Pilgrimage of Grace

Pilgrimage of Grace
Part of the European wars of religion
A banner bearing the Holy Wounds of Jesus Christ, which was carried at the Pilgrimage of Grace
DateOctober 1536 – February 1537
Location
Caused byThe English Reformation, dissolution of the monasteries, rising food prices, and Statute of Uses
GoalsThe reversal of the Act of Supremacy, restoration of Mary Tudor to the line of succession, and removal of Thomas Cromwell
Resulted inSuppression of the risings, execution of the leading figures
Parties

Traditionalists

Peasantry
Lead figures
Number
~50,000[1]

The Pilgrimage of Grace was a popular revolt beginning in Yorkshire in October 1536, before spreading to other parts of Northern England including Cumberland, Northumberland, Durham and north Lancashire, under the leadership of Robert Aske. The "most serious of all Tudor period rebellions", it was a protest against Henry VIII's break with the Catholic Church, the dissolution of the lesser monasteries, and the policies of the King's chief minister, Thomas Cromwell, as well as other specific political, social, and economic grievances.[2]

Following the suppression of the short-lived Lincolnshire Rising of 1536, the traditional historical view portrays the Pilgrimage as "a spontaneous mass protest of the conservative elements in the North of England angry with the religious upheavals instigated by King Henry VIII". Historians have observed that there were contributing economic factors.[3]

  1. ^ Crowther, David (7 January 2018). "The Pilgrimage of Grace II". The History of England Podcast. Retrieved 5 August 2021.
  2. ^ Cross 2009.
  3. ^ Loades, David, ed. (2003). Reader's guide to British history. New York: Fitzroy Dearborn. pp. 1039–41. ISBN 9781579582425.