Edward VI Flashcards
Religious change under Somerset (1547-49)
- Royal Visitations 1547 Commissioners sent to churches all over England and Wales to inspect the state of the Church, and type of doctrine.
*Book of Homilies and Paraphrases by Cranmer ordered into church, promoting Protestant ideologies.
*Royal Injunctions reasserted 1538 injunctions, which introduced English services, bible and removed images.
Repeal of Henry’s six articles, leaving England without a doctrine. Repeal of Treason Act, renewing censorship and freedom of speech & religion.
1549, First prayer book introduced, including both protestant and catholic ideologies. Act of Uniformity made it the official liturgy.
Somerset Vagrancy Act
With the expansion of towns, the free movement of people increased, thus The Vagrancy Act (Slavery Act) of 1547, attacked vagrants looking for work.
*Those unemployed for 3 days were branded with a V and sold into slavery
*Children of vagrants were taken away and put to work as apprentices
But, These provisions were never put into effect
Although, the Government did order local officials to provide for relief for the deserving poor.
Somerset on enclosures
Somerset was anti-enclosure, and was influenced by the Commonwealth clergy whose biggest target was enclosure of tillage. Thus…
Proclamations in 1548 enforced statutes against enclosures for grazing, and Somerset passed an Act banning enclosures on his own land.
A 5% tax on sheep was passed in 1549, to restrict enclosures, contributing to the Kett’s rebellion.
Religious change under Northumberland (1549-52)
1549, priests could marry and remaining images were to be destroyed.
1550, Ordinal Ceremony to ordain priests was reformed, and New Treason Act made it an offence to question the royal supremacy and changes to the church.
Second Prayer Book 1552 introduced completely protestant ideologies eg. no more traditional robes.
Second Act of Uniformity made it the official liturgy.
No religious crisis, as Edwards policies were supported and enforced effectively by the powerful protestant factions at court.
Socio-economic action taken by Northumberland
Northumberland scrapped the 5% tax and called off enclosure commissioners, and the 1547 Vagrancy Act was repealed, although provision for poor remained.
The government ordered grain storage quotas to protect against bad harvests, and Treason laws in 1550 prevented opposition and uprisings.
Government and Crown expenditure was reduced, & Debt had been reduced to $180,000 by 1553. Money was raised by deserting Scottish garrisons and selling Boulogne back, which helped to level the books.
Why was there a 1549 Western Rebellion in Cornwall & Devon?
The Cornish were religiously and socially conservative, and wanted catholic latin services, the six articles, and for the pope to be head of the church.
The Cornish murdered Commissioner William Body for destroying images in 1548.
The Prayer book of 1549 sparked widespread unrest, especially in Sampford Courtenay, Devon.
Humphrey Arundel led Cornish rebels, and in June, the rebels had surrounded Exeter.
Lord Russel’s response to the Western Rebellion
Lord Russell was sent to negotiate a peaceful settlement and wrote a conciliatory response to the rebel demands.
However, the rebels attacked Exeter, and Lord Greys reinforcements were halted by an Oxfordshire uprising.
Confrontations between rebels & the government took place in August, pushing the rebels further back.
On the 23rd, Russells forces defeated the rebel forces at Sampford Courtenay.
Causes of the 1549 Kett’s rebellion in Norwich
Enclosures of land in East Anglia led to discontent by small farmers.
At a Wymondham feast in July, drunken villagers pulled down John Flowerdew’s enclosure fencing which continued for weeks on end.
Landowner, Robert Kett, took control of rebels. The rebels had swelled to 16000, setting up camp near Norwich.
How did Edward’s government respond to Robert Kett.
York Herald offered a pardon to the rebels, offering to appoint commissioners to reform enclosures. Kett rejected Herald’s pardon, and Northumberland’s pardon.
Northumberland reacted to this by creating an army of 1000 foreign mercenaries, killing 3000 rebels. Kett was trialled for treason and hung in November.
No threat to centre of government = no crisis.
The Garrisons - conflict with Scotland
25 Military outposts were established and 14 more were planned on the Scottish border - aimed to protect protestant nobles, and to threaten the Scotts to accept the Treaty of Greenwich.
However, only 2 were substantial, & there were not enough troops to defend the Garrisons, and the costs of providing for these soldiers was expensive.
But, Scotland were weaker than England, and so an attack from them was also highly unlikely.
Treaties in 1550 - Relations with France
After Henry II (France) occupied Boulogne, the Treaty of Boulougne was signed in March 1550 - England lost Boulougne and no longer received a French Pension, but received a sum of 400,000 crowns.
Treaty of Angers signed in December 1550 - achieved a marriage alliance between Edward and Elizabeth (daughter of Henry II).
France, Spain and the HRE were too busy confronting each other to concern themselves with attacking England.
