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England: turmoil & triumph 1547-1603 - instability & consolidation…

- - - - Henry VII had presented himself as a pre-pubescent boy
      - tried to copy his father and emphasise his Tudor heritage. but there were clear limitations because he was just a boy
      - instead, Edward VI and his ministers crafted him as a second Josiah (a king in the Old Testament who pursued religious reform) This allowed him to emphasis his Protestant agenda
      - image making was central to conveying his authority
    - - clear that he took an interest in religious reform
      - the selection of the Duke of N may have reflected his Protestant aims
      - historians have debated over how much independence he had
  - - - Edward wasn't old enough to legally change the succession
      - L J Grey married N's son, Guildford Dudley, six weeks before Edward died
      - Edward agreed, or maybe was behind it? he wrote the 'Devise' to change the succession himself. this bypassed Mary and Elizabeth and instead passed the throne to L J Grey and her 'heirs male'
      - most think N was behind the plan to put Lady Jane Grey (a Protestant) on the throne in place of Mary
    - - Mary was in East Anglia as events unfolded. most people backed her as the rightful heir. for most, the law was more important than religion
      - there was little support for Lady Jane Grey's claim to the throne (only being recognised in London, King's Lyn and Berwick)
      - seeing this change, N surrendered to Mary near Cambridge
      - the Duke of N and Lady Jane Grey were executed
    - - Mary was a Catholic and close to the Holy Roman Empire (Charles V was her cousin)
      - she would undo the Protestant changes put through by Northumberland. he himself would be in danger of losing at least his position
      - she would be England's first queen regnant (a monarch in he own right, not through her husband). it was thought unnatural for a woman to govern. it would be uncharted territory
    - - this triggerd a succession crisis
      - next in line to the throne was Mary. but as a Catholic and a woman, she was considered a threat
      - in the winter of 1553, Edward VI became seriously ill with a chest affliction, it became clear he wouldn't survive
    - - by this time, Yorkist claimants had been wiped out
      - Henry VIII excluded Howards (the Due of Norfolks family) who could potentially influence the boy king and reverse the Royal Supremacy because they were Catholic
      - as Henry VIII's sole male heir, Edward VI was first on line to be king. next in line was Mary, then Elizabeth
- - - - Somerset's supporters included: Thomas Seymour; John Dudley, Earl of Warwick; Archbishop of Canterbury Cranmer; Sir William Paget; Sir Thomas Wriothesley; and the Earl of Arundel
      - they met on Somerset's home, Somerset house. so he was able ot control who had contact with his government. his retainers guarded him
      - Somerset rapidly promoted his own supporters to the Regency Council
    - - The Book of Common Prayer and the Act of Uniformity of 1549 were vague in the hope of being all things to all worshippers
      - some of key Protestant steps were taken
        
        dissolving chantries (financial aid)
        
        acting against ornaments and images (Protestant pressure in London)
        
        Clergy were agin allowed to marry (enabling more Protestant clergy)
      - had a tricky balancing act to please reformists and traditionalists, Protestants and Catholics
    - - Somerset was popular in 1547 after his victories against Scotland. soon after Henry's deatah, the Regency Council gave its power to Somerset
      - Somerset rapidly took control of Edward and made himself Lord Protector
      - the reformist faction was in the strongest position when Henry VIII died
    - - foreign poliy was costly and ineffective
      - his power declined following 1549, with the Duke of Northumberland gaining power and influence in his place
      - had also alienated many in the Regency Council
      - by 1552, Somerset was arrested, tried for treason and executed
      - was largely due to his failure with the 1549 rebellion (Kett's)
    - - the boy had no direct involvement in government and limited pocket money but a thorough education
      - was strict with him
    - - using dry steam ad royal proclamations
      - in Henry VIII's last years, the dry stamp had been used a great deal, so this was not a sudden change
      - the 1539 Proclamations Act said proclamations had equal force as statute law
  - - - Edward VI appeared to take a keen interest in the shape of England's religious settlement
      - it's difficult to tell how much influence he had in governing the kingdom, although he was young, some historians have argued that he began to have considerable influence in the later of his reign
    - - was a keen sportsperson. he particularly enjoyed horse riding
      - was very intelligent and received an excellent education
    - - often remembered as this
      - but this image is not altogether true
        
        he was healthy for majority of his childhood
        
        he died of a serious chest affliction in 1553
  - - - he oversaw Protestant changes though confessing himself to be Catholic on the scaffold
      - he was governing in the name of Edward VI, who was a strong Protestant, so N was being a good servant
      - he used Catholic/ conservative support to become Lord President of the Privy Council. those men then lost their positions
    - - Northumberland took religion in a much more Protestant direction
        
        1552 Prayer Book
        
        all traces of Catholicism and the Catholic mass removed, including transubstantiation (a core catholic belief about Holy Communion)
        
        January 1552
        
        : Treason Act - questioning either the Royal Supremacy and the beliefs if the English Church became an offence
        
        Second Act of Uniformity - attendance at Church of England series became compulsory
    - - ending debasment
      - N rtried to pay off England's debts. this was through selling off chantry lands (owned by priests before the Henrician Reformation)
      - increasing Crown revenue through trade expansion and raising custom duties
      - arguably, N's most important priority was to stabilise England after the turmoil of Somerset's rule
- - - - spread of Protestantism
        
        under Somerset, press c
      - Church in church appearance
        
        this was unsettling for the laity
        
        many ordinary sights in churches were changed
        
        all gold and silver ornaments were removed.
        
        the clergy was not to wear vestments (their liturgical robes)
        
        in 1547 iconoclasm (destroying images) swept across me churches. Somerset banned images from churches
        
        altars were replaced by communion tables
      - the Church of England was clearly more Protestant in doctrine by the end. of Edward VI's reign than at the start. this does not mean that everyone supported Protestantism
- - - - most of the rebels were dealt with more leniently
      - Somerset tried to be popular and wanted to cooperate with the rebels. which made him seem weak to his rivals in court
      - Kent was hanged in November
    - - local government was a key issue. the rebels attacked the gentry and Justices of Peace (JPs), accusing them of corruption and mismanaging government policy
      - enclosure and bad governemnt were high priorities than religion
      - the New Common Prayer Book did not spark the rebellion. K's rebels wanted more religious reforms, such as improving the quality of the clergy
    - - Fletcher argues that 'one major cause of the commotions was very specific to the times; the character and policies of tProtector Somerset'
      - argue that Somerset's domestic policies show that he wanted to protect ordinary people from exploitation
        
        the idea that the government supported the commons in redressing their own grievances, that the 'Good Duke' was not their side, encouraged them to take action into their own hands...'
    - - Somerset wrote letters to the revels to deal with their grievances
      - 30 July, the Marquis of Northampton (William Parr) arrived with a small army and retook Norwich. negotiations with Kent failed
        
        the government regained control momentarily
      - 22 July, rebels attacked Norwich with pitchforks. they took the city
        
        rebels in strong position
      - 23 August, the Earl of Warwick (John Dudley) arrived with 12,000 men, days of fighting began
        
        Warwick had a huge army but the rebels brought bravely
      - 21 July, a government official arrived offering a pardon to the rebels with promises to deal with corruption. Kent refused to accept pardon
        
        demonstrated determination of Kent
      - 27 August, K's rebellion was put down. 3,000 rebels were killed
        
        K was captured and rebellion over
      - 10th July, K led a march of yeomen and farmers to Norwich
      - 26th August, Warwick's army strengthened by arrival of foreign mercenaries. he cut the supply lines to the rebels camp and they made the decision to move camps - this proved fatal
        
        Kett's mistake gave Warwick the upper hand
      - 6-8th July, villagers in Wyondham celebrating an annual festival. a crowd decides to pull down enclosures and attack a local unpopular landowner, Flowerdew.
        
        rebels felt justified in doing this as Somerset himself had crirticed enclosure and had recruited a strong leader
      - 12th July, reached Norwich, poorer citizens welcomed them and showed their support and set up. a camp at Mousehold heath
        
        people of Norwich did little to stop the rebels
      - 31st July Marquess of Northampton offered a pardon but only 20 rebels accepted and the rebels launched another attack and retook the city
        
        demonstrating the strength and organisation of the rebels
  - - - historians such as Bush argue that rebellion was used as a form of negotiation in the Tudor period
      - Kett's and the Western rebellion can be seen as commoners calling for the government to restore harmony. they were not trying to overthrown the government
    - - this was changed by social historians who studied ordinary people
      - now, rebellions are seen as sophisticated and political
      - previously, they used to not think commoners could be involved in politics
  - - - martial law (military government) was used to deal with the rebels. this indicates how dangerous the situation was
      - Somerset's position in government was seriously weakened
      - the rebellion was put down
    - - 8 July, Russell's last attempt to find a settlement failed
      - 12 July, Lord Grey was sent to help Russell but was diverted to unrest in Oxford
      - 2-6 July the rebels besieged Exeter
      - 28 July, Russell began defeating groups of rebels in Devon
      - 29 June, Lord Russell was sent to find peaceful settlement
      - 17 August, the rebls were defeated
      - Sunday 10 June rebellion began in Cornwall and spread to Devon
    - - vut this may reflect the disproportionate influence of the clergy who played a leading role in the rebellion rather than acciurately representing the grievances of all the rebels
      - historians have noted that most of the rebel articles focussed on religious grievances
      - Ferriby, Anderson and Imperato's view: 'Many of the riots were ill-focused and reflected a sense of desperation among the poorest classes'
      - some call this rebellion the 'Prayer Book Rebellion'
    - - the local gentry could not deal with the situation
      - a combination of religious and socio-economic factors led to it
        
        hostility to enclosure - the enclosure commission of 1548 had dashes peoples high hopes
        
        increasing rents, rising pries and falling wages
        
        resentment f religious reform - the New Common Prayer Book of 1549 sparked the rebellion