The Pilgrimage Of Grace Flashcards
Cause 1 of the pilgrimage of grace?
Religion:
- Henry VIII’s break from Rome
- The changes to religious practices
- The dissolution of the monasteries
Henry VIII’s break from Rome
- Henry was married to Catherine of Aragon but she failed to provide a male heir, either therefore wanted to marry Anne Boleyn
- However Pope Clement VII had repeatedly refused to grant annulment
- Thomas Cromwell (Henry’s principal secretary) suggested using parliament to end the power of the pope in England, and to install Henry as head of the church
- Henry became ‘ supreme head of the church’ in England, outraging Catholics
The changes to religious practices
- Thomas Cromwell and Thomas Cranmer (archbishop of Canterbury) were proving successful in getting Henry to make reforms to what was now ‘his’ church
1. New prayer book, 1535, more Protestant
2. Ten articles, 1536, attack catholic traditions like Saints, relics and transubstantiation (the bread and wine IS the body and blood of Christ) - This outraged Catholics across the country
The dissolution of the monasteries
- Henry schools in France were very expensive and he was running out of money
- The monasteries owned 25% of the land and had an annual income of £200,000
- In 1536, Parliament therefore passed the first active suppression to begin closing them down and confiscating their property
- All monasteries is worth less than £200 a year were closed (900 of them)
This outraged Catholics
Cause 2 of the pilgrimage of grace?
Government:
- Henry VIII’s promotion of favourites
Henry VIII’s promotion of favourites
- Henry had given all the most powerful responsibilities in his government to a low-born, reform-minded commoner, Thomas Cromwell, this outraged catholics
Cause 3 of the pilgrimage of grace?
Economy:
- increasing hardships
Increasing hardships
- crop failures in 1535-36 how to increase food prices, and taxes remained high
- The statute of uses had also tightened laws around inheritance
- Many land owners were enclosing their land for high profitable sheep farming meaning poor people were losing access to common land and it’s resources
- Many monasteries people turned into for charity were also being closed down
Method 1 of the pilgrimage of grace?
War:
- Lincolnshire rising, oct 1536
- pilgrimage of grace, oct-dec 1536
- bigod’s rebellion, feb 1537
Lincolnshire rising, oct 1536
Rebels feared the church silver at Saint James‘s Church in Louth was to be seized, so they captured one of Thomas Cromwell‘s commissioners
went on to hang one of the bishop of Lincoln‘s clerks
They then took over the Lincoln Cathedral by force
Pilgrimage of grace, oct-dec 1536
After the failure of the Lincolnshire rising, 30,000 rebels took over the city of York
They then besieged and captured pontefract castle
By late October they controlled most of northern England
Bigod’s rebellion, feb 1537
After the failure of the pilgrimage of Grace, so Francis Bigod launched a rebellion in Cumberland and Westmoreland
Method 2 of the pilgrimage of grace?
Communication:
- Lincolnshire rising
- pilgrimage of grace
Lincolnshire rising (communication)
Rebels laid out their grievances in the Lincoln articles
Requesting Henry:
- Reopen the monasteries
- repeal Cranmer’s changes to the church
- sack Thomas Cromwell
- Reduce taxes
Henry sent an angry letter and an army north, the rebels were intimidated and dispersed, in the following weeks many rebels were rounded up and executed
Pilgrimage of grace (communication)
The rebels laid out their grievances in their pontefract articles
Requesting Henry:
- reopen monasteries
- Reinstate the pope head of the church
- Punish protestant heretics
- Establish a parliament in York
They showed off peaceful intentions by wearing badges of the five wounds of Christ and swearing an oath to be peaceful
Henry sent an army north (led by the Duke of Norfolk), Norfolk promised them a parliament in York and claimed Henry would stop closing the monasteries
The rebels was suitably persuaded and dispersed, in the following weeks many were rounded up and executed
Short term significance of the pilgrimage of grace?
Mixed:
- on the one hand, it was the largest rebellion of the entire 16th century
- However, on the other hand, it failed utterly
On the one hand, it was the largest rebellion of the entire 16th century (explain)
It had around 30,000 rebels from all classes, the rebels controlled all of northern England, including the city of York. if they wanted to could have marched to London and possibly even threatened Henry’s position to the throne
However, on the other hand, it failed utterly (explain)
The Lincolnshire rebels were scared off and then rounded up
The Yorkshire rebels were persuaded to space by the Duke of Norfolk and then rounded up
Robert Aske, a leader of the pilgrimage of Grace, was duped by Henry into revealing all plans and then executed horribly
None of the 3 revolts achieved any of their aims, it had the potential to be hugely significant in challenging Henry’s royal authority but it failed to realise it
Long term significance of the pilgrimage of grace?
Still mixed:
- firstly, it backfired as Henry actually increased the rate of his changes
- However, it did make future generations more willing to protest against religious changes
Firstly, it backfired as Henry actually increased the rate of his changes (explain)
Henry introduced an English Bible in 1539
Henry dissolved the remaining larger monasteries in 1540
He didn’t introduce the promised parliament and instead of established a new council of the north staffed by loyal families he could trust
He faced no further rebellions for the remainder of his rain, essentially England became less Catholic and Henry became more powerful
However, it did make future generations more willing to protest against religious (explain)
E.g in the 1600s when Charles I began to impose his own changes on the church many were once again upset and protested however this time it was protestants not Catholics who were upset as Charles had married a Catholic, appointed William Laud, Archbishop of Canterbury and imposed his new prior book on Scotland
