Success/Failure Flashcards
Lovel success/failure
1486
Failure
lack of credible alternative for the King
Lovel and Staffords were only minor nobles –> no great wealth or large groups of followers/servants on which to base a rising
H7 efficient intelligence service –> tracked down rebels when they fled Battle of Bosworth
No foreign support
Simnel success/failure
1487
Simnel was not clearly legitimate and was only 12 years old – a child, not an inspiring leader
Earl of Warwick could be shown to be alive
Simnel depended on foreign support – Germans and Irishmen – and this made it much harder to raise support in England. He seemed to be a puppet for foreign interests
Yorkist leadership very weak after Bosworth, eg Duke of Norfolk was killed there
Henry’s treatment of the Yorkist nobility after Bosworth was effective. Few were executed or left without hope. He confiscated land but allowed men such as the Earl of Surrey to prove their loyalty and regain their property. This limited the number desperate enough to rebel.
Especially key was Northumberland’s decision to stay loyal – he had fought for Richard at Bosworth
Exhaustion and poverty – the north had been devastated by war and most were focused on survival for themselves and their families, not another bout of dynastic fighting. Like many of the rebellions in this period, therefore, there was no common enthusiasm for the cause among all classes
Bad behaviour of the undisciplined Irish troops
Henrey met them at Stoke - took 3 hours to win
Yorkshire success/failure
1489
success
Attempts to collect the tax were abandoned
no widespread retribution from government
Lack of a prominent leader made it easier for the king to treat the rebels leniently
Discouraged from making further requests
Failure
The north came under firmer government control as a result, but this did not prevent further trouble flaring in the same region during the Pilgrimage of Grace.
Lack of a prominent leader limited any chance that the rebellion would become more widespread
Army easily defeated rebels
Cornish success/failure
success –> tax rescinded
failure
Henry was able to use the mercenary Army raised to go against to Scots against the Cornish
Cornish were “too different” to attract support in the south of England. Many spoke a different language - No sympathy for the rebel cause among Londoners
Poorly equipped. Cornish had no cavalry or artillery, or even good weapons and armour. They were faced by a professional army
No support from any nobles with any resources.
Warbeck success/failure
failure:
None of the foreign countries gave Warbeck adequate support
Gained almost no support in England, each of the three times that he landed
Henry’s navy disrupted Warwick’s efforts
Warbeck depended entirely for others for his power – he was vulnerable to changes in their plans –> loss of foreign support after failed attempts to invade Kent and from Scotland
Support in Cornwall was due to ongoing resentment in aftermath of 1497 Cornish rebellion
H7 was much more firmly established on the throne – most nobles saw little point in risking all for Warbeck.
Not a single major English figure, or even member of the gentry, backed Warbeck
Henry’s intelligence service was very efficient. It found out who Warbeck really was and neutralised potential supporters with bonds before the landing in Kent
Amicable grant success/failure
Success: got AG rescinded
Why:
Its size: 4,000
sympathy from members of King’s council e.g. royal councillors and Archbishop of Canterbury - alerted king to potential consequences if he did not comply
Similar anti-tax protests in other parts of country
Widespread protest – in at least 5 counties. Essex, Kent, Warwickshire, Norfolk and Suffolk
Rare example of multiple classes uniting – tax affected laity and clergy; nobility resented being made responsible for its collection
Protestors avoided violence and made it clear they were loyal to the crown and only protesting against this specific tax –>
Dukes of Norfolk and Suffolk impressed by a calm demonstration in Suffolk – instead of attacking they wrote to London to request respite for the commons
Protestors were ready to march London, bringing the focus of the rebellion to the capital.
here was enough discontent and sympathy inside London for the king not to be certain of their loyalty – the Londoners were the first to be informed that the tax demanded would be halved
protests went on for some time, the king’s councillors got good information from the countryside and warned Henry of the likely dire consequences of not backing down –> much better understanding of the feelings of the commons than in other rebellions in this period.
Silken Thomas success/failure
failure, why:
•Major English response in terms of troops sent and money expended
- Thomas loses support of clergy by ordering execution of Archbishop of Dublin, who had tried to mediate
- Thomas allowed himself to be besieged at Maynooth, meaning the relatively small English army could concentrate all its forces on one spot. Later Irish rebels would use guerrilla tactics to much greater effect
success/failure POG
Success
Henry had to start paying more attention to the north – he was very careful to avoid a repetition
1540 repealed Statute of Uses, one of rebels demands
Failure
Many of their demands were not met
western success/failure
Failure:
No clear achievable aims – rebels’ articles demanded things the government could not grant, such as abandonment of the Reformation. This forced the government to fight
•Rebel leadership poor – moved slowly and allowed themselves to be bogged down in siege of Exeter
success/failure of Northumberland rebellion
Northumberland’s unpopularity – lacked significant support even from other nobles
Northumberland’s failure to arrest Mary when he had the chance
Timing – Edward died before the “devise” could be approved by parliament; it was technically illegal for a minor to alter the wishes of the previous king
The Protestant reformation was not yet entrenched – many welcomed the accession of Mary and the return of the old religion
Wyatt success/failure
failure:
Unlike 1549 - not a genuinely popular rebellion - Wyatt got little backing from the commons outside Kent, and not much there
Loyalty of London
Mary understood backing was for her, not Catholicism. She refused to listen to advisors who urged her to bring in a Spanish army to crush the trouble, and instead appealed for her subjects’ loyalty “as a mother to her children”
Cold weather - The rising began at the end of January – winter, a difficult time to rouse the commons for a long and uncomfortable march in the open with no shelter. Most successful rebellions take place in summer!
Bad security - Word of plot leaked out two months early - strength of the Tudor intelligence
Wyatt allowed time for Mary to prepare for her defence
Pardon for those who went home
Shane O’Neill success/failure
Success
English lacked cash and political will to take strong action – the main English force was rarely more than 1,000 strong
Shane eluded all attempts to capture him – his eventual death was at the hands of other Irish
The length of the rebellion and the numbers willing to fight for Shane show there was still a strong element of Gaelic nationalism in Ireland
The Duke of Sussex was recalled to London in disgrace for his failure to capture O’Neill and end the rebellion
Failure
Shane was able to stay free, but never faced the English in pitched battle nor won any major territory from them
There was no real threat to English control over Dublin
Northern Earls success/failure
- Lack of clear and achievable aims
- Bad timing – rebellion was in winter, from November 1569-January 1570.
- Poor organisation meant the march south began before Northumberland had even raised his own tenantry – his contribution to the rebel army was just 80 men
- Support was limited to the north, well away from all centres of power
- Elizabeth’s intelligence service, organised by Sir Francis Walsingham, made sure it was well informed and she was able to take steps to secure MQS and prevent her becoming the focus for rebellion
Geraldine success/failure
Serious response by England - army of nearly 6,500
6,500 was eventually raised – and English brutality. Nearly 2,000 men were massacred over the course of the rebellion, including the whole of a Spanish landing force of 600
Failure of the Desmonds to secure significant foreign backing despite Fitzgerald spending several years raising funds and men in Spain
Internal squabbles between Irish clans – the absence of Desmond and Butler in London resolving a spat was the spark for English incursions.
The Butlers then sided with the English and sent 4,500 men to besiege Desmond’s main castle
success/failure Tyrone
Success:
His rebellion was the longest-lasting of the period – longer than Warbeck’s and a lot more intensive
When Essex was sent with a royal army and unprecedented powers as Viceroy, Tyrone outmanoeuvred him and Essex was forced to make an unconditional peace when funds ran low – Tyrone was able to exhaust English resources
The war provoked the English into major atrocities – Fletcher calls it ‘genocidal’ – which is an indicator of how seriously the English took it
There were no good maps at all of the interior of Ireland
25% of the entire country was bog
The highland areas were thickly covered in forest throughout
There were no important towns or ports in Ulster – it was then the most remote part of the country, and hard for the English to penetrate
Unlike earlier Irish rebels, Tyrone’s army was professional and well trained.
By 1601 he commanded 6,000 men, trained by Spanish veterans and equipped with the latest weapons – muskets and pikes instead of the traditional axes and javelins.
The English army at this time was only 4,000 strong, and had to provide garrisons to a number of castles and guard supply lines – giving Tyrone an advantage in any open battle
Failure
•He failed to obtain significant support from overseas (this is true of every rebel in this period except Lambert Simnel, and even he only had 6,500 foreign troops)
- He had tacit support from other Irish families, but most hesitated to back him militarily
- A Tyrone victory would replace distant English rule with direct Irish rule for the other great clans - Joining Tyrone risked reprisals from the English
- The English had superior financial resources. Overall Elizabeth spent £2 million on quashing this rebellion
