The Pilgrimage of Grace: The Rebellion That Shook Henry VIII's Throne

by Geoffrey Moorhouse

Protesting the king's betrayal of the "old" religion, his new taxes, and his threat to the rights of landowners,  the poor and the powerful united against Henry VIII, raising an army of 40,000. Under the influence of the charismatic, heroic figure of Robert Aske, most of the Northern nobility joined the rebellion and gathered for battle at Doncaster where they would have outnumbered the king's soldiers by 4 to 1. But Aske was persuaded by the king's men to abandon military force and negotiate terms in London. Once there he was arrested, charged with treason and hanged in chains.

Genres: History, Tudor Period, Nonfiction

421 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2002

About the author

Geoffrey Moorhouse, FRGS, FRSL, D.Litt, was an English journalist and author. He was born Geoffrey Heald in Bolton and took his stepfather's surname. He attended Bury Grammar School. He began writing as a journalist on the Bolton Evening News. At the age of 27, he joined the Manchester Guardian where he eventually became chief feature writer and combined writing book with journalism.

Many of his books were largely based on his travels. He was elected Fellow of the Royal Geographic Society in 1972, Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 1982, and received an honorary Doctor of Letters from the University of Warwick. His book To The Frontier won the Thomas Cook Award for the best travel book of its year in 1984. He had recently concentrated on Tudor history, with The Pilgrimage of Grace and Great Harry's Navy. He lived in a hill village in North Yorkshire. In an interview given at the University of Tuebingen in 1999, he described his approach to his writing.

All three of Moorhouse's marriages ended in divorce. He had two sons and two daughters, one of whom died of cancer in 1981. He died aged 77 of a stroke on 26 November 2009 and is survived by both sons and one daughter.

Reviews

[G. Lawrence · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent, extremely in-depth and insightful. If you are looking for a detailed look at this rebellion, this is the book!

[The Final Chapter · Rating 4 out of 5]

High 4. A wonderful investigation of the genesis and course of the most serious popular uprising against the reign of Henry VIII. The focus for the growing resentment had been Thomas Cromwell, whose part in the break with Rome to obtain the King's divorce proved to be just one of several reasons why he became the most hated figure in England. In achieving these goals he had openly revealed his contempt for the clergy and was vilified as a heretic by the general populace. Equally damaging to his reputation was his 'interference' in the course of justice, traditionally dispensed by the local gentry - once his actions enraged the citizens of York when he fined an entire jury for their verdict in a murder trial which to his mind was blatantly wrong. Those near the centre of power feared his supposed network of spies and informers, and what is clear is that information did reach him and would be acted upon. Above all, his accumulation of power and wealth brought the contempt from the nobility for this presumptious commoner. Yet, core to the events detailed in this work was Cromwell's attack on Church property and the actions of his own appointed invesigators into the assets and inventories of the monastic houses - it was reckoned that the monastic houses owned around a third of all the land in the country. Their reports would form the background arguments for Henry passing through Parliament the bill of the Suppression of Religious Houses Act which authorised punitive measures against the lesser monastic houses. Thus, a populace already aghast at the execution of Anne Bolyn, Fisher and More, and by the alienation of the Church from Rome, would now be disgruntled at the laying waste of such familiar landmarks. Though the period had witnessed periodic bad harvests, increased enclosure of agricultural land, and heavy taxation, it would be religious grievances that galvanised the disparate complaints into rebellion, with the last straw being the Ten Articles of June 1536, introducing Protestant interpretations of baptism, penance, and the Eucharist. The spark of rebellion ignited the Lincolnshire countryside on October 1st 1536, and as it grew, the tensions between the commoners and the gentry remained as the latter, with more to lose, were more cautious and conciliatory in their approaches to the Crown urging their commons to present themselves as loyal supplicants rather than hostile rebels. The articles they prepared sought the restoration of the Church's ancient rights, the renunciation of extra taxation, the purging of the country of heretical works and priests, and the surrender for punishment of Cromwell, his commissioners, and Richard Riche, charged with administering the estates and revenues of the dissolved religious houses. While they awaited the royal response, Henry summoned the Duke of Norfolk. Though Thomas Howard had risked the displeasure of his king in seeking the downfall of both Wolsey and Cromwell, having been forced to retire from public service after presiding over his niece, Anne Boleyn's, trial, his military credentials (he had distinguished himself as second-in-command to his own father at Flodden Field in 1513) now brought him back to Henry's attention. Yet, at the final juncture Norfolk was not entrusted with leading the king's forces - this went to Henry's loyal friend, Charles Brandon, the Duke of Suffolk. As the rebellion spread into Yorkshire the figure of Robert Aske took centre-stage, whose life prior to these events is shrouded in mystery. This one-eyed son of Yorkshire gentry and trained lawyer, pressed into serving the rebel cause en route to resume his studies, had a natural talent for leadership and believed open rebellion to be the last resort, hoping the government would modify its policies. One of three brothers, Robert's adherence to the uprising would place him at odds with his siblings, who would actively participate in attempting to quell the disorder. Another central figure to feature in this uprising would be Thomas Lord Darcy. Supervisor of all the royal castles in Yorkshire with a long record of service to the Crown, Darcy's loyalty began to waver as his deep religious convictions troubled him. His outspoken comments on the King's divorce led to his being forcibly confined to London for five years in which time his resentment festered. According to the ambassador of Charles V, Darcy appealed to the latter to launch an invasion to rescue Princess Mary and whisk her away to the continent. Troubling to the Crwon was the recruitment to the cause of Sir Thomas Percy, member of the powerful Northern dynasty which had such a chequered history with the Crown. In 1536 Thomas had great cause to be enraged as his weaker elder brother had been bullied by the powers that be to nominate the King as his sole heir. Another Northern noble to join the ranks of the Pilgrimage was Sir Robert Constable, who had shared the costs and ignominy with Darcy of the Spanish fiasco in 1511 when their force of English archers, requested by Ferdinand of Aragon, were left aimless to run riot in a drunken rampage. A man with a short fuse, he had been overlooked and benn involved in many legal disputes, in some of which Aske had represented his counter claimant. Not only was the hatchet buried, but both Constable and Darcy left leadership of the cause to this minor gentleman. It is estimated that eventually around 40-50,000 men were under arms in the North, overwhelmingly commoners. Each band of rebels would swear an oath before riding off in armed gangs to press a local gentleman or noble into heading their cause, with the incentive that a refusal would welcome retribution, be it sacking and arson of their homes or summary execution. With the rebels now intent on marching to London, the King's forces were in disarray due to their monarch's conflicting commands and parsimony, and lack of resolve compared to the fired motives of their opponents. Howard sought to implement a cautious approach of parleying with the disaffected rebels at which talks the latter could voice their grievances, before the latter took stock of the weaknesses of the royalist forces. Shrewdly, he simultaneously communicated to Henry his resolve not to submit to rebel demands. Expert at dissembling, Norfolk allowed the rebel representatives at the talks in Doncaster to believe that there might be the possibility of a special parliamentary session being held to discuss their grievances, and a general pardon for all those who had taken p arms. In return for a truce, Norfolk returned to court accompanied by two selected members of the uprising. Henry wrote a response to their demands which seeped with the wrath, contempt, and self-justification of their monarch, in which Henry refused to concede a single point, offering nothing the rebel leadership would have been able to pass on to appease their belligerent commoners. However, the two rebels dispatched with this mssive were intercepted one day's ride from London and asked to return. Henry, in the meantime had been apraised of the perilous state his rule was in throughout the North, and had therefore to resort to delaying tactics. In the meantime, the powers that be attempted to sow division among their opponents, offering Darcy incentives to betray Aske to the auhorities. When finally Norfolk was despatched to resume his talks with the rebels it was with instructions to gain their total submission, in exchange for which all would be pardoned on an oath of loyalty to the Crown, save ten figures including Aske. Should this not be achieved, Howard was told to delay further until he could launch a royalist attack when victory was assured. The Duke was in an unenviable position trying to balance avoiding military defeat while avoiding any sign of prevarication from which Cromwell could profit. Moreover, he had to deal with the King's constant conflicting instructions, much as Aske had to continually ensure the commoners were kept in check. On agreeing terms, Norfolk managed once more to intimate that a free parliament would discuss those grievances raised without putting anything in writing - the rebels only had is word for it - and Henry was outraged at what had apparently been agreed. Yet, in December Aske was invited to attend court under guarantee of safe conduct where he was graciously received. On his return to Doncaster he discovered that for every rumour of his execution were others that he had feathered his own nest - this evidenced the growing distrust between the rebel leadership and the common masses. Galloping from cohort to cohort across the North, Aske attempted, and largely succeeded, in scotching such rumours, stating he had been informed by the King himself that a parliament would sit in York. In late January 1537 Norfolk returned North with the express command to administer a new oath of loyalty and any who refused were to be executed, as would be any ringleaders of the Pilgrimage. The principal leaders were summoned to London and went of their own volition, while procedures were secretly initiated for their indictment. As such, it was hoped to prevent a further uprising. With the execution of Darcy in May, such fear of reprisals led to it being held at the Tower, but by the time of Constable's and Aske's in July it was agreed that tyhe should be executed in front of the rebellous populace in Hull and York respectively. All together it is estmated that around 150 were executed for their role in the uprising, while those who died in the brief but bloody revolts which flared up in the late spring and summer of 1537 is an unknown figure. The Pilgrimage of Grace ultimately failed for two reasons - firstly due to Aske's naivete in believing the verbal assurances from both Howard and the King, and secondly, in not advancing on London when the momentum and strengh of numbers and passion lay with the rebels.

[Nancy Oakes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely not a book for readers wanting something quick, Pilgrimage of Grace is, nonetheless, an interesting look at events transpiring during the years 1536 to 1537 which could have seriously cost Henry VIII his reign. Commoners and gentry, along with some noblemen united in a series of uprisings against the policies of stripping the monasteries, but more because of Thomas Cromwell, with other prelates they considered as "heretical." There were other reasons as well, largely monetary and political in nature that caused angry mobs to join together to try to effect change. In most cases, the uprising grew as those who led the movement forced others into joining, until thousands of armed men stood against poorly-maintained, poorly paid and often sympathetic troops under the command of the officials sent to quash the rebellion. It was the job of different dukes to maintain order, and in this case, the work fell to the Duke of Norfolk and for the first, smaller rebellion in Lincolnshire, the Duke of Suffolk.

The author does an excellent job with primary sources, often noting the bias in many of the accounts of the time, depending on authorship. He has woven together an outstanding look at causes, events and effects of these uprisings, examining not only the changes in the church under Henry VIII, but economic and political factors as well. He portrays Henry VIII as a monarch with a penchant for revenge and a monstrous temperament. At the end of the book he poses the question of what would have happened had the rebels not stopped their activities when and where they did, offering food for further thought.

This is definitely not a book for general readership -- you pretty much have to decide you're in it for the long haul to finish it -- but it is a very well-written history of the time. I'd recommend it to people who enjoy a good history, and those who want to know more about the reign of Henry VIII. It didn't come across as dry to me, but all three of my majors were in the field of history & I love this stuff. Highly recommended.

Oh, and by the way, if you saw the Tudor episode about this event, it was oversimplified.

[Robert Morris · Rating 4 out of 5]

A worthy and painstaking account of a rebellion that decided not to be. As Moorhouse tells it, all the northern rebels of 1536 really had to do was march forward and they could have thrown Henry VIII out of power, or at least forced him to adopt their political program. Instead, they decided to take some half-hearted promises that would never come to fruition, dissolve their army and go home. Everyone was granted a pardon, but most of the Pilgrimage's most important leaders were killed by Henry within a year or two.

England and Scotland have an identity as very Protestant countries. Since the Tudor shift in religion there have always been English Catholics, but the public harbored a deep hatred for them for centuries, expressed in violent riots, centuries after the government stopped caring. Shamefully, the UK held on to a number of anti-Catholic measures into the late 19th century, more because the public demanded it than any other reason. But as this book ably documents, that was not always the case. Just shy of 500 years ago the entire north of England was willing to rise in defense of their monasteries, their old religious practices and even the Pope. Over the course of the 1530s, Henry VIII took over the English church in steps. Very few liked this, but what really set them off was his breaking up the religious houses to enrich himself and his cronies.

Moorhouse does a great job at the outset illustrating how deeply intertwined monasteries and convents were with daily life. This was especially the case in the poorer North of England where they gave out charity to a significant slice of the population. Henry and his men were in the process of uprooting an ancient way of life, and it enraged enough people that it took a single sermon to finally set everybody off. The book is very detailed, to an extent that some may find frustrating. Dozens of characters, and their actions over months, are described minutely. There's the added inconvenience that most of the aristocrats in the book have multiple names that are used somewhat interchangeably. This complexity may not be everybody's cup of tea. But I found it tremendously useful. The detailed narrative provides a different sort of map of the North as it goes along. It's a geography that has in some ways never been as important since the events described in the book.

Moorhouse's book is in some ways a narrative of what-ifs. These guys really could have overthrown Henry if a few things had gone different, and changed the course of human history. The book helps to illustrate that England was not as far outside the mainstream of European history as it sometimes seems. More of a precursor really.

[Ben Bergonzi · Rating 5 out of 5]

This account of the Northern Rising in 1536-37 shows how the rebels were anxious at the impending loss of the monasteries, which provided not just charity but a great deal of local employment, and had also been antagonized by years in which Kings had taken the North for granted (none had visited since Henry VII in 1487). Tax changes were also a key irritant. As in the early stages of the English Civil War the rebels were calling for the dismissal of the King's Counsellors (Thomas Cromwell and Richard Riche being the most unpopular) but never for a change of King. There was huge support amongst both common people and (if in some cases pressurized by the common people) the Northern gentry. By October 1536 an army of 30,000 stood on the bank of the River Don, Doncaster, ready to march south for London, ably led by the East Riding lawyer Robert Aske. The Royal army was smaller and fragmented. But the battle never happened. This was largely due to the pragmatism of the Duke of Norfolk, the leader of the Royal forces, who expertly negotiated with the rebels so as agree that the majority would be pardoned if they went back to their homes. Although the pardon was not as straightforward as it first seemed (a rebel would have to request his pardon through the courts) Moorhouse relates how the rebel army did disperse, so that peace might have held, had there not been a second uprising during the winter, much less well well-organised than the first. Attempting to capture the towns of Beverley and Hull, these rebels achieved little except for providing the King and Cromwell with the excuse needed for reneging on their promised pardon. There followed a purge reminiscent of Stalin's, where hundreds of leaders and clergy were executed by hanging, drawing and quartering or (in the case of women) by burning. Aske and others were arrested when simply obeying a summons to Court - indeed Aske had previously been received civilly by the King and prepared a history of the main uprising for him. Moorhouse provides a lucid account of a complex and fast-moving period, and rounds it off with a discussion of the fascinating question of what would have happened if the rebels had not been deterred by Norfolk's promises and marched south. Might they have prevented the Dissolution and the Protestant Settlement? I incline to the belief that the English Civil War might have happened a hundred years earlier. The King's combination of overweening self confidence coupled with bad faith makes one doubt he would have accepted the humiliation of agreeing to the Rebels' terms. An excellent book, greatly improved by the author's fine photographs of the settings for the history and his evocative descriptions of their current appearance. Very satisfying.

[Susan Grimshaw · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting up to a point, but not enthralling. I enjoyed reading about places which are known to me.
Depicts Henry VIII as a terrible tyrant which indeed he was.

[Vera Schofield · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fills in a lot of detail which I had nit previously known. This new puts my school history into context. Quiet a heavy read.

[Leila Chandler · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent book about the Pilgrimage of Grace, that was neither anti-Catholic nor pro-Protestant in tone. It was very fair, very scholarly, well-written. However, at times it got a bit tedious with its descriptions of the individual executions of dozens of different monks and rebel fighters. In the end he explores the question of why the rebels didn't press on, as they surely could've won their battle, what with being much larger and more prepared than the king's army. Alas we will never really know for sure, and can only speculate. It could be that Aske truly did think that Henry was on his side and would hold a parliament in York. Who knows!

[Simon · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a well-written, scholarly yet accessible history of a major popular revolt against the rule of Henry VIII.

[Trenchologist · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tells a complex tale without losing itself to dry facts or the need of rereading whole sections to clear up confusion. Filled in a period of time often overlooked in Henry VIII's fraught rein.