Pilgramige of Grace

Question 1

What was the Pilgrimage of Grace?

Answer 1

The PoG was a reactionary cause against the dissolution of monasteries

Question 2

Where did the PoG start?

Answer 2

Lincolnshire and then Yorkshire along with many Northern counties

Question 3

What year was the PoG?

Answer 3

October 1536 - February 1537

Question 4

Events in the PoG?

Answer 4

• Nicholas Melton, a shoemaker, took the name ‘Captain Cobbler’ and led the rising in Lincolnshire
• He ordered other labourers (20 men) to gather followers
• The men seized the representative of the Bishop of Lincoln and the royal commissioners who were carrying out their surveys
• 3000 men advanced from Louth to Caistor (3rd October)
• Gathering support from Horncastle, 10,000 men marched into Lincoln
• Bishop of Lincoln murdered

Question 5

How did the King deal with the PoG?

Answer 5

• Sent an army led by Duke of Suffolk
• Rebels claimed they had fought in Christs name
• 12 days of unrest followed

Question 6

What was The Lincoln Articles

Answer 6

It was a document of 5 requests that the rebels had for the King

Question 7

What were the 5 requests in the Lincoln Articles?

Answer 7

1. Reversal of the Dissolution of Monasteries
2. Restore traditional Catholic practices
3. Remove corrupt advisors who are influencing the King negatively
4. Reduction in harsh taxation and financial burdens
5. Protect Church wealth

Question 8

Who was the ‘clear’ leader of the PoG?

Answer 8

Robert Aske

Question 9

Who was Robert Aske and his role in the PoG?

Answer 9

• Successful lawyer, trained at the Inns Court in London
• Capable of organising large groups or armed men and training them

Question 10

Events led by Robert Aske?

Answer 10

• 16th October: 10,000 supporters of the PoG entered York
• Further assemblies in Durham, Cumberland, and Westmoreland
• Earl of Cumberland held captive in Skipton Castle during week long siege
• Seized Pontefract Castle and constructed a list of demands
• By late October, rebels numbered 30,000 had control of Lancashire and river Don
• Robert Aske had the acquiescence of Lord Darcy and Archbishop of York, 40 knights and many gentlemen

Question 11

Requests in the Pontefract Articles?

Answer 11

1. To end heresies within this realm
2. To have the Pope as the Supreme Head of the Church
3. To have the Lady Mary made legitimate
4. To have abbeys restored
5. To have the Observant friars restored
6. To have the heretics punished by fire
7. To have Lord Cromwell, the Lord Chancellor receive punishment

Question 12

Religious motives behind the PoG?

Answer 12

• People were concerned with religion and the Break with Rome
• They wanted to remain in papal authority
• Argued that religion held communities together and people could worship

Question 13

Social and economic factors in the PoG?

Answer 13

• Poor harvests in 1535 and 1536
• Enclosures - enclosure riots in Settle (1535)
• Repeal the Statue of Uses Act (when no entry fine was paid to the king when there was a father son transaction for land)
• Taxation; e.g. Entry Fines (sum a tenant would have to pay if he took over a piece of land) and Tenancy (when landowners rented their land for a fixed period of years)

Question 14

Political motives behind the PoG?

Answer 14

• People objected the Dissolution of Monasteries
• People from the aristocratic faction supported Catherine of Aragon
• Though Henry’s advisors in Richard Rich and Thomas Cromwell were responsible for the Break with Rome

Question 15

What was the King’s response to the PoG?

Answer 15

• Henry perused a systematic policy of punishment: Norfolk was sent north
• There were 144 executions, including Aske and Sir Francis Bigod, Thomas Percy, Lord Hussey and Lord Darcy
• Burning at the stake of the wife of a member of the gentry who had been on the very edges of the rebellions
• Thomas Miller was executed, despite being instrumental in securing negotiations with the Pilgrims in Doncaster; the reason for punishment.: pointing out that the Pilgrims had military superiority over the King