Western Rebellion

Question 1

What was the main trigger of the Western rebellion in Cornwall?

Answer 1

• resentment arising from the hatred of the commissioner William Body
• arrogance of the investigation into chantries created a swirl of rumours and fears about church goods being confiscated

Question 2

What happened to William Body (Archdeacon of in Cornwall in 1548?

Answer 2

• Body’s destruction of church images prompted group in Helston to murder him

Question 3

What was the final straw for the people of Cornwall on Whitsunday in June 1549?

Answer 3

• introduction of the New Prayer book

Question 4

What was the main trigger of the Western rebellion in Devon?

Answer 4

• use of the new Prayer book

Question 5

How did the rebellion take hold in Cornwall?

Answer 5

• protestors assembled at Bodmin
• led by Humphrey Arundell
• list of articles were compiled
• crowd then marched to Devon

Question 6

How did the rebellion take hold in Devon (Sampford Courtenay)?

Answer 6

• rebels persuaded priest to deliver traditional Catholic mass and moved to join forces from Cornwall to Crediton

Question 7

Give an example of a gentleman who tried to calm the rebels in Devon and was hacked to pieces?

Answer 7

• Hellier

Question 8

What role did Sir Peter Carew play?

Answer 8

• leading gentleman in Devon
• rode to meet combined force at Crediton
• aggravated the situation as he was a known Protestant and his tense meeting with rebels almost turned violent when a barn was set alight

Question 9

What eventually happened to Sir Peter Carew?

Answer 9

• he fled back to Exeter and London

Question 10

How was the first government response limited?

Answer 10

• Somerset was acting on inadequate information
• he only had limited resources at his disposal
• he was struggling to… suppress enclosure riots in the Midlands, maintain adequate forces on Scottish border,
  watch for French aggression - called upon Lord Russell to find peace but could only give him a small army

Question 11

What are the three causes of the Western rebellion?

Answer 11

• religious grievances
• economic factors
• personality clashes

Question 12

How did economic factors impact the Western rebellion?

Answer 12

• in early stages of rebellion the economic grievances figured more highly - by time of second list of demands, Robert Welsh was leading and his theological concerns were heavily reflected (he was the vicar of St Thomas - was still preaching against the reformed religion and continuing to use the Romish rites and ornaments in his services)
• complaints about taxes on sheep and cloth generated rumours about further taxes on other animals
• in initial demands, there were complaints about taxes and food prices

Question 13

Why are the ruling classes always concerned about protests?

Answer 13

• no police force or standing army to suppress
• only the thin threads of duty and deference kept the common people in order (explains harsh punishments)
• viewed commons as essentially irrational, stupid, fickle
• failed to see that most rebellions were remarkably peaceful/ passive (government suppression tended to spark any physical violence)
• believed their positions would be threatened (in actuality, rebels never wanted that)

Question 14

As Lord Russell could only be provided with a small army, he avoided direct confrontation with the rebels - give a brief overview of the timeline how

Answer 14

• 8th July: made last attempt at a settlement with the rebels
• 12th July: reinforcements led by Lord Grey - delayed by another uprising in Oxfordshire
• 28th July: (once he was pressured by Somerset) - Russel began an advance against the rebels
• 3rd August: Russell’s army = aided by the arrival of forced of Lord Grey

Question 15

How did religious impact the Western rebellion?

Answer 15

• unquestionably the central issue
• list of articles demanded reintroduction of Catholicism through reinstatement of Act of 6, use of Latin, Communion of one kind, prayers for dead, Mass every Sunday
• widespread response of laity to the removal of images was perhaps provoked as much by unfamiliarity of new practises as by the doctrinal/ political issues behind them
• introduction of new Prayer Book showed how much religious had changed

Question 16

How did personality clashes impact the Western rebellion?

Answer 16

• William Body intensified the antagonism felt towards the religious changes due to his heavy-handed approach

Question 17

Other than Body attempting to destroy images, what else caused further disquiet in the region?

Answer 17

• dissolution of the chantries
• undermining of the local guilds which supported masses and prayers for the dead, and provided lights for rood and images

Question 18

Where did the army of rebels from the south-west (this was after Cornwall and Devon had united at Crediton and Carew tried to calm them) settle themselves?

Answer 18

• congregated and camped outside Clyst St Mary, occupying the main road to Exeter

Question 19

Why was Peter Carew not a suitable choice to deal with the rebellion?

Answer 19

• he was an evangelical

- rather than pacify the rebellion it was inflamed

Question 20

After Carew, Lord Russell was appointed to restore law and order. What limitations did he face?

Answer 20

• had an inadequate force

- by 2nd July the rebels numbered 2000 and were advancing on Exeter behind the banner of the Five Wounds of Christ

Question 21

What significance does the banner have?

Answer 21

• connects this rebellion with that of the Pilgrimage of Grace which was grounded in religious causes
• visually strong symbol of the faith

Question 22

As the rebels marched on Exeter and the mayor refused their demands, what happened?

Answer 22

• siege of Exeter began (citizens of Exeter defended city for about 6 weeks)
• demands of the rebels were delivered to Somerset

Question 23

What three factors may have motivated/ impacted Somerset’s actions?

Answer 23

• leniency
• lack of awareness of the seriousness of the threat
• military requirements elsewhere

Question 24

When and how did Lord Russell accomplish the regaining of Exeter?

Answer 24

• 28th July - was urged to attack and regain control

- accomplished with arrival of 1,000 extra troops under Sir William Herbert

Question 25

Having gained the regional capital, where did Russell march? What was the result?

Answer 25

- through rebel stronghold of Sampford Courtenay with 8000 men - fight by rebels had little chance of success, rebellion collapsed, reprisals began

Question 26

How many men were said to have been killed in the rebellion? Who is a poignant example?

Answer 26

- 4000 men - Robert Welsh (vicar of St Thomas in Exeter) - hanged on the gallows erected on his Church tower in his vestments with a 'holy water bucket, a sprinkler, a sacring bell, a pair of beads and other such popish trash hanged about him' - immediate retribution followed with the execution of twenty-eight Cornishmen at Launceston Castle

Question 27

Why was enclosure a contributing factor to the rebellion?

Answer 27

- government's attack on enclosure through recent poll taxes on sheep was a particular concern in a region which had been enclosed - where majority of farming was pasture rather than arable - rumours that taxation would be extended to other livestock may have sparked discontent - evidence: complaints about taxes and food prices featured in the initial demands list

Question 28

How did the rebel demands challenge gentlemen?

Answer 28

- challenged their position and their right to employ servants

Question 29

Why did the rebels object to the sale of chantry land?

Answer 29

- attacking those who were profiting from the sale of Church land

Question 30

What was arguably another key issue for the rebels?

Answer 30

- interference of the government in a fiercely independent region - loath to accept new laws from a central government geographically distant from them - up until 1549 government influence had been weak but Somerset's financial and religious policies presented a serious challenge to this independence

Question 31

Where were the three places of confrontations between government forces and the rebels?

Answer 31

- Fenny Bridge - Clyst St Mary - Clyst Heath

Question 32

What shows the resilience and commitment of the rebels?

Answer 32

- they remained strong to the end - even after defeated on the battlefield, Russell (leader of government forces) had to deal with rearguard action and pockets of resistance until 3/4,000 killed

Question 33

How can religion be seen clearly as the central issue that sparked the rebellion?

Answer 33

- list of articles demanded reintroduction of Catholicism - to be achieved through: reinstatement of the Act of Six Articles, use of Latin, Communion in one kind, prayers for the dead, mass every Sunday - widespread response of ordinary people in reaction to removal of images - may have been provoked by unfamiliarity, no doubt that religion had changed significantly

Question 34

How was their cultural independence a possible cause of the rebellion?

Answer 34

- argued that the Catholic Church had "proved itself extremely accommodating of Cornish language and culture" and government attacks on the traditional religion had reawakened the spirit of defiance in Cornwall - Cornish resistance to English cultural aggression - Glasney College had recently been dissolved - perhaps the dissolution of this ancient cultural centre provoked unrest among native speakers - protect ancient culture and language - majority of the Cornish people spoke Cornish and viewed English as the language of those who threatened the independence of their region - Latin was the universal language of worship, understood to be a shared language with all people in Christendom