Tudors Chapter 6 - Revolt of the Northern Earls

Question 1

Why did MQ/S pose a threat to E1?

Answer 1

Legitimate claim to English throne.
Figurehead for Catholic cause.
Connections with powerful French Guise family.

Question 2

When did MQ/S first arrive in England and why?

Answer 2

May 1568 - faced revolt in Scotland.

Question 3

When did E1 hear of the Mary/Norfolk plot?

Answer 3

September 1569

Question 4

Where was MQ/S imprisoned in 1569 and why significant?

Answer 4

Tutbury Castle, far from London and Scottish border

Question 5

Why did E1 keep MQ/S as prisoner but not execute her?

Answer 5

She wanted J6 in power as he was a child and thus kept Scotland weak.
Yet executing MQ/S would suggest she supported Nobles overthrowing their monarch.

Question 6

Outline key events of the Northern Rising in October 1569. (4 key dates).

Answer 6

1 October - Norfolk surrenders to E1.
6 October - day the Earls planned to rebel.
9 October - Sussex questions N + W but lets them free,
24 October - E1 demands Earls at court.

Question 7

Outline key events of Northern Rising in November 1569.

Answer 7

9 November - Earls rebel and mass at Brancepeth Castle.
14 November - Mass at Durham Cathedral.
22 November - Rebels march south to Bramham Moor.
24 November - Rebels retreat back North due to fears of royal army approaching.

Question 8

Outline events of Northern Rising in December 1569.

Answer 8

14 December - beseige of Barnard Castle.
When royal army does reach rebels they quickly flee.
19 December - Earls flee further North after facing challenges from Sir John Forster.

Question 9

What happened 1570 to 1572?

Answer 9

January 1570 - Dacre’s revolt - defeated by Lord Hunsdon.
1572 - Earl of Northumberland found in Scotland and executed in York.

Question 10

Which advisor to E1 was a source of political concern and why?

Answer 10

William Cecil - a man of ‘low-birth’ who was bringing England close to war with Spain.

Question 11

Which southern outsiders triggered political resentments in the North?

Answer 11

Earl of Sussex = President of the C/N in 1568.
Lord Hunsdon made Warden of East March in 1568 - land typically controlled by Northumberland.

Question 12

Aside from outsiders/advisors, why was the Northern Rising caused by politics?

Answer 12

Rebels wanted to secure MQ/S’s place in the succession.
However supporters largely indifferent to politics.

Question 13

What % of Yorkshire was Catholic?

Answer 13

75%

Question 14

From when did Anglo-Spanish relations deterioate?

Answer 14

1566

Question 15

Why did Catholics feel betrayed by E1’s via media?

Answer 15

She began a more hardline approach to recusancy in order to attack Catholicism due to Spanish relations.

Question 16

Why was Durham Cathedral such a significant site?

Answer 16

Protestant James Pilkington was appointed as Bishop of this important Catholic site; 794 of rebels came from Durham.

Question 17

Why was the new Warden of the East March a religious reason for revolt?

Answer 17

Lord Hunsdon was also a Protestant.

Question 18

How did Northumberland suffer economically?

Answer 18

1562 he was forced to ask for a grant of £1,000 from E1

Question 19

How did Westmorland suffer economically?

Answer 19

1568, he needed to borrow £80 from George Bowes.

Question 20

How did the aims of the Northern Rising make it a threat?

Answer 20

They wanted to bolster the power of MQ/S, directly threatening E1’s position.
Driven by fervour of religious devotion.

Question 21

Why did the aims of the Northern Rising not make it a threat?

Answer 21

They never wanted to depose E1 so despite facing revolt her position was always secure.
W + N reluctant and lacked unity and conviction - fled 19 December.

Question 22

Why did the support of the Northern Rising make it a threat?

Answer 22

N + W important nobles in North.
5,000 is a substantial force.
Defeated George Bowes at Barnard Castle 14 December.
Royal army took month to reach Durham.

Question 23

Why did the support of the Northern Rising not make it a threat?

Answer 23

Norfolk dropped out 1 October and no other nobles joined.
PofG had 30,000 - far more numbers and more threatening (F+M).
Gained no Spanish or Scottish support despite hopes.
Rebels retreated or disbanded any time news of royal army approaching.
North lacked proximity to London.

Question 24

What shows the Northern Rising scared the Crown?

Answer 24

The C/N should have been stable post-1537 - Huntingdon 1572 shows E1 needed to assert presence in North.
E1 had 8 other rebel ringleaders executed.
700 ordinary rebels ordered to be executed - more than PofG.
1571 Treason Act - illegal to claim E1 had no right to be Queen.

Question 25

What shows the Northern Rising didn’t scare the Crown?

Answer 25

E1’s patronage clearly worked - Earl of Derby protected Cheshire and Lancashire despite Catholic sympathies.
Punishments quite typical for the era, in which treason often received capital punishment.
MQ/S remained alive until 1587.

Question 26

What suggests the rebels aims didn’t cause failure?

Answer 26

Both earls wanted to restore Catholicism and their traditional power.
Both wanted Mary’s place in succession secured.
This shows unity and purpose.

Question 27

What suggests the rebels’ aims did cause failure?

Answer 27

Less focused than Kett or Aske.
Northumberland opposed Norfolk/Mary marriage, whilst W supported it as a means for patronage - lacked unity.
Rebels never wanted E1 deposed, so rebellion never threatening.

Question 28

What suggests it was the Crown that caused the Northern Rising to fail in terms of aims?

Answer 28

E1’s govt. so secure by now that aiming to remove her would have been futile.
E1’s authority prevented Norfolk from rebelling, severely undermining the rebellion.

Question 29

What suggests the rebels’s actions/support did cause failure?

Answer 29

Only had 5,000 rebels.
No noble support.
Falsely believed in support from Philip II of Spain.
Marched south to Bramham Moor 22 November yet retreated 2 days later.
Despite beseiging Barnard Castle they disbanded and fled quickly when royal army arrived.

Question 30

What suggests the poor support of the rebels was actually the Crown’s fault?

Answer 30

E1 had power in North = Derby protected Lancashire and Cheshire.
Commoners less inclined to rebel against powerful monarch - hadn’t been excommunicated.
Whenever a royal army was present the rebels quickly lost.

Question 31

When was E1 excommunicated and what was this called?

Answer 31

1572 - regnans in excelsis

Question 32

When was the Treason Act extended and what happened?

Answer 32

1571 - people couldn’t claim she had no right to be Queen.

Question 33

When was MQ/S finally executed?

Answer 33

1587

Question 34

How many Catholics by 1603?

Answer 34

Only 50,000 Catholics out of 5 million population

Question 35

How did E1 face religious conflicts within government?

Answer 35

She wanted Anglicanism but councillors such as Leicester wanted Puritanism

Question 36

When and what was the Act against Seditious Sectaries?

Answer 36

1593 - all recusants ordered to leave country