To What Extent Was The Pilgrimage Of Grace a Signi

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To what extent was the Pilgrimage of Grace a significant threat to Henry VIII’s plans for religious reformation, 1535-40? Geoff Woodward has claimed that the Pilgrimage of Grace “provides a very good illustration of how various religious grievances came together to produce widespread resentment”. The extent of this dissatisfaction can easily be gauged by the fact that 30-40,000 rebels posed the largest physical threat to Henry VIII’s plans for religious reformation in England. The Pilgrimage of Grace, 1536-37, was primarily motivated by the dissolution of monasteries in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire. This essay intends to prove that although the rebellion did not stop the reformation, it did pose a substantial threat to Henry’s religious plans in the short term. It will achieve this aim by studying the deposition of Robert Aske, the York and Pontefract Articles, as well as the Oath of Honourable Men; all in the attempt to evaluate the motivations of the rebels and the consequences of their actions. Contemporaries suggested that the Pilgrimage of Grace posed a significant threat to Henry’s plans for religious reformation; Edward Hall, an English chronicler writing in 1536, said “after the king’s highness was informed of this newly arisen insurrection he, making no delay in so weighty a matter, caused with all speed the dukes of Norfolk and Suffolk accompanied by his mighty and royal army which was of great power and strength, immediately to set upon the rebels”. Hall was a great admirer of Henry VIII and his policies, so this must be taken into account when reading his work as there is a danger of bias, for example the royal army was not “mighty” in fact it was badly outnumbered. However, it is still a good indication that it was a significant threat- “making no delay in so weighty a matter”. The York Articles (source A, appendix 1), listed the five major
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