on the Kent/Sussex coast. If the Pope denounced Henry and urged all Catholics to assist the rebels, Henry’s position would have been even weaker.