opposition to religious change under henry viii (includes rebellions)

what was opposition to religious change like before and after 1534?

• before 1534: feeble and offered little resistance, religious changes were relatively mild and remained solely political

• after 1534: more vigorous but remained too little too late, pursuit of religious reforms continued undeterred and extended to varying doctrinal changes

key themes of forms of opposition to religious changes

• resistance at court

• monastic resistance

• other clerical resistance

• resistance within the country

key figures/ factions that opposed religious change at court

• sir thomas more

• the aragonese faction

• henry courtenay, the marquis of exeter

• lord darcy

• lord hussey

how thomas more provide resistance to religious change at court?

• replaced wolsey as lord chancellor october 1529

• reluctant to support annulment, sympathised with catherine of aragon so little progress made

• resigned as lord chancellor 1532 after submission of the clergy

• opposed 1534 act of succession, concerned with undermining papal authority

  • refused to swear the oath of succession and recognise mary as illegitimate

what catalysed the execution of thomas more?

• 1534 act of succession and his non compliance

• concerned of undermining papal authority (1509 papal dispensation approved marriage to coa)

• more openly refused to swear the oath of succession

  • peaceful noncompliance vital to henry’s royal authority

• more was arrested and imprisoned in tower of london

• rigged trial by thomas cromwell found more guilty of treason and executed in 1535

what happened after the death of thomas more 1535?

• canonised by the pope

• more became a saint in 1535 for his martyrdom

how did the aragonese faction oppose religious change?

• included henry courtenay (marquis of exeter), lord darcy and lord hussey who allied with COA and opposed annulment

• opposed 1534 act of succession, hoped that mary would remain heir to throne despite divorce

• darcy and hussey joined pilgrimage of grace

how did the aragonese faction lose influence?

• rise of protestant boleyn faction 1532 onwards

• silenced by growing influence of thomas cromwell

• darcy and hussey executed for involvement in pilgrimage of grace following acts of attainder

• courtenay executed in 1539 for links to reginald pole (a yorkist w/ tenuous claims to the throne)

key groups in monastic resistance to religious change

• franciscan, benedictine, cistercian monks

• carthusian order monks in london

how did the franciscan, benedictine and cistercian monks oppose religious change?

• preached against the annulment, royal supremacy and new protestant ‘heresies’

how did cromwell and cranmer effectively eliminate the majority of clerical and monastic resistance?

• pardon of the clergy and the supplication against the ordinaries

• after, the will to resist was broken by the convocation’s concession to the submission of the clergy

• effectively secured monastic resistance by may 1532

how did the london order of carthusian monks oppose religious change?

• refused to accept annulment

• resisted pressure to accept act of supremacy 1534

  • in accepting henry as the supreme head of the church of england, would betray their obedience to the authority of the pope

• government objected to their open defiance in refusing to swear oath of supremacy

• arrested and executed 18 carthusian monks after 1534 treason act which forced carthusian monks to concede

who were the carthusian monks?

• strict catholics

• presented the most significant, organised resistance from the clergy

how many carthusian monks were executed as a consequence of their noncompliance?

18 carthusian monks

key figures of clerical resistance

• bishop john fisher

• elizabeth barton, nun of kent

• edward bocking (a benedictine monk and spiritual advisor of elizabeth barton)

how did bishop john fisher oppose religious changes?

• opposed parliament’s anticlerical legislation and the annulment

• served on catherine of aragon’s legal council, highly sympathetic

• argued denial of papacy was sinful, powers of pope were god-given

• refused to swear the oath of succession

what occurred as consequence to bishop john fisher’s refusal to swear the oath of succession?

• arrested through the use of an act of attainder

• imprisoned in the tower of london

• executed without trial in 1535

• made a saint like thomas more

how did elizabeth barton oppose religious changes?

• gained a large following

• had alleged visions of disastrous consequences if henry left catherine, warned henry to his face

• edward bocking attempted to organise campaign, encouraged pilgrimages and books based on her visions (contradicts protestant ideology)

• barton sent letters of correspondence to other rebels to coordinate e.g. courtenay, more, fisher etc

consequences of elizabeth barton and edward bocking’s resistance to religious changes

• barton was arrested, publically humiliated and forced to confess her visions were fake

• nun and her associated were condemned to death without trial and executed 1534

  • ILLEGAL, using act of attainder

why was the execution of bocking and barton significant?

• displays fear of government at thought of coordinated religious resistance movement

  • suggest could pose a genuine threat to henry

what were the causes of the lincolnshire uprising october 1536?

economic: arrival of tax collectors and poor harvests 1535-6

political: dislike of cromwell

extension of royal authority: arrival of cromwell’s commissioners

religious: fear of dissolution of monasteries and affect of the spire at louth, source of local pride (raised £305)

how many people participated in the lincolnshire uprising?

10,000 rebels, included gentry and commoners

what happened during the lincolnshire uprising?

quickly collapsed after henry’s army approached

what were the causes of the francis bigod rebellion 1537?

political: unconvinced by richard aske’s deal with henry viii, didn’t believe the king would keep his promises

what happened during the 1537 francis bigod rebellion?

• planned to capture hull and scarborough

• failed entirely

• used by henry as an excuse to suppress the rebels

• 216 executed including robert aske, lord darcy and francis bigod

key individuals of the pilgrimage of grace 1536

• robert aske - yorkshire lawyer and leader of POG

• thomas hussey - member of aragonese faction at court, previous chamberlain of princess mary, supporter of POG

• lord darcy - member of aragonese faction, holder of pontefract castle

• duke of norfolk - loyal to henry, sent north with army to suppress rebels

economic causes of the pilgrimage of grace

• poor harvests 1535-36

• impact of inflation, rebels demanded price of land return to 1485 levels

• enclosure

• wanted removal of inheritance tax from 1536 statutes of uses act

political causes of the pilgrimage of grace

• aragonese faction wanted mary returned to succession

• lord hussey (ex chamberlain of mary) directly resented cromwell

  • blamed him for the treason act and act of supremacy (1534)

religious causes of the pilgrimage of grace 1536

• north remained strongly catholic

• demanded removal of protestant bishops e.g. thomas cranmer

• concerned over the loss of catholic practices e.g. reduction of holy days

how did the pilgrims of grace demonstrate their religious motivations?

• called themselves ‘pilgrims’

• carried the ‘banner of the 5 wounds of christ’

how many rebels were in the pilgrimage of grace?

initiall 30,000 but increased to 40,000

how many men were sent to suppress the pilgrimage of grace?

8,000 and led by the duke of Norfolk (in comparison to 40,000 pilgrims)

how did the pilgrimage of grace begin?

• catalysed by the lincolnshire rising 1536

• fuelled by rumours of crown seizing church treasures, taxing baptisms and burials

• rebels swiftly mobilised and occupied lincoln

• presented demands known as the lincoln articles

• rebels dispersed by october 11th when king’s army advanced

after the dispersion of the lincolnshire rebellion, how did it evolve into the pilgrimage of grace?

• unrest spread further north, developed into large more organised POG, led by robert aske

• aske insisted on peaceful discipline among his followers, appearance of civility encouraged support from local gentry and clergy

• rebels marched south with lord darcy offering pontefract castle → rebels had virtual control over north of england

what event began the event of the pilgrimage of grace? how?

• december 1536 - negotiations at pontefract castle, rebels disbanded as believed their concerns would be addressed by henry who swore to consider demands and offer pardons

• henry had no intention of granting their demands

• 1537 francis bigod rebellion gave henry excuse for brutal crackdown and end rebellions once and for all

• revoked pardons and executed 216 people

• monasteries in north swiftly dissolved and royal authority forcibly asserted

pilgrimage of grace summarised

• largest popular uprising of tudor rebellion

• ULTIMATELY FAILED

• revealed deep regional and religious tensions and confirmed the power of the tudor state

• challenged henry’s royal authority, rather than a dynastic threat

how did rebels present themselves to ensure the longevity of the pilgrimage of grace?

• portrayed themselves as loyal servants to the king

• rebellion would be crushed and rebels executed after the bigod rebellion

wider consequences of the pilgrimage of grace

• strengthened royal authority

  • reformed the council of the north, established permanently at york, staffed w/southerners and directly answerable to henry

• accelerated the reformation

  • enabled dissolution of smaller monasteries 1536 and larger monasteries 1539

• increased government efficiency

  • privy council had been slow to react and deal, so streamlined, more professional w/20 trained lawyers and bureaucrats

• undermined cromwell

  • grievances of rebels directed to cromwell and dominance over gov and religious policies, undermined cromwell in henry’s eyes, contributed to 1540 downfall