Tudor Rebellions

Causes of Tudor Rebellions

Several common factors motivated rebellions in the Tudor era. It should be noted, however, that rebellions often had more than one cause and political concerns were normally intertwined with religious and economic ones as well.

Economic causes

Economic factors were a large motivator of rebellions in the Tudor era. They came in two forms - economic change and tax. Economic changes, like enclosure and national taxes imposed to fund wars, were a continuing grievance for the people of England.

Let's look at a couple of examples of economic rebellions:

Religious causes

Religious rebellions mainly occurred in the second half of the Tudor era, after the English Reformation had taken place. The Reformation occurred under Henry VIII and split the Church of England from the Roman Catholic Church and the authority of the Pope. The change from Catholic to Protestant would continue to be a grievance amongst the English people for many years to come. Most of the rebellions that were religiously motivated were Catholic uprisings against the Protestant Church of England.

Political causes

Political rebellions were less frequent as they generally only involved the nobility. Normally, the cause was a desire to gain more power and influence at the Royal Court. However, popular movements could have political causes as well, like an objection to a royal marriage.

Dynastic causes

Dynastic rebellions only really concerned Henry VII. A dynastic rebellion was when a faction tried to seize the throne from a monarch. Henry VII had issues with these, particularly in the early years of his reign after the end of the Wars of the Roses.

Summary of the causes of the Tudor Rebellions

As we have seen, Tudor rebellions had a variety of causes - but what type of rebellions did each Tudor monarch face the most?

Henry VII: dynastic and economic

• Dynastic rebellions, like the Simnel and Warbeck Rebellions, occurred because Henry VII's position on the throne was tenuous. He had won the crown from Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth, but there were still many Yorkist sympathisers and those who had a stronger claim to the throne than Henry.
• Economic rebellions normally occurred in response to taxation. Henry had to toe a difficult line between not asking the people for too much money and making sure he could support the army to defend himself from threats he faced.

Henry VIII: religious and economic

• Religious rebellions began with Henry VIII's decision to split from Rome and establish the church of England. This was not a popular decision with the people of England, and some rebellions aimed to restore the authority of the Catholic Church in England.
• Henry VIII desired to be known as a great warrior king, similar to Henry V. Therefore, he undertook many military campaigns that were incredibly expensive to run. He asked parliament for extraordinary revenue for huge amounts of tax, which the English people thought was very unfair and selfish.

Edward VI: religious and economic

• Edward VI was very strongly Protestant and wanted to continue the Reformation and even make it stricter after his father's death. Many had hoped that the rise of Protestantism might be curbed after Henry VIII's death, and so tried to change the balance back to Catholicism.
• Enclosure was a big issue in the reign of Edward VI, with major rebellions occurring due to increased enclosure, which people saw as an infringement of their rights.

Mary I: political

• Mary I faced challenges tied to politics. The major rebellion of her reign, Wyatt's rebellion, was a response to Mary's decision to marry Phillip II of Spain, a Catholic monarch. It should be noted that by this point, religion was a political issue. A marriage to Phillip II would have resulted in increased Catholic influence in England.

Elizabeth I: political and religious

• Elizabeth I faced opposition from Catholic nobles who had gained hope of restoring Catholicism during the reign of Mary I. In addition, she faced threats from a faction that supported Mary Queen of Scots, a Catholic, as queen of England.
• Since religion was pretty much inseparable from politics at this time, there were also other rebellions in which religion was a motivating factor. There were also attempts by nobles to gain more power within the court.

Primary Sources for Tudor Rebellions

We can learn about the rebellions Tudor monarchs faced thanks to primary sources from the time.

Sometimes, a source from the period of the actual rebellion might have been preserved, which can tell us about the proceeding of the rebellion, and the thoughts, actions and feelings of those involved.

Examples of these would be:

• The list of demands sent to Edward VI by Robert Kett during Kett's Rebellion of 1549
• Robert Aske's speech given to the participants of the Pilgrimage of Grace in 1537
• Letters between government ministers and foreign ambassadors discussing potential courses of action or reporting on events
• State papers

Much of what we know about Tudor rebellions comes from Chronicles, usually written after the rebellion had occurred. Examples of key chroniclers are:

• Raphael Holinshed
• John Stow
• Richard Hooker
• Edward Hall

Tudor Rebellions Summary

How threatening were the Tudor Rebellions? Ultimately, none of the rebellions in the Tudor era were fully successful. Some partially achieved their aims; some achieved nothing. However, this is not to say that they did not present a threat to the Tudor monarchy.

Some rebellions had a physical threat - e.g. the rebels captured major cities, reached London or killed important people, but rebellions could be equally threatening without those aspects. For example, the Amicable Grant Rebellion stopped Henry VIII's ambitions in foreign policy and showed him that the English people could impact government policy. Equally, the Cornish Rebellion was commemorated in Cornwall and stood as a marker event in preserving Cornwall's independence and cultural dignity.

Overall, Tudor Rebellions impacted the shaping of society, politics, economics and religion in the Tudor era.

List of Tudor Rebellions

The table below shows a list of Tudor Rebellions that were considered to be the most threatening.