We have been learning about different aspects of the Tudor era. Today I want to turn my attention to the Pilgrimage of Grace, the northern rising that shook Henry VIII in 1536. I want to try to understand not only what happened, but how it may have felt to the people involved. I will definitely need to return this subject and break it down further, but for now, I want to just get an overview.
By the mid-1530s England was changing fast. Henry VIII had broken with Rome, declared himself Supreme Head of the Church of England, and he began dissolving the monasteries. In London these reforms were driven by royal authority and Thomas Cromwell, but in the north they hit at hard. Monasteries were more than just religious houses, they gave the local people employment, and they were places people could turn to when they were in need. It must have felt like their safety net was taken away.
Economic pressures made matters even worse. The population growth had started to put a strain on resources, the harvests in 1535 were bad, and food prices went up sharply. Enclosures reduced access to common land causing further stress. New financial measures such as the Statute of Uses also caused anxiety among landholders, and rumours started to spread that church plate would be seized and even that baptisms could taxed.
Tension finally erupted in Lincolnshire in October of 1536. Crowds grew after hearing sermons about the king’s religious changes and the dissolution of monasteries. Anger soon turned in to violence; royal officials were attacked and even killed, and thousands of people marched to Lincoln demanding an end to the religious changes, heavy taxation, and the suppression of the monasteries. The rising was quickly dispersed after the king threatened to use force.
Within only days, a far larger movement began in Yorkshire. This was the Pilgrimage of Grace. Its leader, Robert Aske, a lawyer from a respected Yorkshire family, made the rebellion discipline. Participants called themselves “pilgrims” rather than rebels and they swore oaths to defend the faith and the commonwealth. They carried banners depicting the Five Wounds of Christ, presenting their cause as holy rather than treasonous. Many insisted that they were loyal to Henry VIII but opposed to his “evil counsellors,” especially Cromwell.
The movement spread across northern England, it drew in tens of thousands of people from all different social backgrounds, from peasants, townsmen, clergy, and even members of the gentry. York was occupied, expelled monks were restored to their houses, and Catholic rites resumed. The sense of unity must have been powerful. For a brief moment, it may have felt as though the north had reclaimed its voice.
By late October, the pilgrims assembled near Doncaster in huge numbers. The king’s representatives, including the Duke of Norfolk, were heavily outnumbered and they decided to negotiate rather than to fight. The rebels presented a list of their grievances, they asked for the restoration of the monasteries, the removal of Cromwell, and a parliament to be held in the north. Norfolk offered them a general pardon and promised that their concerns would be addressed. They trusted these assurances, so Aske urged the crowds to disperse.
In early 1537 a further disturbance, known as Bigod’s Rebellion, broke out. Although it was not authorised by Aske, it gave Henry VIII the reason he was waiting for. The leaders were arrested and charged with treason. Over the following months, more than two hundred people were executed. Robert Aske was hanged after being placed in chains in York. Lords, knights, monks, priests, and ordinary villagers were all treated the same. The message was abundantly clear that any kind of resistance would be ended.
Do you see the Pilgrimage of Grace, as a religious protest, a social and economic rebellion, or a desperate attempt to protect a way of life people felt was slipping away?
Image info:
The Pilgrimage of Grace
Date: 1865S
Artist: John Cassell
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