How did Tudor Governments respond to rebellion?

Buy Time

• Tudor governments had limited resources available to them e.g. no police force and limited money

• Their main weapon was their claim to be legitimate ruler anointed with holy oil and chosen by God

• Therefore traitors were also condemned as sinners• Governments sought to buy time until they have enough

troops to call the rebels’ bluff and then they would declare battle

• Battles however were generally avoided. They were expensive and uncertain. Therefore pardons were offered often on the eve of Battle.

Examples

• Rebels at Stoke (Simnel) and Blackheath (Cornish) were offered pardons on the eve of battle.

• Pilgrimage of Grace 1536 Henry VIII allowed the Duke of Norfolk to negotiate

• Western Rebellion The Duke of Somerset sent a series of letters to the rebel camp urging them to desist offering them a free pardon if they did.

Propaganda

• Propaganda was widely used by governments in trying to persuade rebels to give up and return home.

• Written Propaganda – had limited impact as most could not read. Instead it was designed to reinforce moral of the government

• Sermons and Speeches

Examples

• Cromwell employed a team of writers to condemn rebellion in 1536

• Henry VIII personally replied to the letters where he defended his policies

• Cranmer attacked the rebels during 1549• Somerset also sent preachers to appeal at

their camp on Mousehold Heath, near Norwich.

Pre-emptive Measures

• Monarchs sometimes tried to weaken the power of rebels before they became too dangerous

Examples

• Henry VII used a papal bull to excommunicate rebels on the eve of the Battle of Stoke and Blackheath to encourage many rebels to surrendered rather than risk eternal damnation.

• Mary sent letters prior to the outbreak of the Wyatt rebellion denouncing the plot.

• Elizabeth heard some rumours in the summer in 1569 that there are several disgruntled nobles. Elizabeth acted quickly and Norfolk denied permission to marry. Mary was moved 30 miles south to Coventry

Raise Troops

• The decision to raise troops was not taken lightly.

• It was expensive and if not paid they were as much a threat as the rebels themselves.

• Relied on the nobility and gentry to provide retainers

• Nobility required licences for large scale retaining

Examples

• Somerset had to carefully deploy his troops as he faced rebellion across the country. Focussed on those near London which is why the Western and Kett’s took so long to suppress. This was also why he was the only ruler to employ foreign mercenaries.

• Henry VII took action against retaining as for him it threatened his throne in those years immediately after WOR.

Trials and Retribution

• Those rebels who indulged in treason knew that the penalty was death but not all rebels were subsequently executed.

Examples

• Henry VII- was quiet lenient often using bonds and recognisances. Attainders and Fines

• Henry VIII – Amicable Grant 18 taken for trial and then released and paid compensation. POG – 20 clerics executed 60 laymen executed

• Edward VI – 100 hung Devon Kett and ringleaders hung• Mary –LJG lenient Wyatts 1000 caught 600 pardoned

71/480 executed• Elizabeth – NE 300 villages burned 450/700 rebels

executed. Oxford – 5 ringleaders tortured and hung drawn and quartered