Edward VI, 1547-1553

Question 1

The 1549 Act of Uniformity stated:

Answer 1

Services were to be held in English

We’re only to be 5 sacraments in the church instead of the 7 of the Catholic Church - just communion, baptism, confirmation, marriage and burial

Clergy could marry

Laity could receive bread and wine at communion

Question 2

Western Rebellion, 1549:

Answer 2

Also referred to as the ‘Prayer book rebellion’

General unrest that led to the removal from power of Somerset by the Duke of Northumberland

Question 3

How radical were the religious changes under Northumberland?

Answer 3

1552- New Treason act was passed which made it an offence to question the Royal supremacy or any beliefs of the Church

1552- Second Act of Uniformity which enforced the Second book of common prayer

1552- Forty Two Articles

CLEARLY MUCH MORE EXTREME PROTESTANT VIEWS EXPRESSED

Question 4

To what extent was England a Protestant country by the death of Edward IV in 1553?
NOT VERY PROTESTANT:

Answer 4

Edward only ruled for 6 years so not enough time to enforce permanent change

Protestantism was impose on the nation and was not necessarily welcomed

1552 Act of Uniformity only lasted a year

Edward died before 42 articles could be imposed

Rapid restoration of Catholicism under Mary suggests that traditional religion remained popular

Question 5

To what extent was England a Protestant country by the death of Edward IV in 1553?
VERY PROTESTANT:

Answer 5

Officially England was Protestant and the appearance of Churches had changed

Protestant belief was strong in London, the South East and East Anglia

Protestantism was popular with young, educated or those involved in trade with other Protestant countries such as the Netherlands or Germany

Question 6

When did Edward reign?

Answer 6

1547 - 1553

Question 7

What were the greatest changes when Edward came to the throne?

Answer 7

Religious change - Protestant

Child King - Had to have a Regency Council and Advisors

Question 8

What age was Edward when he died?

Answer 8

Died at age 15

Question 9

Evidence Royal Minority not a problem:

Answer 9

Strong tudor dynasty by 1547 - no one challenged Edward’s right to the throne

Question 10

Succession Crisis (1553):

Answer 10

Northumberland putting his own ambition and aims above the Security of the Crown

Jane’s claim as Granddaughter of Henry’s sister Mary was clearly inferior to Henry VIII’s eldest daughter, Mary

Legally the Succession Act of 1544 clearly overruled the “device” of a 15 year old King which was never approved by Parliament

Nobility and gentry had a vested interest in supporting the principle of legitimate inheritance

Many acted quickly and decisively to secure her rightful position

Privy Council supported Mary due to her being the Royal heir

Question 11

Western Rebellion:

Answer 11

William Body murdered at Helston when he tried to enforce the destruction of images in local churches

Traditionally known locally as the “Prayer Book rebellion”

Question 12

Norfolk Rebellion:

Answer 12

Unlike rebels in Devon and Cornwall, Norfolk rebels supported ‘Common Book of Prayer’

Question 13

Evidence that Western Rebellion had social + economic causes and Norfolk rebellion:

Answer 13

Complaints about excessive rent rises

Riots against enclosures

Effected by cloth trade

Question 14

Reasons for Unrests:

Answer 14

Unrests against enclosures

Question 15

Serious threats presented by the Western Rebellion:

Answer 15

Bloody Battles - at least 3

Question 16

Serious threat of Norfolk Rebellion:

Answer 16

Strong leadership

Large number of rebels

Defeated militarily

Question 17

Protestant country by 1553:

Answer 17

England became officially Protestant for the first time

Changes implicated

London, South East + East Anglia = Most Protestant

Most popular = Young, Educated or involved in trade

Question 18

Arguments England not Protestant officially:

Answer 18

Laity confused, apathetic + indifferent

Many parishes kept or hid many images

People didn’t accept changes

Catholic beliefs still popular

Hostility to married priests

Question 19

Key Facts about Edward VI:

Answer 19

Edward was 9 when he became King

Only 15 when he died

He never came of age as King

Never had children, so by the Succession Act of 1543 he was succeeded by his older sister Mary and if as happened, she had no children either, by his sister Elizabeth

Question 20

Evidence that the problems caused by the minority of Edward VI were serious:

Answer 20

Royal minorities had caused problems before

As a child king, E obviously did not have the authority his father had had, nor could he intimidate people as H had done through the Treason Act and over 300 executions for opposing the reformation

Problem was compounded by Somerset’s decision to repeal H’s Treason Act and the Heresy laws, which caused an upsurge of religious unrest

As Lord Protector Somerset did not have the same authority an adult king, would have had, partly as his title went against H’s wishes (expressed in his will) for a balanced Regency Council

Outbreak of serious rebellions in the South West + Norfolk in 1549 which resulted in the fall of Somerset showed how govt. authority had been undermined

Question 21

Evidence that the problems caused by the minority of Edward VI were not serious:

Answer 21

Henry III, Richard II + Henry VI had all succeeded to the throne as minors but retained their throne into adulthood

Henry VII + Henry VIII had established a strong Tudor dynasty by 1547 + no one challenged E’s right to the throne, including the rebels of 1549

Crisis of 1549, including the rebellions + the fall of Somerset, were caused more by Somerset’s incompetence + underlying religious + economic problems rather than by the royal minority as such

Question 22

Religious causes of the Western rebellion:

Answer 22

In 1548 a Prot. archdeacon called William Body was murdered at Helston when he tried to enforce the destruction of images in local churches

Traditionally known locally as the “Prayer Book Rebellion”, it started with demonstrations agt. the BCP

Most Cornish peasants at this time still spoke Cornish + the rebels said that they did not understand English

Rebellion seems to have started by priests like Robert Welch who then persuaded Humphrey Arundell, a local gentlemen with military experience, to lead them

When the rebellion was crushed the priests involved were publicly hanged in their “popish” mass vestments

Rebels’ initial demands have been lost but the 2nd set were predominantly religious

Question 23

Social + Economic causes of the Western rebellion:

Answer 23

Evidence of social + economic grievances in the initial rebel demands, in particular for the cancellation of the tax on sheep + cloth which hit Devon particularly hard because of the importance of sheep farming there

Rebellion of peasants against gentry: Cornish rebels attacked + robbed the gentry at St Michaels Mount

Even the commander of the royal army which defeated the rebels criticised the local gentry for making the peasants pay extortionate rents, abandoning the traditional concept of “good lordship”

Question 24

Political causes of the Western rebellion:

Answer 24

Downfall of the Courtenay family in 1538 created a power vacuum in Devon + Cornwall; with no dominant local noble, the gentry were leaderless

Question 25

Religious causes of the Norfolk rebellion:

Answer 25

Norfolk rebels seem to have been Prot. + anticlerical: they used the Book of Common Prayer in their camp at Mousehold Heath + made no demands for the restoration of Catholicism

Demanded that the clergy preach the Word of God, teach poor children + be accountable to local peasants rather than the Lord of the Manor. Also demanded a reduction of tithes

Question 26

Social + Economic causes of the Norfolk rebellion:

Answer 26

Unrest started in Attleborough + Wymondham as riots against enclosures, directed especially against a local lawyer, John Flowerdew.

Riots started when the news reached Attleborough that Hales’ anti-enclosure commission would soon be coming to Norfolk, encouraging the peasants to take the law into their own hands

Peasant anger that gentry were grazing large flocks of sheep on common land, exhausting the land or even forcing the peasants off it

Question 27

Political causes of the Norfolk rebellion:

Answer 27

Political disgrace of the Duke of Norfolk in 1546 created a local power vacuum which left the local gentry leaderless

Question 28

Arguments the Western rebellion seriously threatened the government:

Answer 28

All attempts by local gentry to disperse the rebels failed

Royal army was slow to reach Devon b/c it had to put down unrest in Oxfordshire + Buckinghamshire first

Troops had to be diverted from Scotland + mercenaries employed to put rebellion down

Took at least 3 battles to defeat the rebellion

More executions than in Norfolk b/c the government saw the rebellion as a serious threat to its religious policy, hence the hanging of rebellious priests in their mass vestments

Question 29

Arguments the Western rebellion did not seriously threaten the government:

Answer 29

King’s position was not threatened

Virtually no gentry leadership

Rebels failed to take Exeter

Made no attempt to march on London to gain more support despite widespread unrest elsewhere

Once the govt. had enough troops available, the rebels were no match for them

Question 30

Arguments the Norfolk rebellion seriously threatened the government:

Answer 30

Strong leadership, not just from Kett but also other important men like Thomas Aldryche + the Mayor of Norwich, Thomas Cod

Norwich, then England’s 2nd city, captured

Rebels had an army of 16,000 men

Somerset had to offer them a pardon but they still refused to disperse

Troops had to be diverted from Scotland and Mercenaries employed to put the rebellion down

Question 31

Arguments the Norfolk rebellion didn’t seriously threaten the government:

Answer 31

King’s position was not threatened

Virtually no gentry leadership

Kett made the mistake of moving from his well fortified camp at Mousehold Heath to Dussindale, where his unwise decision to take on Warwick’s army led to defeat

Once the govt. had enough troops available, the rebels were no match for them

Fact that only 50 rebels were executed suggests they weren’t seen as a serious threat

Question 32

Arguments England was a Protestant country by the death of Edward VI in 1553:

Answer 32

England became officially Protestant for the first time

Due to the influence of politicians like Somerset + Northumberland, bishops like Cranmer + Hooper + foreign reformers like Martin Bucer

Evidence of surviving churchwardens’ accounts suggest that the 1552 Book of Common Prayer was implemented within the timeframe set by Parliament, including the replacement of stone alters with wooden communion tables

Evidence from wills suggests that Prot. belief was stronger in London, the South East + East Anglia than in the North + West

Most popular with people who were young, educated or involved in trade with the Netherlands or Germany

Some parts of the Thames Valley surviving traces of Lollardy, a pre-Reformation heretical group who circulated extracts from the bible in English, made some people more receptive to Protestantism

Question 33

Arguments England was a Apathetic country by the death of Edward VI in 1553:

Answer 33

Religious changes since 1529 seem to have left many clergy and laity confused, apathetic and indifferent, inclined neither to welcome the changes nor oppose them

Most of the clergy continued to serve under Henry VIII, Edward VI and Mary despite all the changes

Question 34

Arguments England was not a Protestant country by the death of Edward VI in 1553:

Answer 34

Edward was only King for 6 years and England officially Prot. for 4 (1549-53) before Mary restored Catholicism - there wasn’t enough time to make England truly Prot.

1552 Act of Uniformity only lasted a year + E. died before the 42 articles could be imposed.

Many parishes kept or hid as many images + as much church plate as they could rather than destroying them

Fact that Hooper felt the need to urge his clergy to preach against salvation by good works, prayers for the dead, transubstantiation + the worship of saints + images suggests that Cath. beliefs were still popular

1550 Parliament complained that alongside the Book of Common Prayer “are still practiced corrupt, untrue and superstitious ceremonies”

1552 Parliament made church attendance compulsory suggests people didn’t like new religion

Cath. belief was especially strong among older, less educated people in the North + the West

Only 20% of the clergy married + there seems to have been hostility from many of the Common people to married clergy + even more so their wives

Question 35

Arguments that the attempt to alter the succession in 1553 seriously threatened the security of the Tudor dynasty:

Answer 35

Northumberland acted as an “overmighty subject”, putting his own ambition + interest above the security of the crown. He married Lady Jane Grey to his son Lord Guildford Dudley and then persuaded the dying 15 year old king to alter his “Device for the Succession” in Jane’s favour.

Jane’s claim as the granddaughter of H’s sister Mary was clearly inferior to that of H VIII’s eldest daughter Mary

Legally the Succession Act of 1543 clearly overruled the “Device” of a 15 year old King which was never approved by Parliament. It also superseded the acts of 1534 + 1537 which had excluded Mary from succession

June 1553, knowing E was dying Northumberland forced the Privy Council + other notable people to sign articles supporting Jane

Edward himself threatened the security of his own dynasty by trying to interfere with the succession for religious reasons

Archbishop Cranmer showed disloyalty to the dynasty he was appointed to serve for religious reasons and b/c he knew Mary would burn him as a heretic

Real threat that the succession dispute in 1553 could have provoked not just a civil war but also a foreign invasion

Question 36

Arguments that the attempt to alter the succession in 1553 did not seriously threatened the security of the Tudor dynasty:

Answer 36

If Northumberland was the main author of the attempt to interfere with the succession he was remarkably + uncharacteristically incompetent in how he set about ii t

Nobility + gentry had a vested interest in supporting the principle of legitimate inheritance, on which their right to their own property depended

Mary acted quickly + decisively to secure her rightful position by escaping to East Anglia, proclaiming herself Queen, sending letters to the Privy Council + important towns asserting her claim + quickly raising a large army

As soon as Northumberland left London to confront Mary, the Privy Council went over to her + many of his soldiers deserted despite being offered higher pay, showing how strong loyalty to the rightful heir was

Religious divisions in England mattered less than her legitimacy