The Pilgrimage of Grace can be seen to have been caused primarily by the popular feeling of discontent in regards to the break with Rome, most notable the Dissolution of the Smaller Monasteries, and the anger felt towards the publication of the Ten Articles in 1536, with the loss of four of the seven sacraments being inflammatory. Tensions boiled over when a rumour circulated that the commissioners were intending to strip the churches of their gold and jewels and that they would begin to extract extra taxes. In addition, a secondary cause would be the economic issues of the time, with high prices of food after a bad series of harvests within the year prior and leading up to the Pilgrimage (1535) and a rumoured tax on baptism being ill-received. A further cause would be the upset of the gentry over the recently passed Statute of Uses, which prevented land-owners from escaping the payment of royal fees for their land. Finally, a short term cause directly prior to the Lincolnshire Rising is the closure of Louth Park Abbey. Other causes include, include the subsidy granted by parliament in 1534, the inspection of the quality of the clergy, the more conservative and Catholic nature of the north, the divorce with Catherine of Aragon which raised the question of Princess Mary's status; in the north Mary was still looked on as the king's legitimate daughter, the unpopularity of Anne Boleyn (although she had died in 1536), the leader Aske lay the blame on ‘evil’ advisors, especially Thomas Cromwell, whom he believed were polluting the king’s mind
Course
There were two main stages to the Pilgrimage of Grace, being the Lincolnshire Rising and the actual Pilgrimage with the march on York.
The beginning of the Lincolnshire Rising was fairly spontaneous, beginning on the 2nd of October 1536, after rumours emerged that two clerical commissioners intended to rob the local church treasury. A crowd led by shoemaker Nicholas Melton captured the commissioners and forced them to write to the king outlining local grievances. Soon after, the bishop of Lincoln’s chancellor was killed in a “frenzy of violence” and the gentry joined the revolt, also writing up their grievances. This and the grievances of the common people formed the Lincoln Articles. This led to a descent of 40,000 men on Lincolnshire, and by the 14th of October, these men had overtaken and occupied the Lincoln Cathedral. Henry refused all of their conditions, and sent the Duke of Suffolk with royal forces to quell the rebellion, ordering him to hang as many as possible as an example to other insurgents. 46 men, including the vicar of Louth, were hung.
Around the same time as the Lincolnshire Rising, Robert Aske began to emerge as a figurehead of sorts of the insurgency further north, the Pilgrimage of Grace. These men began to march on York, joined by 30,000 men in total, aided by Sir Thomas Percy and various Lords. They entered York on the 16th of October, and by the 19th had overtaken Pontefract Castle, the castle of Lord Darcy, who surrendered easily. The ‘pilgrims’ marched under the banner of the Five Wounds of Christ. They drew up a list of grievances to present to the king, these were known as the Pontefract Articles. They also began restoring monasteries that had been dissolved. Henry, in response, dispatched the Duke of Norfolk and his men to deal with this – however, the Duke’s men were outnumbered 5:1. In order to end the rebellion, Henry, via Norfolk, promised a pardon to the rebels, with Norfolk being aware that this was most probably not going to happen. They also promised Robert Aske that the wishes of the insurgency would be met, and on the 8th of December, Aske was indeed pardoned by which time the pilgrims had dispersed.
However, in January 1537, another rising broke out in the East Rising of Yorkshire, as it became apparent that Henry was not intending to meet the rebel demands. This continued into February and by then the North Riding of Yorkshire also became involved. However, both of these rebellions failed, and thusly Henry arrested Aske, Lord Darcy, Sir Thomas Percy, and other rebel leaders in order to execute them for treason. 178 rebels in total were executed. Lord Darcy and Lord Hussey were executed, Robert Aske was hanged and the Percy family were forced to name Henry as their heir to the Northumberland estates.
Consequences
In consequence, the rebels did see some of their wishes come into fruition, such as that of a postponed October subsidy collection, a partial negation of the Statute of Uses, and the restoration of some of the lost sacraments via the 1537 Bishop’s Book and the Act of Six Articles. However, this rebellion may have fuelled Henry’s dissolution of the larger monasteries, and allowed Church land to be actively seized for the elite. Other consequences that could be attributed include Henry’s excommunication by Pope Paul in 1538 and the demise of Thomas Cromwell by 1540.