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Kett's rebellion 1549 - Coggle Diagram
Kett's rebellion 1549
Somerset
Beliefs
- second commission destroys illegal enclosures
- anti-enclosure - began anti-enclosure commissions after John Hales anti-enclosure law failed
- viewed as the 'Good Duke'
Mistakes
- The commissions gave the rebels the impression that he would be supportive of mass action, emboldening them to further their efforts. He exchanged letters with the rebels, sympathising with their cause
- Appointing William Parr, Marquess of Northampton as a military leader was a poor decision. Parr's poor leadership and the use of Italian mercenaries only worked to strengthen the opposition
Impact of enclosure
Social
- increased poverty, homelessness and vagrancy in Tudor England.
- landlords removed peasants easily by 'losing' their copyhold rights to the land
- traditional ways of life destroyed as the common land system was replaced by enclosure. Challenged social structure of village.
Economic
- enclosure of land meant sheep didn't graze on remaining common land, wouldnt provide manure and peasants crops from growing
- sheep farming which was the main reason for enclosure as cloth became more valuable, required less men and therefore increased unemployment
- to help enclosure, landlords deployed tactics such as engrossing (merging farms together) and rack-renting (increasing rents) to force peasants off land = created tension between nobles and peasants
- increasing population = food supplies were low. enclosure prioritised sheep farming for wool not food, decreasing amount of food harvested, causing food to rise
Political
- Humanists, the commonwealth men were critical of the effects of the enclosure. Helped inspire the rebels into believing they had poltical support
- Commonwealth men, led by gov official John Hales and Hugh Latimer, Bishop of Worcester, influenced Somerset to also oppose enclosures and launch investigation
Kett's demands
- many articles based on enclosure. Targeting sheep farmers
- end to government corruption and democratic voting for local government
- end to corrupt clergymen who didn't serve their communities well
- didn't seek to overthrow Tudor heirachal structure. didn't view themselves as traitors
Earl of Warwick
- Tactics and Experience
- victims of the rebels - owned the Wymondham estate which Kett and rebels inhabited
- against the rebellion but equally didn't want to prop up Somersets poor decisions
- experience/failure - had led an army containing German mercenaries who were persuaded with one months wages for one days work
- his royal army was capable of breaking through rebel-held gates at Norwich, able to withstand guerrilla tactics deployed by rebel army
- cut off rebel supply lines, forced them to leave superior position at Mousehold heath
- successfully overcame the rebel force at Battle of Dussindale, killing 3000 rebels, only 40 of his men died
Dussindale
- an area of flat land
- Earl of Warwick leads a 12,000 strong army and captures Norwich
- rebels retreat to Dussindale, retreating from stronghold at Mousehold Heath
- rebellion decisively defeated by Warwick at Dussindale - 3000 rebels massacred
- Robert Kett captured and hung in December 1549 at Norwich castle
Spark
Wymondham, Flowerdew and Kett
- rebellion began at market town Wymondham (Norwich)
local community met for traditional celebrations
- festivities got out of hand - crowds began to destroy enclosures of unpopular local landowner = Sir John Flowerdew (lawyer)
- Flowerdew had been in dispute with locals over fate of local abbey. He had began to demolish part of the abbey (townspeople had purchased it)
- obvious target for rioters as he was strongly disliked/unpopular. Encouraged by Somerset's enclosure commissions
- Flowerdew tried to turn rioters against other Wymondham landowner, Robert Kett who had enclosed common land and was another potential target
- Kett sided with the rebels and agreed that he had illegally enclosed common land. He ordered his hedges to be torn down
- actions turned him into the leader of an increasingly widespread anti-enclosure movement
- made decision to march on Norwich
William Parr
- Marquess of Northampton
- poor choice as first military leader
- not from Norfolk and mishandled the situation by offering a pardon rather than taking direct action
- underestimated rebels strengths
- used foreign troops (Italian mercenaries)-provoked the rebels even more as English government were using foreigners against their own people
- brother of Catherine Parr
- leader of Protestant Party under Henry VIII and Edward VI
Norwich
- Englands second city at the time
- rebels set up at Mousehold heath in Norwich
- 16,000 rebels gather at Mousehold
- rebels work closely with Mayor of Norwich (send demands to Edward VI)
- Rebels storm Norwich and capture mayor (22 July 1549)
- William Parr offers pardon, takes Norwich, defeated the next day and rebels overrun Norwich again
- Earl of Warwick army capture Norwich, rebels retreat
- Oak of reformation
- place where Kett sat and counselled his followers
- distributing justice on both unruly followers and unpopular local landowners who were charged with robbing the poor and imprisonment
- where Kett held court
- members of gentry who were captured were put on trial before Kett under the tree
Mousehold Heath Organisation
- rebels set up camp on Mousehold, a hill that overlooks Norwich
- size of the rebel camp at Mousehold (16,000) ensured Kett had the upper hand in his early dealing with town officials of Norwich (mayor and council tried to co-operate with Kett - organised collection of food and supplies)
- camp was deliberately set up to be near the county town of Norwich (a rich town) - North East of the city
- system of government writs and commissions
- rebels wanted to show they could administer law and order effectively and could run local governement peacefully and effectively without local gentry
Relationship with mayor of Norwich
- mayor and city council tried to co-operate with the rebels and Kett
- helped Kett provide for rebel camp by organising collection of food and supplies
- after arrival of government messenger on 21 July, the mayor and council began to fortify city against rebels
- rebels began to bombard Norwich, rebels offered mayor a truce but the town council refused
- led to full scale attack on the city and the capture of the mayor
Political context
- Monarchy = Edward VI (Henry VIIIs and Jane Seymours son)
- 11 years old
- country was unstable as Edward was a child and so they needed to have a lord protector (Somerset) which caused factions in the government
- lord protector = regent in charge of a kingdom during the minority of a soverign
- factions in the government = share the same political purpose but differs in some respect = Somerset was superior making other noblemen angry
Commonwealth men
- figures that believed in the social and economic fairness to treat commoners better
- British Protestant religious, political, and economic reformers during the early 18th century
Humanism
- belief that we have a collective responsibility to aid those worse off in our society
Impact of Reformation on Peasant mindset
- majority of peasantry remained Catholic
- therefore the reformation was unpopular amongst the peasantry
Government responses
- William Parr sent with small army to offer pardons
- was rejected and pushed out of Norwich
- Earl of Warwick sent with 12,000 men, offered pardons to everyone except Kett
- pardon was refused and the battle began again
Social Heirachy and Tensions
- breakdown of trust between governed and those governing = demands mostly aimed against local gentry
- in Norwich, a very small percentage of the population owned the majority of lands and goods, increasing power of local gentry
- 6% owned 60% of the land and goods