Prayer Book Rebellion: Difference between revisions
Nylarathotep (talk | contribs) No edit summary |
Nylarathotep (talk | contribs) mNo edit summary |
||
| Line 13: | Line 13: | ||
In [[London]], king [[Edward VI of England|Edward VI]] ([[Henry VIII of England|Henry VIII]]'s son) and his [[Privy Council]] became alarmed by this news from the West Country. One of the Privy Councillors, [[Sir Gawain Carew]], was ordered to pacify the rebels. At the same time Lord John Russell was ordered to take an army, composed mainly of German and Italian [[mercenaries]], and impose a military solution. |
In [[London]], king [[Edward VI of England|Edward VI]] ([[Henry VIII of England|Henry VIII]]'s son) and his [[Privy Council]] became alarmed by this news from the West Country. One of the Privy Councillors, [[Sir Gawain Carew]], was ordered to pacify the rebels. At the same time Lord John Russell was ordered to take an army, composed mainly of German and Italian [[mercenaries]], and impose a military solution. |
||
The rebels were largely farmers armed with little more than pitchforks and the mercenary [[arquebusier]]s killed over a thousand rebels at Crediton. 1,300 died at [[Sampford Courtenay]] and 300 at [[Fenny Bridges]]. Further orders were issued on behalf of the king by the [[Lord Protector]], the [[ |
The rebels were largely farmers armed with little more than pitchforks and the mercenary [[arquebusier]]s killed over a thousand rebels at Crediton. 1,300 died at [[Sampford Courtenay]] and 300 at [[Fenny Bridges]]. Further orders were issued on behalf of the king by the [[Lord Protector]], the [[Duke of Somerset]], and Archbishop [[Thomas Cranmer]] for the continuance of the onslaught. Under Sir [[Anthony Kingston]], English and mercenary forces then moved into [[Cornwall]] and executed or killed many people before the bloodshed finally ceased (someimes referred to as the [[Cornish Holocaust]]). Proposals to translate the Prayer Book into [[Cornish]] were also suppressed. In total 4,000 people lost their lives in the rebellion. |
||
Revision as of 10:54, 26 April 2006
The Prayer Book Rebellion or Western Rebellion occurred in the southwest of England in 1549.
In the 1540s the government of Edward VI introduced a range of measures as part of the Reformation to remove certain practices from the church which were perceived as being too Catholic.
In 1548 the Book of Common Prayer in English replaced the four old liturgical books in Latin. The change was widely unpopular amongst religious conservatives - particularly in areas of traditionally Catholic religious loyalty, for example, in Devon and Cornwall. These areas also contained a population in which many did not speak contemporary English in favour of local dialect.
The new prayer book was not uniformly adopted and in 1549 the Act of Uniformity made it illegal, from Whitsunday 1549, to use the old prayer book. A number of magistrates were tasked with enforcing the change.
Following the enforced change on Whitsunday 1549 on Whitmonday the parishioners of Sampford Courtenay in Devon convinced the priest to revert to the old ways, likening the English prayer book to 'a Christmas game'. Justices arrived at the next service to enforce the change. An altercation at the service led to a proponent of the change (a William Hellyons) being run through with a pitchfork on the church steps.
The parishioners gathered thousands of supporters from neighbouring towns and villages in Devon, and were also joined by others from Cornwall, under the slogan 'Kill all the gentleman and we will have the Six Articles up again and ceremonies as they were in King Henry VIII's time'. Whilst this highlights the religious aims of the rebellion, it also implies a social cause (a view supported by historians such as Guy and Fletcher). That later demands included limiting the size of gentry households - theoretically beneficial in a time of population growth and unemployment - suggests a possible attack on the prestige of the gentry. Certainly such contemporaries as Cranmer took this view, condemning the rebels as deliberately inciting class conflict in this demand, 'to diminish their strength and to take away their friends, that you might command gentlemen at your pleasures.' Marching east to Crediton they lay siege to Exeter demanding the withdrawal of all English manuscripts.
In London, king Edward VI (Henry VIII's son) and his Privy Council became alarmed by this news from the West Country. One of the Privy Councillors, Sir Gawain Carew, was ordered to pacify the rebels. At the same time Lord John Russell was ordered to take an army, composed mainly of German and Italian mercenaries, and impose a military solution.
The rebels were largely farmers armed with little more than pitchforks and the mercenary arquebusiers killed over a thousand rebels at Crediton. 1,300 died at Sampford Courtenay and 300 at Fenny Bridges. Further orders were issued on behalf of the king by the Lord Protector, the Duke of Somerset, and Archbishop Thomas Cranmer for the continuance of the onslaught. Under Sir Anthony Kingston, English and mercenary forces then moved into Cornwall and executed or killed many people before the bloodshed finally ceased (someimes referred to as the Cornish Holocaust). Proposals to translate the Prayer Book into Cornish were also suppressed. In total 4,000 people lost their lives in the rebellion.
See also
- Pilgrimage of Grace
- Religion in the United Kingdom
- Jenny Geddes, precipitator of a later rebellion in Scotland leading to the Wars of the Three Kingdoms including the English Civil War
- List of topics related to Cornwall
