Causes of the Pilgrimage of Grace, 1536-7

Causes of the Pilgrimage of Grace, 1536-7

1. Great Chain of Being

   • Upset about the changes to the natural heirarchy
   • Did not want the blurring of social lines
     • Eg gentry becoming priests

2. Religious changes

   • Rebels wanted monasteries restored
   • Aske said it was the "greatest cause" of the rebellion
   • 11/24 of the Pontefract Articles related to religion
   • Pilgrims only aimed to restore 16/55 dissolved houses in the North
   • Aske made the rebellion a Pilgrimage
     • Made rebels take the Pilgrims Oath
     • Pilgrims wore a badge with the Five Wounds of Christ on
   • C.S.L. Davies argues religious factors "served to give the movement cohesion" and "bind together different classes" and "legitimating resistance to the King"
   • Guy argues that true religion was the "most important rebel platform"

3. Taxation

   • The Act of First Fruits and Tenths (1554) meant Henry took a much larger amount of clerical wealth than the Pope ever had
   • Rebels particularly opposed Cromwell's policies of taking tax during peacetime in the 1534 Subsidy Act
   • Gentry opposed the Statute of Uses

4. Food shortages and agrarian issues

   • High food prices because of a disastrous harvests in 1535 and 1536
   • Other agricultural issues were present
     • Eg renewal of tenancies, border tenures, enclosures and rack-renting

5. Aristocratic feud

   • Elton argues the uprising was an orchestrated attempt by disaffected nobility to increase their power and influence at court
   • The northern noblemen were angry at the positions of Cromwell because of his lowly status
   • Key roles played by Lord Hussey and Lord Darcy
     • Hussey was a member of the Aragonese faction
   • When the Pontefract Articles were drawn up, the gentry had to explain to the commons what the Statute of Uses was

6. Opposition to Cromwell's policies

   • 3/24 Pontefract Articles opposed Cromwell and Riche
   • Cromwell and Riche were specifically named as heretics in the Pontefract Articles