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The Pilgrimage of Grace Reconsidered Author(s): C. S. L. Davies Reviewed work(s): Source: Past & Present, No. 41 (Dec., 1968), pp. 54-76 Published by: Oxford University Press on behalf of The Past and Present Society Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/650003 . Accessed: 14/02/2012 10:02
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RECONSIDERED OF THE PILGRIMAGE GRACE

OF A DISCUSSIONOF THE CAUSESOF THE PILGRIMAGE GRACEMAY SEEM

eithersuperfluous premature.l The massivestudyby the Misses or Dodds has been followed by a number of short discussions,in in generalworkson the period,in studiesof monasticism, studiesof government the north,andso on.2 It will not be possibleto write in has untilMr.M. E. James completed confidently aboutthe Pilgrimage short studies,has already the workwhich,in a seriesof remarkable of relationship, of begunto showthe importance patronage, tenurial in and, not least, of personality northern of kinshipand connection, too, societyat this time.3 Obviously, a good dealof workhas yet to study of social structurein the north, be done on the comparative a study which would undoubtedlyshow up importantregional variations.4 Nevertheless,I believe that an interim discussionis worth-while. So muchof whathas been writtenseemsto dodgethe between the mainissue. It triesto apportion causesof the Pilgrimage various "factors"aIld, by implication,to consider,for instance, factorsas mutuallyexclusive. Whatis "economic" "religious" and factorswereinterneededis ratheran attemptto see how the various theirothergrievances, whythe Pilgrims, whatever related, consider to marched behindthe Bannerof the Five Woundsand, ostensiblyat to least, were prepared fight for the defenceof the churchas they someof knewit. It maybe possible,as a resultof this, to reconsider the accepted views on the natureof the EnglishReformation. At this stage,it will be objectedthat to talk of the causesof the Pilgrimageis in any case misleading,since the Pilgrimagewas a concatenation variouslocal risings. Obviously,in a revolt in of whichthe commonsof some seven countiescoveringa third of the area of Englandplayed a leading, or perhapsthe leading,part, a
1Mr. K. V. Thomas and Mr. M. E. Jameswere good enough to criticize an early draft of this paper; though neither can be held responsiblefor the views expressed. of Grace, I536-7, and the Exeter 2 M. H. and Ruth Dodds, The Pilgrimage Conspiracy, I538, 2 vols. (Cambridge,I9I5). in the T?ldor North and A TudorMagnate and the 3 Changeand Continuity TudorState (Universityof York, BorthwickPapers,nos. xxvii and xxx, I 965-6); and the Decline of Northern "The First Earl of Cumberland (I493-I542) Feudalism",NorthernHistory,i (I966), pp. 43-69. (London, I964). For an 4 On the lines of CharlesTilly's study of The Zendee excellentstartto such studies, see R. B. Smith, "A Studyof the LandedIncomes and Social Structureof the West Riding of Yorkshire,I535-46" (Leeds Univ. Cf. also The Agrarian History of England and Wales, Ph.D. thesis, I962). I500-I640, ed. Joan Thirsk (Cambridge,I967), ch. i.

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was expressed,a varietyof "causes"induced varietyof grievances of individualsto join the Pilgrims. Clearly,once the framework had been removed,all authority, order,of obedienceto established foundan outlet. Neverlocalgrievances repressed sortsof normally theless, it is possible to isolate five main revolts, following the revolt, the revolt in the East pattern;the Lincolnshire traditional area the counties(including Craven Riding,thatof the north-western to all of the West Ridingof Yorkshire), in October DecemberI536, andthe revoltsin the earlymonthsof I537 in boththe EastRidingand the north-west.5 as in These last, thoughinteresting themselves revoltsof the comby mons, with little participation the gentry and nobility, are not proper. They were to relevant a studyof the causesof the Pilgrimage who believedthatthey had commons by clearlyoutbursts frightened that by been betrayed theirsocialsuperiors, the king woulddo little of or nothingto meetthe grievances the rebels,andthathe wouldnot pardon.6 Again,thereseems himselfboundby the general consider and to be universalagreementthat, in the rising in Cumberland and Westmorland in the Cravendistrictof the West Ridingin I536, than muchmoreprominently elsewhere. The aimsfigured economic fines]andotherextraordinary [entry that rebelsdemanded "gressums" dues should be moderatedor abolished, and complainedabout as of enclosure wasteandforest. Moreover, M. E. Jamespointsout, manyof the gentry,themselves to and contrary the usualimpression, rentsand by mesnetenantsof the greatlords,wereafflicted increased or dues, and encouraged, at least tolerated,the commons'rising.7 Plainly, conditionsin these highland areas were hard, probably rise so. The population of the sixteenthcenturyseems increasingly to havebeen verymuchmoreacutein these areas,andthe enclosure of common,the increaseof dues, or the incidenceof bad harvests, at effecton an economybalanced the best of couldhave a disastrous nearthe edge of subsistence.8 These conditions times dangerously rising)in Craven riot a produced serious (ora small-scale hadcertainly tenantsof the earlof Cumberland in I535, in whichthe hard-pressed
5 A completestudy would also dealwith Durhamand the North Riding, which where the becamelinked to the West Riding revolt; and with Northumberland, defence of Hexham Priory became involved with borderfree-booting and the i, defenceof the Percy interest. See Dodds, Pilgrimage, cap. ix. in 6 Dodds, op. cit., pp. 55-98; A. G. Dickens, in Lollardsand Protestants the Dioceseof York (London, I959), pp. 97-I02; James, "Earl of Cumberland", p. 58, n. 84. Lettersand Papers of the Reign of pp. 2@4-5; 7 James, Changeand Continuity, Henry VIII (hereafterL.P.), vol. xi, no. Io80 (cf. Dodds, Pilgrimage,i, pp. pp. 53370-I); vol. xii, pt. i, nos. I63, 478, 9I4; James, "Earlof Cumberland",

62.

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seemto havebeenencouraged theirdefiance agentsof the earlof in by Northumberland, pursuit of a family feud.9 But while such in conditions maywell haveproduced moreriotingin I536, it would yet be hazardous guessthatthey wouldhaveresulted peasant to in revolt, at leaston the scaleof thatof I536-7, withoutthe precipitating factor of revoltsin Lincolnshire in the rest of Yorkshire. and These last, then, constitutethe core of the Pilgrimage, revolts,in appearance least,abouthighpolitics:the natureof the Supremacy, at the continuationof monasticism,the suppressionof heresy, the compositionof the King's Council, the conduct of business in Parliament. Inevitably,the issues were complex. Enumeration is facilitated the vast amountof evidenceavailable, evaluation by but is made difficultby the natureof that evidence,so much of which consists of depositionsin which suspectsblame their neighbours, especiallythose of a differentsocial class. Discussion naturally revolvesaroundthe questionof how much weight to put on the "secular"and how much on the "religious"factors. Fr. Philip Hughes, Dom David Knowlesand Dr. Scarisbrick, while acknowledgingsocialand politicalfactors,insist nevertheless the defence on of Catholicism the necessaryunifyingelement in the situation. as Dr. RachelReid, on the other hand, concludesthat "even if there hadbeenno Reformation, theremusthavebeena risingin the North aboutthis time''.l? Professor G. Dickens,whose knowledgeof A. northernsociety at this time is unrivalled,whose perceptiveand sensitivestudiesof religioussentimenthavetransformed underour standing religionin its socialsetting,endorsesDr. Reid'sview; he of concludesa generalaccount of the Pilgrimage,"the roots of the movementwere decidedly economic, its demandspredominantly secular,its interest in Rome almost negligible.... In short the Englishremained incapable staginggenuineWarsof Religion''.ll of
8 James, "Earlof Cumberland", p. 53, and the authoritiescited there- see also AgrarianHistory,ed. Thirsk, pp. I0-I2. 9James, "Earlof Cumberland",pp. 60-2. 10D. Knowles, The ReligiousOrdersin England (Cambridge, I950-9), iii, pp. 320-35; Philip Hughes, The Reformation England (London, I954), i, in pp. 296-320- J. J. Scarisbrick, Henry VIII (London, I968), pp. 338-48R. R. Reid, TheKing'sCouncilin the North (London, I92I), p. I26. 11A. G. Dickens, TheEnglishReformation (London, I964), pp. I22-8; cf. also Thomas Cromwell the EnglishReformation and (London, I959), pp. 95-I04- and "Secular and Religious Motivation in the Pilgrimageof Grace" in Studies in ChurchHistory, ed. G. J. Cuming, vol. iv (I967), pp. 39-64. I must thank ProfessorDickens and Canon Cumingfor their generosityin allowingme to see this articlein proof. ProfessorDickens' particularstudies are too numerousto list here. See especially,Lollardsand Protestants the Dioceseof York, Tudor in Treatises, A. G. Dickens (Yorks.Arch. Soc., Record Ser., cxxv, I959), and ed. "The Writersof Tudor Yorkshire",Trans.Roy. Hist. Soc., sth ser., xiii (I963), pp. 49-76-

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Economic grievances there were, of course. The general agrarian situation was certainly serious. A rising general price level forced landlords to increase dues traditionally regarded as fixed (whether by changing copyholds to leases, or by increasing the amount or frequency of entry fines), or find themselves unable to maintain their traditiorlalway of life. Moreover, there had been an unusually bad series of harvests since I527.12 But, within this context, it is more difficult to explain why the Pilgrimage happened just when it did. Here Professor Dickens and Dr. Reid instance a particular bad harvest. But the bad harvest concerned is that of the summer of I535, which was no longer directly relevant to the economic situation Dr. Reid's detailed evidence refers entirely to the in October I536. which was undoubtedly very bad. Wheat harvest-year I535-6, prices were 82% higher than the previous year, and there were extensive grain-riots, for instance in Somerset in April I536, while the serious Craven riots of June I535 were obviously connected with the approaching bad harvest, the expectation of which would have already raised grain prices. The new harvest of I536, however, was considerablybetter. The harvest of wheat and barley was mediocre, Oats were dear, and this but not disastrous, as it had been in I535. was obviously dangerous for pastoralfarmers. But rye, the principal bread-grain of the lower classes in most of the north, was fairly cheap.13
INDEX PRICES OF GRAIN I533-7 Harvest-Year
I533-4 I534-5 I535-6 I536-7

(I450-99 Oats
I56 I45 I84 I82

IOO) Rye
202 225 3?3 I54

Wheat
I33 I I6 2I3 I56

Barley
I27 I06 I99 I24

Of course, these are annual average prices, which conceal seasonal or regional variations. I have not been able to discover a reliable price series referring specifically to the north. From scattered evidence it
12On W. G. Hoskins' classificationthere had been I year of dearth,2 of bad harvest, I deficient, 4 average and 2 good. Nevertheless the "average" is moving average. As far as contemporaries were calculated as a 3 I-year concerned,only 2 of these years were "average"by the standardsof I522-6 or Agricultural W. G. Hoskins, "Harvest Fluctuations I480-I6I9", I537-42: History Review,xii (I964), pp. 28-46; AgrarianHistory, ed. Thirsk, Statistical Appendix, Table I. pp. Cromwell, 95-6; Reid, Councilof the North, p. I26; 13 Dickens, Thomas L.P. Addenda, i, nos. I056, I058, I063, I075; L.P., x, nos. 702, IOI5(26); (CamdenSoc., new ser., xi), i, p. 6I (I536 in Wriothesley, Wriothesley,Chronicle wronglyamendedby the editorto I537); AgrarianHistory,ed. Thirsk, Statistical Appendix, Table I.

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PAST AND PRESENT

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seemsthatDurhamwheatprices,whichtendednormally be below to the national average, wereratheraboveit in the harvest-year I536-7. Rye, moreover, seemsto havebeen moreexpensive Durhamthan in in Dorset. A few indications pricescanbe gleaned of fromthe State Papers. The earl of Derby reported"dearth"in Lancashirein NovemberI536. At the same time wheatwas IOS. 8d. a quarter, andrye gs. 4d. in Nottingham. Wheatwas IOS. 4d. at Pontefract in February I537. But these wereareasin whicharmieshad probably drivenup local prices. Even so, they are not far aboveProfessor Hoskins'scalculation a "general of average" fact, predominantly (in London),wheat price of g.I7S.l4 The short-termsituation,then, was at best difficult, perhapsworse;but belowthe peak-levels the of harvest-year I535-6. An explanation based on harvestfailuretout court shouldhaveproduced revoltsix months a beforethe outbreak of the Pilgrimage. Moreover, thereis no clearcorrelation betweenbad harvest peasant and revoltin sixteenth-century England. Therewas, forinstance, major no peasant revoltin I527-30 (a sequence dearth, of badharvest, deficient and harvest), thoughtherewasa cloth-workers' revoltdirectedagainst embargo tradewith the Netherlands the on in I528. Nor were there in I555-7 and I596-8, all much worsethan I535-7, althoughobviouslythere was a good deal of discontentin thoseyears.ls The harvest situation, then,is not a sufficient explanation of the Pilgrimage, thoughby embittering class-relationships and causing riotsit helpedto prepare wayfor it. the The very natureof the Pilgrimage makesan agrarian explanation, whether short-orlong-term, insufficient. Obviously, anunpopular if landlord tookthe king'sside in the revolt,his tenantscouldgive free rein to pent-upresentments. Thus the loyalistearlof Cumberland, victim of the Cravenriots of I535, was besiegedby his tenantsin SkiptonCastlein I536.16 The breakdown orderled to the refusal of of rent and tithe, and the expression long-festering of resentments. When the Horncastle commonscapturedSir WilliamSandonthey
14 Y. S. Brenner,"Prices and Wages in England I450-I550" (London Univ. M.A. thesis, I960), pp. I40-I. Wheat was 6.8S. per qr. in Durham in I532-3, where Brennercalculatesthe nationalaverageat 8.82S.; in I536-7, it was 9.74S. in Durham, and 9.I7S. on the nationalaverage. Rye in Dorset was I2S. a qr. in I534-5, and 5.33S. in I536-7; no figures exist for Durham in I535-6, but 9.73S. iS given for I536-7. L.P., xi, nos. I066, II55(5); Xii, i, no. 350; Hoskins, "HarvestFluctuations",pp. 44-5. 15I omit Isso-2,because of the deterrenteffect of the suppressionof the I549 revolts. The London riots of I595, or the attempted Oxfordshirerising of 596, though interesting,are hardly"major". 16James, "Earl of Cumberland";CliffordLetters of the SixteenthCentury, ed. A. G. Dickens (Surtees Soc., vol. clxxii, I962), p. 25; L.P., xii, i, no. 9I9.

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"struck at the horse and said he could go a-foot as they did". The smith of Wragby, in Lincolnshire, thought that "if we kill not [the gentlemen], we shall lose all, for they will deceive us". The priest of Croft exhorted his parishioners "to take the Commons part, for they did intend a commonwealth''.l7 Suspicion of the intentions of the gentry was, of course, the main cause of the second East Riding rebellion, led by Bigod and Hallom, in February I537. But if such feelings were widespread, they did not determine the main course of the Pilgrimage; even in the north-west, where class-hatred is traditionally considered to have manifested itself most violently, the rebels pressed the gentry into the lead, demanded the replacement of Cromwell and his associates by "noble men of true blood", and only elected their own "captains" when the gentry showed themselves unable to defend them against the Scots.l8 The leaders of the Yorkshire Pilgrimage were unlikely defenders of an oppressed peasantry against the landlord class. Lord Darcy's estate was remarkablefor the extent of its grassland,the object of enclosure riots three years before. The Percy family had extracted frequent, though not necessarily high, gressums, and had introduced the customs of Cumberland,less advantageousto the tenants, to their Yorkshireand Northumberland estates.l9 Agrarian discontent, then, will explain neither the timing of the Pilgrimage, nor its form as a revolt of northern society against the central government, rather than as class-warfare within that society. Other economic factors are frequently mentioned, but again seem less compelling on closer examination. The positive evidence for cattle-plagues seems to be confined to one explanation (or excuse) by the Pilgrims for their dislike of the subsidy.20 Another possible economic grievance was the recent Act attempting to improve the standard of cloth production; the government promptly ordered a stay of execution. But Tudor governments, after their experiences of I525 and I528, always tended to exaggeratethe rebellious nature of cloth-workers. In fact, as Dr. R. B. Smith has shown, the West Riding clothing area was not one of the main centres of revolt.
17 L.P., xi, no. I293; P.R.O., S.P. I|IIO f. I39 (L.P., xi, no. 967); E 36|II8 f. I (L.P., xi, no. 975). 18P.R.O., S.P. I/II7 f. 55 (L.P., xii, i, no. 687, p. 303); James, "Earl of Cumberland",pp. 53-62. 19 L.P., vi, nos. 355, 537; two-thirds of the income from Lord Darcy's West example of the exploitationof Riding estate came from pasture, "a remarkable grasslandby a large landowner"(R. B. Smith, thesis cited, p. 95). J. M. W. (Oxford, I958), PP. 62-7. Bean, TheEstatesof the Percy Family, I4I6-I537 20 L.P., xi, no. 705ed. P. L. Hughes alld J. F. Larkin I485-I553, 21 Tudor Royal Proclamations, (New Haven, I 964), no. s66; L.P, xi, no 603; Smith, thesis cited, pp. 304-5.

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class-conflict, by greatdealis made,especially Dr. Reid, of urban in Beverley A York. The trouble in in especiallyBeverley I535-6 andin disputes mergedinto the Pilgrimage. But are not such certainly urbanlife, which would have of sixteenth-century normalfeature a had ? unnoticedbut for the Pilgrimage Afterall, Newcastle passed overthe artisan oligarchy merchant seen also the recentvictoryof a at the cost of yet guilds, was held by the mayorfor the kingin I536 conditions,while afew concessions.22All told, then, economicunusualas to have been so serious,do not seemto have undoubtedly a provokedmajorrebellionon theirown account. did play a major taxation,undoubtedly One economicgrievance, to resistance the levy of therewas considerable in part the rebellion; voted in I534. Even here, thesecond instalmentof the subsidy thanthey seem at firstsight. mattersare morecomplicated however, Northumberland, Westmorland, (Cumberland, counties northern The goodsworth?20 wereexempt. Onlythosepossessing Durham) and that HenryVIII reckoned oran annualincomeof ?20 wereliable; weredirectlyaffected. Evenfewermay lessthan Io% of the rebels explained subsidycommissioners infacthavepaid. The Lincolnshire shirethatpaidafterxx li, toan angrymob "therewasnonewithinthe estimateis that buthe was worthxl li. and further". One modern to assessment the populationnormallyliable "onlyabout I.4% of to the subsidy, in werein iact being assessed" I536.23 Opposition resentment;but taxpayers' then, was not due to straight-forward the north of coin, to rather the belief that the subsidywould drainwouldthenceforth monasteries of the smaller if especially the tenants resultinglack of be paying their rents to London, and that the It wasthis which unemployment. wouldcauseconsiderable liquidity the forcedloan in had causedcloth-workers I525 to protestagainst see, taxation we shall as levied on their employers.24Nevertheless, elementson as important an aspectof those irrational primarily was the rightlyconcentrates; fear,presumably Dickensso whichProfessor taxation, unusualimpositionof peacetime inspiredby the relatively thattheywereto be increased, thattaxesweregoingto be enormously and marriages burials,on cowsandsheep,andon leviedon baptisms,
Dickens in North, PP. I26-8; cf. also A. G. 392, P. I83; V.C.H., 22 Reid, Councilof the Dodds, xii, i, no. City of York (London, I96I), PP. I37-9; L.P., i, Pilgrimage, PP. 204-7. P.R.O., S.P. IIIIO f. I65 26 23 Henry VIII c. I9, S. XVii;L.P., xi, no. 569; Lay Taxation, I485-IS47" (L.P., xi, no. 97I); R. S. Schofield, "Parliamentary Univ. Ph.D. thesis, I963), PP. 3Z7-9. 33I-43), P. 336; cf. Smith, (Cambridge 24Aske's narrative(Eng. Hist. Reu., v [I890], PP. p. lxxxiii. thesis cited, pp. 45-8. For IS25 see L.P., iv, introd.,

PILGRIMAGEOF GRACERECONSIDERED THE

6I

eating white of men low degree who dared to ape their superiors by extent of these fears, and their form, or bread white meat.25 The the London a betrays crisis of confidence, a profound distrust of Lincolnshire. among the commons of Yorkshire and government reaches of A similar distrust, of course, was felt in the upper king was deliberatelytrying to undermine the society. The northern Dacre of the powerof the great northern families. In I534 Lord which was probably North had been accused of treason, a charge had also up trumped and certainly exaggerated.26 The Percy family of an earl of Northumberland, in spite fared badly. The fifth willingness to serve the crown loyally, had never been given apparent sixth earl, office commensurate with his rank or standing. The great offices which his family had although entrusted with the held, had been induced to disinherit his brother and heir, traditionally in return for Sir Thomas Percy, by making his lands over the crown was not confined to particular a pension.27 But the crown's attack liberties families. As Dr. Reid has shown, the Acts of I535-6 against had involved the rights of several of the great lords, and sanctuaries of the North and especially those members of the embryonic Council refuge with Darcy at Pontefractand who, during the Pilgrimage, took of the subsequently countenanced, to say the least, the activities Jury Grand Pilgrims. In these conditions the fining of the Yorkshire in not (consisting, of course, of gentlemen) for its alleged perversion a suspected murderer,could take on preferringan indictment against Moreover the a notoriety far in excess of its intrinsic importance.28 in the face of conStatute of Uses (forced through Parliament manoeuvre siderable hostility by a skilful and somewhat dubious legal was extremely unpopular among the on the part of the government) which gentry at large; so much so, that its most drastic provisions, by will, and thus made it effectively prevented land being devised loans on the difficult to provide portions for younger sons or to raise had to be repealed in I540.29 Many of the nobility security of land, the Pilgrimage and gentry demonstrablyplayed a more active part in agents seem to have been very than they afterwardsadmitted. Percy one of them. active throughout. Robert Aske himself was probably
63-86. i, pp. EnglishReformation, I26-7; Dodds, Pilgrimage, pp. no. 962. pp. Magnate;"Earlof Cumberland", 65-7; Bean, Estatesof Tudor the Percy Family, pp. I44-57. 59-60. of the North, pp. I37-9; Dodds, Pilgrimze, i, pp. Hist. Rev. 28 Reid, Council Genesis of the Statute of Uses", Eng. 29 E. E. W. Ives, "The of English Feudalism lxxxii (I967), pp. 673-97; J. M. W. Bean, The Decline (Manchester,I968), pp. 257-30I.
25

96 L.P., vii, 27 James,A

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by the commons of (Thestory of his being spontaneously taken recently returned to Howdenshire be their captainonly becausehe had preparationfor the Lincolnshire, and his denial of any advance from attitude of some Riding revolt, hardly ring true.) Obviously the East an important, and probably an essential the of great magnates was when factor to the revolt. Even during the IS37 rising, contributory said "that the country of distrust the gentry was at its height, it was Percy would have set . . was ready to rise again if Sir Thomas him before any other man".30 Nevertheless, for forward they trusted feudal revolt. It Pilgrimage was obviously far from being a mere the attitude of the earl of after all, in spite of the ambiguous occurred, whose younger brothers, for all their energy, were Northumberland, of Cumberland's an hardly adequate substitute; in spite of the earl anxious after to the crown; in spite of Lord Dacre's wariness, loyalty himself.3l Lincolnshire, hisexperiences of IS34 not to incriminate ancient loyalties. indeed, had no great feudal magIlate to arouse this who was certainly involved, hardly fits into (Lord Hussey, Moreover the willingness of nor category, does the duke of Suffolk.) (or perhaps their the magnates to accept Aske as "Great Captain" so), however prudent a political move, hardly conspiringto make him have raised northern indicatesthat aristocraticcharismawhich might The lead given by the society against the king on its own account. was more important gentryand nobilitywas, of course, vital; indeed, it and in Lincolnshire than is often alleged. even in the north-west not enough. Loyalty to ancient families, however, was apparently In certain circumstances this The Pilgrims needed an ideology. considerableelement could have been northern patriotism, of which a But it was, in appeared in the Pilgrim's programme and slogans. fact, religion. at least, of the The extent to which religion provided the slogans, needs setting out in detail. But it would be as well Pilgrimage,hardly Pilgrims fought for first to define terms. By contending that the they fought about ecclesiastical "religion", I intend only to argue that the extent to which matters. I do not intend to pass judgement on If by "War of their motives were, in any sense, "spiritual". only, or even primarily, about Religion" we mean a war fought then certainly differing interpretations of the means of salvation, But, "incapableof staging genuine Wars of Religion". England was Europe was equally on this basis, the rest of sixteenth-century
Hist. Rev., v (I890), PP. 33I-4; pp. 30Reid, Councilof the Nrorth, I33-4; Eng. P. I66). f. 2I8 b (L.P., xii, i, no. 369, P.R.O., S.P. I/IIS i, p. 62; Dodds, Pilgrimage, PP. 224-5. 31 James, "Earl of Cumberland",

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incapable. If, on the otherhand,we meana warin whichecclesiastifailed is bulkedlarge,thenthe question whythe Pilgrimage cal affairs into to developfrom an armeddemonstration a civil war. I would in suggestthatthis was due less to inherentweaknesses its "religious short-term, (thoughI do not ruletheseout) as to various motivation" almost accidental,factors; above all, to certain nicely-balanced political decisions taken by a few key individuals. The relative is fervour,or otherwise,of the contenders, not a constant;the very issuescanresultin increased act of fightinga waraboutecclesiastical very into catholicism something habitual, zeal,canturna tepid,rather much more vigorous. (Thus the "spiritualityof the Countera undoubtedly keyfactorin the laterFrenchReligious Reformation", Wars, stemmed,at least in part, from the passionsroused in the to earlierwars.) In this context,it is surelyunreasonable polarize factorsin men's attitudeto ecclesiastical and "religious" "material" institutions,and to adducefrom this that men were not "really" factors reinforcerather than fighting a religious war; "material" ones. detractfrom "religious" that demands, for the endingof the royal ecclesiastical Ofthe major Dickens the was supremacy probably least important. As Professor rebels mentionedthe royal supremacy points out, the Lincolnshire rather be onlyonce,andthento acceptit (though, it noted,grudgingly the demanded restoration the thangladly).39 At Doncaster, Pilgrims but of the Pope,as faras cura animarum was concerned, the limitation madeto him. The clergyweredivided traditionally of the payments though the fact that it was treasonto deny the on the supremacy; is Royal Supremacy relevanthere.33 As for laymenthe evidenceis at contradictory; one stageAskesaidthat "allmen muchmurmured" the and Statute, thathe himselfinserted qualification atthe Supremacy at "touchingcuram animarum" into the Pilgrims'demands; another, was that he maintained the articleaboutthe supremacy only included and at his own request.34 The commonsof Westmorland Cumberslogans,even land, on the otherhand,seemto haveadoptedPapalist duringthe second, I5375 insurrection.35 seemobviousenough. the As faras the clergyis concerned, reasons of thanon the rejection that The stressis less on the papalsupremacy was the rule of the church by of the king. What was anathema
32 P.R.O.,

36/II8

f. 56 (L.P., xi, no. 853, p. 342); cf. Dickens, English

Reformatzon, p. I25. 33L.P., xi, no. I246;

Motivaiion", pp.

Xii, i, no. 786(ii); Dickens, 59-6I. 34Eng. Hist. Rev., v (I890), pp. 565, 570. 687(2)) 9I435 L.P., xii, i, nos. 384, 67I(2),

"Secular and Religious

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laymen; a sentiment amply confirmedby I536, both by the increasing tendency towards Protestantism under Cromwell's aegis, and by the great increase in clerical taxation which followed the break with Rome.3fi Laymen's interest in the supremacy was probably less immediate. It was resented less for itself, than for its associations; the king's matrimonial proceedings, and the apparent attempt to despoil the church. Obviouslythe divorce was no longer an immediate issue, since Catherine had died in January I536, and in May Henry had had Anne Boleyn executed, and her daughterbastardized,and had promptly marriedJane Seymour. The ghost of the divorce may have accounted for the Lincolnshire rebels' dislike of their diocesan, Longland, who did not fit easily into the categoryof ';hereticbishops" but who had been deeply involved in the king's matrimonial affairs, especially as the king's confessor. But now the Pilgrims could only demand the restoration of Mary's rights. Dislike of new threats to the church in I536 could conveniently centre on heretics in high places, especially Cromwell and the new bishops, rather than on the supremacy. Nevertheless, it is worth stressing the point that the Pilgrims did not show themselves implacably opposed to the papacy. Provided that papal influence was not too pervasive, it was not in itself a bad thing. Darcy himself had alleged two things, amongst others, to Wolsey's discredit: first, that when Wolsey had ruled Church and State in England, some foreign princes had unfortunately ceased to obey the papacy; and secondly, that papal power in the provision to benefices and in learying money had increased in England in Wolsey's time. The Pilgrims' attitude was lukewarm,not hostile; and in this, surely, typical of pre-Tridentine catholicism.37 The Pilgrims' attitude to the monasteries is more complex. Undoubtedly much of the rebellion was instigated or at least fanned by the religious. For instance, the abbots of Holme Cultram and Furness allegedly ordered their tenants to join the rebels, and the canons of Watton financed the Pilgrims, perhaps under threat. The friars of Knaresborougll played a leading part in spreading the
36 Cf. cl. 2 of the opinion of the Northern Convocation (Strype, Ecclesiastical Memorials [Oxford, I822], i, pt. ii, pp. 266-8); L.P., xi, no. II82(ii); J. J. Scarisbrick,"ClericalTaxation, I485-I547",?1. of Eccles.Hist., xi (I960),

in the life and Work of Bishop Longland", Lincs. Architectural and ArchaeologicalSociety, new ser., i (I939), pp. I37-76, especiallypp. I50-I, I55, I58, I66 ff.; Scarisbrick,Henry VIII, pp. I53, 256; G. Mattingly, Catherineof Aragon (London, I942), pp. I79, 233, 240, 269-70; L.P., iv, pt. iii, no. 5749; vol xi, nos. 7I4, r246.

pp * 4 I -54. 37 G. E. Wharhirst, "The Reformation the Diocese of Lincoln, as illustrated in

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rumours which were, perhaps, the major single cause of the revolt.38 Sometimes, of course, motives were clearly less than idealistic. Dr. Elton has entertainingly told the story of the quondam abbot of Rievauls's attempt to use popular force to re-acquire the ofiice from which he had been ousted. Many, however, must have acted from a desire to preserve the institution of the religious life; not in itself an unworthy motive to those possessing a sense of vocation, though, inevitably, inextricably mixed with a liking for their present style of life. (Dr. X7oodwardnotes that a large number of Yorkshire monks from the smaller houses elected to renzainin religion, with the result that an exceptional number of smaller houses was granted exemption from suppression for their benefit.) But conspiracy by the monks themselves is obviously an inadequate explanation; we must still explain why laymen followed them, why, for instance, some sixteen of the fifty-five smaller houses suppressed or threatened with suppression in the north (though none in Lincolnshire) were restored by the Pilgrims.39 Plainly there was a certain degree of ambivalence here. As landlords and as rectors of parishes (and therefore receivers of tithe) the monasteries were deeply enmeshed in the economy and objects, therefore, of resentment; quarrelswere carried on with vigour in the courts, and frequently erupted into violence.40 The Pilgrimage obviously provided the opportunity for settling old scores. The evidence here, however, is not easy to handle. How far, for instance, can one believe the story that the abbot of Jervaulxwas forced to avoid the threatening commons during the first insurrection by fleeing to Witton Fell, and that he eventually took the Pilgrim oath to save his own life and to prevent the burning of his house ? The abbot, after all, played a major part in the second insurrection, for which he was hanged. Can we accept his self-exculpatory acsount of the first rising, and adduce from it evidence of strong anti-monasticfeeiing What is surely striking is the degree to which, by-and-large, monastic possessions generated llot hostility but, apparently, loyalty, or at least the seeming belief that they formed a necessary part of the social
38 L.P., xi, no. I047; Xii, i, nos. 20I (pp. 9I, 96, IOO, I02), 84I (2-3), I259. See also L.P., xii, i, no. I92 for a ratherextreme example ofthe "clericalplot" theory. 39 G. R. Elton, Star Chamber Stories (London, I958), pp. I47-73; G. W. O. Woodward,"The Exemptionfrom Suppressionof CertainYorkshire Priories",Eng. Hist. Rev., lXxvi (I96I), pp. 385-40I; idem., The Dissolutionof the Monasteries (London, I966), p. 94. 40 MonasticChancery Proceedings, J. S. Purvis (Yorks.Arch. Soc., Record ed. Ser., lxxxviii, I934). 41L.P., xii, i, nos. 369 (p. I64), IOI2, I035, I285.

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order. Monasteries were exceptionally thick on the ground in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire. In the West Riding, for instance, ecclesiasticalproperty comprised some 30 per cent of the whole, three times that of either crown or nobility; and two-thirds of the ecclesiasticalpropertywas monastic. The religious, too, seem to have appropriated an exceptionally large proportion of livings in these counties; about half in the county of Lincoln, about two-thirds in Yorkshire, compared with a national average of about one-third.49 Involvement to such a degree in the economic framework could have worked against the interests of the religious. But it does not seem to have done so in this case; thus Robert Parkyn, curate of the impropriatedparish of Ardwick-le-Street, drawing ?4 3s. 4d. a year fromthe lay rector, successor to the canons of Hamploe Priory, wrote about I555 a conservative account of the Reformation in which he describes the Pilgrimage as intended "for the maintenance of holy church".43 Ecclesiastics in general, sensing coming dangers, may have gone out of their way to appease their more influential tenants; "there is nota head tenant of the abbey lands, bishops' lands [etc] . . . but they havegreat familiarity and practices other than they have found in times past of their land lords", reported Sir William Fairfax. Nevertheless, landlord-tenanttie was not merely one of the temporary appeasement; Fairfax went on to stress the pivotal position, the social influence, bailiffs who "be made fellows and brought up of with priests ofchildren". John Hallom, a yeoman, a key-figure in both East Riding revolts, said that he was easily persuaded that Robert (the future archbishopof York) was "Cromwell'schaplain" Holgate and ought to replaced as prior of NVatton be because
all the time he was here he was good to no man, and of xx marksin money which he should have been paid in this examinatehe took corn send it, and giveth many unkind words and rebukeful when God should to his tenants, sitting in his court more like a judge than a religiousman.

Reinforcing tie of landownershipwas the fear of economic the change; the belief which we have alreadymentioned that the rents of monastic tenants would henceforth be paid to Westminster, and that there
42 D. Knowles and R. N. Hadcock, MedievalReligious Housesin Englandand Wales (London, I953), maps; Hughes, Reformation, pp. i, Thompson, EnglishClergyin the LaterMiddleAges 2gs-g; A. Hamilton The (Oxford, I947), p. II5. See P. Tyler, "The State of the Elizabethan also Church History,ed. J. G. Cuming, iv, pp. 76-8I. ParochialClergy"in Studiesin I must thank Mrs. Margaret Bowker clearinga confusion in my mind on this for point- she Hamilton Thompson's figuresmay not be absolutelyreliable. warns me that 43 Tudor Treatises, ed. A. G. Dickens (Yorks. Arch. Soc., CXXV, I959), introd. pp. I7-27; Eng. Hist. Rev., lXii (I947), p. 65. Record Ser.,

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would be a shortage of coin in the north; a general fear of what a new landlord might do to "improve" his estate.44 And, as Aske stressed, the monasteries performed a variety of useful social functions, even if these were less than they were capableof: alms-giving; the provision of employment; acting as inns and as boarding-schools for children of the gentry; even, allegedly, keeping roads and bridges in good repair.45 It would be wrong to rule out the spiritual functions of the monks, even if these in restrospect fell far below the standardsof St. Benedict or St. Bernard. Aske stressed equally that the dissolution would be followed by the diminution of divine service, sacrilege to relics and tombs, and a decline in religious instruction in the highland areas, where the inadequate parochial structure would have to shoulder the entire burden of ministry and instruction.46 (This last point should not be over-stressed; the highland areas, after all, were not the main centre of revolt.) Fear of the effect of the dissolution on prayers for the dead, and hence on prospects in purgatory, presumably bulked large. Professor Jordan notes that in Yorkshire a rather oldfashioned piety was still alive, that there were frequent legacies for prayersfor the dead, including the establishment of chantries (indeed "more was given for prayers alone than for all the non-religious charitable uses combined") and that gifts to monasteries continued on a generous scale into the I530S. Lancashire presents much the same picture, though with a good deal less accent on monasteries, presumably because the county contained so few.4 Unfortunately Professor Jordan has produced no studies for the border counties or, what would be in this connection the most interesting example of all, Lincolnshire. Nevertheless, the materialistic, superstitious nature of so much of immediate pre-Reformationpopular religion must have everywhere strengthened the fear of the consequences of the dissolution, at least until an alternativecreed was efficientlyexpounded; more especially in that the attackon the monasterieswas linked, or so it was believed, with an attack on the parish churches.
44 P.R.O., S.P. I/II5 ff. 2-3; E 36JII9 f. 30 (L.P., xii, i, nos. I92, 20I, P. 92); Reid, Councilof the North, PP. I23-4. The reports of the Cromwellianagents tend, of course, to exaggeratethe degree to which the monasterieswere making uneconomicleases; see JoyceYouings, in AgrarianHistory,ed. Thirsk, pp. 324-

Eng. Hist. Rev., v (I890), PP. 56I-2; cf. ibid., p. 338. Ibid., p. 56I. 47 W. K. Jordan, TheCharitiesof RuralEngland,I480-I660 (London, I96I) PP. 2I7-20, 360-75; The Social Institutionsof Lancashire(Chetham Soc., 3rd ser., xi, I962), PP. 5-6, 75-8; cf. also R. B. Dobson, "The Foundation of Perpetual Chantries by the Citizens of Medieval York" in Studies in Church History, ed. J. G. Cuming, iv, pp. 22-38.
4;' 46

32.

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On the parochial level we have the samesort of apparent contradictionas we hadwiththe monks. Onthe one hand,the existence of a good dealof anti-clericalism; the other,the ability on of the parish clergyto enlist mass support. Anti-clericalism I has, believe,been exaggerated. The strongestmanifestation camefrom Westmorland and Cumberland, wherethe commonsdemanded deprivation the of non-resident clergy, excusingthemselvesby noting that severalof these were not in priests'sorders,and that some were "Cromwell's chaplains". In JanuaryI537, 800 men helpedthemselvesto grain from the tithe-barns. Presumably, the exceptional economic conditions the north-west in produced dislikeof priestsas well as of a landlords. Indeed,the north-western risingadopted phraseology the of the "PiersPlowman" tradition, with its outlookof down-to-earth anti-clericalism combinedwith doctrinalorthodoxy.48Outsidethe north-west, however,attackson tithe-barns seem to have been very rare. (Dr. Reid talks of "frequent" riots againsttithes, but all her evidencerefers to events in the north-west,except for one Star Chamber case, in whichthe allegedexorbitancies a tithe-farmer, of rather the principleof tithe itself,wasthe issue.)49 than Evenin the north-west much of the allegedanti-clericalism plainlya feelingof is bitterness the refusalof certainprieststo involvethemselves at when the commons were risking their lives for their religion. The frequently quoted case of the Cumberland rebel exclaiming that it would betterif all the priests'headswerecut offis be obviously this type; followedthe refusalof the abbotof HolmeCultram of it and priests go andnegotiate behalfof the rebelsat Carlisle. two to on over, only sourcefor this storyis the evidenceof a priest Morethe who was using and probablyexaggerating rebels' it, the anti-clericalism as much he could,to defendhimselfwhenaccused taking as of a leading part "chaplain secretary Poverty".50 as and of For the positiveinflueIlce the parishclergy,on the of otherhand, there a wealthof evidence. Objecting andperhaps is to, with fearing, examination their morals,they playeda vital reason an of part in spreading rumours,promisingspiritualand materialprofit (C'Be of good comfortand proceedin this journey" Vicarof Louthtold the "Captain Cobbler", it is bothforthe faithof Christ maintain"for ing his serviceand in doingthis you shouldlack arld of neithergold nor
48 L.P., xi, no. I080; Xii, i, no. 3I9; Dickens, "Secular tion", 63; cf. H. C. White, SocialCriticism Popular and Religious Motivap. in Religionof the Sixteenth Century York, I944), ch. i; Mr. M. E. Jamesstressed (New this point to me. 49 Reid, Councilof the North, p. I23- Yorkshire Proceedings vol. i (Yorks.Arch. Soc., Record Ser., xli, I909), pp. Star Chamber 95-6. 50 L.P., xii, i, no. 687(2), pp. 303-4.

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silver".),and threatening recalcitrant they shouldnot assent the ("If they shouldbe hangedandkilledat theirown doorposts",the priest of Croft told his parishioners.)5l Obviouslythe demandsin the Pilgrims'programme full benefitof clergyshould be restored, that right of sanctuaryextended, and clerical taxation reduced, came directlyfrom the clergy,and were conceivedin terms of their own self-interest;as was the parsonof Sotheby'sreasonfor callingthe King's Council"falseharlots,in devisingof false laws to spoil the goods of the spirituality". The parishpriests (to an extent which shockedmanyof the moreearnestclergy)sharedmanyof the more violentcharacteristics their parishioners; "havinga greatclub of one in his hands,said that if he had Cromwell there he would beat out his guts";another, harnessed armed,said, "it wasthe best world and thateverhe did see"andwishedto havethe Sacrament carried before the Pilgrims.52 Yet onceagainwe mustaskwhy the peoplewereso readyto follow the priests. Obviouslyspiritualsanctionsplayedtheir part; so did the positionof the priestas a principal intermediary, major a dispenser of news, betweenthe world at large and his parishioners. But the readinessof the people to follow (or in some cases to take the initiative) stemmed largelyfromthe "ecclesiastical" grievances which most immediatelyconcernedthem: the state of their own parish churches,and the efficacyof the traditional sacraments. The Ten Articlesof July I536, backedup by Injunctions issued(significantly) in the name of Cromwellas vice-gerent,drasticallycurtailedthe numberof saints' days, becausethey led to idleness and sin. In particular festivalsof parochial the patronsaintswerenot in futureto be observedas holy-days. They were to be replacedby a general dedication feast,to be celebrated all parishes the firstSunday in on in October. In the cirumstances rumoursthat the parochial organizationitselfwasto be similarly drastically and rationalized, churches that werenot to be maintained less thanfive milesapart,andthat plate if andjewellery wereto be confiscated, seemedcredible.53 The failure of the Ten Articlesto mentionfour of the seven sacraments could seemsignificant a pointerto drasticdoctrinal as changein the future.
61L.P., xi, nos. 972, 975 (p. 40I); Xii,i, nOS. 380, 48I; P.R.O., S.P. I/IIO 70, f. I48 (L.P., xi, no. 968); E. 36|II8 f. I (L.P., xi, no. 975, p. 399). 52 P.R.O., S.P. I/II2 ff. I43-5 (L.P., xi, no. I246); E 36/II8 ff. 3-5 (L.P., xi, no. 975). F. W. Brooks, "The Social Position of the Parson in the Sixteenth Century", il. of the BritishArchaeological Assoc., 3rd ser., x (I945-7), PP. 23-7, shows that only 4 of a sampleof 32 Lincolnshireparsonsin the I530Shad books, althoughtheir materialcomfortswere ratherbetterthan a husbandman's. 63 Dodds, Pilgrimage, pp. 63-86. i, For holy days see Hughes, Reformatiows, i, p. 353-

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(I cannot share ProfessorDickens' view that the Pilgrims "should have known that the King disliked both Lutherans and Anabaptists at least as much as they did". This was hardly obvious in I536.)54 Trouble at Louth began with Thomas Foster, a yeoman and singing-man, proclaiming on Sunday, I October I536, that "we shall never follow [the cross] more" in procession; the same evening a crowd, spurred on by rumours and by payments from the clergy, demanded the keys of the treasure-housefrom the churchwarden,to prevent the King's commissionerstaking away the plate and jewels.5a The East Riding rebels ascribed their initial rising to rumours from Lincolnshire, in which the concept of a spoliation of the church was linked with a general spoliation which would follow; trouble at Watton began with a riot when St. Wilfred's day was not proclaimed. Even in Westmorland the rebellion began with a protest when St. Luke's Day was not proclaimed as a holiday.56 There are, naturally, a number of motives mixed up here. As we have seen, large numbers of Yorkshiremencontinued to trust in the sacraments of the church, and were likely, therefore, to fear drastic changes. They were therefore prepared to join in the attack on "heretic bishops". This was a threat for the future; and, as Bacon observed in his essay "Of Seditions", "they are the most dangerous discontents where the fear is greater than the feeling". And fear for the sacraments obviously increased the determination to defend churches and church-furnishings as symbols of the faith. More immediately, a reduction in the number of churches would obviously be a majorinconvenience to the poorer classes, as it was in I549 when many chapels-of-ease were suppressed.57 A good deal of communal pride was invested in the parish church and in its fittings. Louth, significantly enough, had only in ISI5 completed the building of its church spire, an operation supervised by the elected churchwardens and financed largely from donations and legacies.58 There was a strong feeling that plate was the parishioners' own, and its confiscation,therefore, a direct attackon the parishionersby the king. The church-plateissue, especiallyin conjunctionwith the suppression of the monasteries, might be seen as symptomatic of the royal policy.
pp. I89-9I; 54 L. B. Smith, TudorPrelatesand Politics (Princetown, I953), Henry VIII, p. 337; Dickens, "Secularand Religious Motivation", Scarisbrick, p. 58. 380. 55 L.P., xi, nos. 828, 854, 967-7s; xii, i, nos 70 (passim), (passim),687(2). 56 L.P., xii, i, no. 20I Reformationin 57 A. G. Dickens, "Some PopularReactionsto the Edwardian Yorkshire",Yorks.Arch.7ournal,xxxiv (I938-9), pp. I60-I. ed. R. C. Duddint, Book of Louth, I500-24, 58 The First Churchwardens' p (Oxford, I 94 I ); cf. Dickens, EnglishReformation, . I 0.

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Thus "Captain Cobbler", a Louth shoemaker,heard that there was to be a recoinage of gold coin, and a confiscation of church plate; if "it was suffered in that town of Louth, all the whole country should be likewise". John Hallom thought that the East Riding revolt was because "the abbeys were plucked down, and for making of new laws, which were thought to be made by my Lord Cromwell's counsel"; or, put another ways "for the pulling down of abbeys and divers payments". In the West Riding it was reported "surely they will pay no more money for they have it not, and for the jewels of their church, surely they speak it openly, they will depart with none".59 It has been necessary so far to separate out the various factors making for revolt. But what has become increasinglyapparentis the impossibility of fixing on a single factor or group of factors and saying that this is fundamental, in the sense of being in itself suicient cause of the Pilgrimage. Quite obviously the factors interact; rumoursfeed on each other; a general feeling of distrust is created. The confirmation of one rumour can lead to a general conflagration. To quote John Hallom once more, "the people saw many abbeys pulled down in deed, they believed all the rest to be true".60 This, indeed, may well be the explanation of why it was the North which rose in IS36, while the equally conservative West Country did not do so ti11 IS49, and Wales (where the magnates were threatened with a loss of privileges as drastic, or even more drastic than in the North) failed to do so at all. In Lincolnshire and the eastern half of Yorkshire (including here the lowland areas of the West Riding) there were many smaller monasteries; in Wales and the West Country there were very few. of In the former, then, a base for discontent existed. Eiear a wholesale attackon church property, indeed on propertyin general, was stimulated by the near-simultaneous activities of the commissioners to suppress the smaller monasteries,the subsidy commissioners, and the commissioners enquiring into the morals of the clergy. All these were at work in Lincolnshire in the late summer of IS36; trouble at Louth began the day before the commissionersarrivedto examine the clergy; at Caister, on the day when the clergy and subsidy commissioners were both meeting there. For the East Riding, William Stapleton listed a number of causes, including a large number of economic ones (entry fines, enclosures, etc.) and the abolition of holydays, but believed that trouble was set off by a royal commissioner
49P.R.O., S.P. I/IIO f. I47; E 36/II9 ff. 2I, 27, 37; S.P. I/IO8 f. II (L.P.,xi, nos. 678, 968; xii, i, no. 20I); cf., too, the reactionin Dent, L.P., xi, no. 563(2). 60 P.R.O., E 361II9 f. 54 (L.P.,xii, i, no. 20I, P. 90).

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demanding an inventory of church goods, thus apparentlyconfirming the rumour that they were to be confiscated.6l The activity of the commissioner is, of course, a "precipitating factor". But to recognize this is not, I think, to diminish its importance. Historians and sociologists prefer to concentrate on long-term strain and then to slip hurriedlypast "precipitatingfactors" on the grounds they are unimportant. Dr. Woodward,for instance, writes that "the dissolution of the lesser monasteries was not the 'cause' of the Pilgrimage of Grace, in the sense that without it there would have been no rebellion: at the most it was the proverbial 'last straw' which provided the rebels with a popular cause and a good rallying cry".62 But, as we have seen, social strain is most intensely studied when there is a revolt to explain. Historians tend to neglect its existence at other times, and then to underestimatethe importance of precipitating factors in changing a situation in which a rebellion is possible (of which there must have been several, most of them abortive)into an actualrebellion. The precipitatingfactorsare surely straightforward:in Lincolnshire, the coincidence of subsidy commissioners, the dissolution of the smaller monasteries, and the enguiry into the clergy; in Yorkshire, the dissolution and the subsidy, the ignoring of saints' days, arld the Lincolnshire rising; in the northwest, the dissolution, the ignoring of saints' days, and the Yorkshire rising. Without the Lincolnshire rising, it is surely probable that conditions of strain would have lessened in the other counties, that the rumours would gradually have been forgotten as the predicted dire events failed to materialize. Ecclesiastical factors, then, seem to have been a necessary element (though obviously not the only element) in the Pilgrimage of Grace; and ecclesiastical grievances were plainly inflammatory, precisely because they could produce iIl participantsa self-righteousness which was more formidablethan materialinterests were likely to be on their own. Revolts, moreover, seem to need a simple objective; cohesion seems to be possible only when men come to believe that a complex set of grievances llas a single cause, that if only that cause could be removed, if only "noble men of the true noble blood may reign or rule about the king, all should be well".63 "If only" is the key here; in this case, if only the king would free himself from Cromwell, Audeley, Riche, and the heretic bishops, then the assorted grievances 61 Dodds, Pilgrimage, pp. 89-96; L.P., xii, i, no. 392 (printed by J. C. Cox i,

in Trans.Eczst RidingAntiq. Soc., x [I903], p. 82). 62 Toodward, Dissolution, 9I. p. 63 See the illuminating analysis by N. J. Smelser, Theory o;f Collective Behaviour (London, I962), ch. v; L.P., xii, i, no. IOI3, p. 458.

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of gentry,clergy,and commonscouldbe met. And, in a societyin which clergy,howevercrude and unlearned, were by-and-large the most articulate members, is hardlysurprising the programme it that should give priorityto ecclesiastical grievances,or that the rebels should sum up their programme ecclesiastical in slogans. Indeed) even when the rebelsturnedagainstthe interestsof the churchmen (as did those in the north-west)they forcibly expressed,with no sense of contradiction, their devotionto the papacyand dislikeof liturgical innovation. Religion,then)provided necessary the slogans whichgave coherence the movement. to Religion,too, was 1lseful legitimating in rebellion. Of course,the Pilgrims preferred believethatthey werenot rebelsat all; they put to forward traditional the belief that the king was reallyon their side, that he would thankthem for riddinghim of his evil counsellors Henrymay be said to have encouraged belief,by his attitudein this I525, when the forced-loan was withdrawn underpopularpressure, the kingproclaiming he had not realizedhow muchhis subjects that were being oppressed. Indeed,the fall of Wolsey (as later that of Cromwell) a strikingexampleof Henry'stendencyto seek scapeis goats. Hence the men of Dent could believe,or at least professto believe,thatthe pullingdownof churches not the king'sdeedbut "is the d[eed]of Crumwell, if we had him herewe wouldcrumhim and [andcrum]himthathe wasneverso Crumwed, if [theking]were and [here]we would new crownhim".64 But if the king were not to listento the Pilgrimdemands, then they wouldgo further. Ancient prophecies) such as the allegedprophecies Merlinwhichtalkedof of the overthrow the "Molewarp" of (curiouslyidentifiedwith Henry VIII) andthe divisionof England into threekingdoms, whichthe of North would be one, ceased to be merely a subject of alehouse speculation, acquired unwontedimportance indications and an as of the immediate future;andhenceto a certainextentas legitimation of actiondesignedto overthrow king.65 But legitimation terms the in of the superiority the lawsof Ged to the lawsof manwaslikelyto of havegreater effect,andit wasto this thatthe Pilgrims appealed; hence theirragewhenArchbishop l,ee) citilerfromconviction becauseof or the suddenarrival Lancaster of Heraldin the congregation, preached them a politicallyorthodox sermenorlthe duty of obedience. Aske preferred to face the conflictof loyalties,but he was quite clear not "thatif his gracehadrefusedtheirpetitions) then thesrcausehad that
A. F. Pollard, WoSsey (London, I929), p. I46; L.P., xi no. 84I. ss M. H. Dodds, 4sPolitical Propheciesin the Reign of Henry RIIII'7Moderz Language Review,xi (I9I6), pp. 276-84. 1 owe this point to Mr. K. V. Thomas.
64

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been just". So, too, Captain Cobbler thought that "their purpose was to advance themselves towards the king's highness, and to fight against his power if he would not grant them such things as they wrote to him for".66 Religious factors, then, were an essential feature of the Pilgrimage; they figured large among the causes, they served to give the movement cohesion, to bind together different classes with widely different interests, providing slogans and scapegoats, in the last resort legitimating resistance to the king. But it can be argued that such cohesion as the Pilgrimage possessed evaporated very quickly; that by December I536 the Pilgrims were prepared to accept the king's pardon and return home; that in the New Year class division had reasserted itself and the commons of the East Riding rose again because they believed they had been betrayed by the gentry. There is obviously a good deal of truth in this. Certainly early sixteenth-century catholicism seems very largely to have lost its dynamism, inspiring solid piety rather than enthusiasm, acceptance rather than action. But, as I have argued, religious zeal is a variable, not a constant. Prolonged religious fighting could (and probably would) have produced a vigorous, crusading catholicism. The failure of the Pilgrimage to reach this stage was due at least as much to short-term, almost accidental factors, as to more profound ones. Some of these have been stressed by Dr. Scarisbrick.67 The Pilgrims, or at least their leaders, trusted the king and were tricked into disbanding by his promises of redress. A pitched battle, unless it had been a shattering defeat for the Pilgrims, would have strengthened their cohesion. The Pilgrimage did not develop into a succession war, which it could have done, had, for instance, a credible alternative candidate for the throlle existed. Had the divorce issue still been a live one, or had Bishop Tunstall of Durham persisted in his earlier opposition to Henry's assumption of the supremacy and followed John Fisher to the block, passions might have been more inflamed than they were. But, above all, the particular decisions taken by a small group of men seem to be of vital importance here. Such success as the Pilgrims had, depended on the (at best) halfhearted opposition put up by the effective representativesof government in the area. Lord Hussey and the gentry, led by the sheriff, Sir Edward Dymmoke, in Lincoln; the earl of Northumberland and the Council of the North, led by Lord Darcy, elsewhere. Mr. M. E.
66 L.P., xii, i, nos. IOII, IO2I-2; Eng. Hist. Rev., v (I890), P. 57I; P.R.O., S.P. I/IO9f. 2a (L.P., xi, rlo. 828). 67 Henry VIII, PP. 34I-8.

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James has noted how important for the king's cause was the continued loyalty of the earl of Cumberland; and how important, too, was the fact that the earl's heir held Carlisle, and his half-brother held Berwick, for the king.68 Moreover, if the earl of Northumberland had been able or willing to play a less ambiguous role, the rebels' cohesion would have been greater. Most important of all was the personality of a handful of peers who commanded the royal army. The earl of Derby was an opponent of Cromwell, and was expected by the Pilgrims to join them. The earl of Shrewsburywas a man of definite conservative opinions, although too loyal or too cautious to rebel and, indeed, distinguishedby his promptness in raising troops to crush the rebels. Above all, the duke of Norfolk, recalled from semidisgrace to lead the royal army, many of them his own East Anglian tenants, sympathized with a large part of the rebels' demands, and especially with the hatred of Cromwell and the heretic bishops. Professor Dickens argues that the adhesion of Norfolk and Shrewsbury to the king shows that the Pilgrimage"was not a struggle between Catholics and Protestants".69 In the event, of course, it was not. But the Pilgrims obviously intended that it should be, and this is surely the point at issue. Their aims were directed against Protestants in the government; it was against that ill-perceived evil summed up in their minds by the parrot-cry Cromwell that they had taken up arms, not against Norfolk. They obviously had no means of telling in advance that it would be Norfolk who would lead an army against them. Norfolk's decision to oppose them was surely a matter of expediency and calculation. He evidently preferred to fight Cromwell by intrigue (and to gain many of the Pilgrims' points in I540) rather than by force of arms, putting up meanwhile with insult and humiliation. Possibly, too, he looked forward to a grateful king establishing him as the leading magnate in the North on the ruins of the Percies, a hope fostered in the Howard family since I489.7? Had Norfolk possessed a less calculating temperament, the temptation to join the rebels would surely have been overwhelming. In these circumstances Henry would probably not have lost his throne; but he might have found it expedient to anticipate the Catholic reaction whichsetinin I539.
p. 68 "Earl of Cumberland", 68. 69 Dict. Nat. Biog. (sub Edward Stanley and George For Norfolk's character, see G. R. Pilgrimage,i, p. II6. Talbot)- Dodds Elton, "Thomas

x Historical3tl., (I950-2), pp. I50-85; Cromwell'sDecline and Fall", Cambridge p. Cromwell, 99; "Secularand Religious Motivation",p. 63. Dickens, Thomas 70 See M. E. James, "The Fourth Duke of Norfolk and the North", Northern History, ii (I967), pp. I50-2: a review of N. J. Williams, ThomasHoward FourthDuke of Norfolk (London, I964).

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NUMBER 4 I

Beyond all these hypotheses lurks an even largerone. What would have been the attitude of the rest of the country had the Pilgrims pressed on, rather than dispersing in December I536 ? As we have seen, many of the factors predisposing towards revolt were more pronounced in the north, including, in Professor Jordan's analysis, catholic piety though there is evidence that belief in prayersfor the dead was more widespread, even in London, than Jordan allows.7 Nevertheless, there seems to have been a good deal of sympathy for the rebels. There were murmurs in Kent, which, after all, had alreadyseen large-scale riots against the dissolution of certain monasteries by Wolsey in IS25. Walsinghamwas a centre of considerable distllrbance; had the duke of Norfolk wished to swing East Anglia behind the Pilgrims, lle might well halredone so. The government thought that Wales was likely to revolt, and postponed the bringing into operation of the Act of Union, which was designed to reduce drasticallythe privileges of the Marcher lords. Above all, it is easy to overlook the degree to which I549 was to demonstrate popular ecclesiasticalconservatism,not only in the West Country, but in such courlties as Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, and Hampshire.72 All in all, the elements makingfor change, the degree of anti-clericalism, the survival of Lollards and so on, have been commonly over-stressed, in order to explain how the Henrician Reformation was possible. I am not denying that had a fervent catholicism been widespread, had more people been prepared to risk their lives for their faith, Henry's path would have been impossible. But it is important, too, to stress how far, given the right circumstances,a not very heroic piety might have been transformedinto a much more dangerousenthusissm; and to what extent the chance of such a transformationdepended on such incalculables as the death of Queen Catherineor the temperament of the duke of Norfolk. It was to the accident of political circumstances, not to any peculiar lukewarmness of religious feeling, that England owed its immunity from religious war in the sixteenth century.

Wadham College, Onsford

C. S. L. Davies

R. Robinson, "EarlyTudor Policy towardsWales", pt. iii, Bull. of the Board of Celtic Studies, xxi (I966), P. 349. For I549, see A. Vere Woodman, "The Buckinghamshireand OxfordshireRising of IS49X), Oxoniensia,xxii (I957) PP. 78-84; and P.R.O., S.P. IO/8, no. 4I, quoted in part by E. F. Gay, in Trans. Roy. Hist. Soc., new ser., xviii (I904), PP. 203-4.

71J A. F. Thomson, "Piety and Charityin Late Medieval London", Yl. of Eccles.Hist., xvi (I965), PP. I78-95. 73See the referencesgiven in Scarisbrick, Henry YIII, p. 34I; cf. also Dodds, Pilgrimage, PP. 324, 326; ii, PP. I67-8, I74-5; P.R.O., S.P. I/IO9 f. 44 (L.P., i, xi, no. 84I); T. H. Swales, "The Oppositionto the Suppressionof the Norfolk Monasteries",NorfolkArc/aeology,xxxiii (I962-5), PP. 254-65; G. Baskerville, EnglishMonksand the Dissolution theMonasteries of (London, I937), PP. I56-7;