1549 Prayer Book Rebellions

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`1549 Prayer Book Rebellions

Causes

  • Religious Causes:                                                                       'The first insurrections of Cornishmen against the Edwardian Reformation, in 1547 and 1548, sprang from fear of the loss of church goods' - Fletcher.   The Ed. Ref. was introduced by Somerset and was more radical than Henry VIII's tenure. In 1547, they reasserted the 1538 injunctions but they were more radical - Duffy described them as "a charter for revolution". They included the abolition of religious images and the closing of all chantries. Some people such as John Ressigh said that only a king could introduce new religious laws.                           But‘It was the announcement of the new liturgy in the prayer book to be uniformly used on Whitsunday 1547 that turned the opposition into a full scale rebellion’ [ Fletcher]. Demands in the rebels manifesto include: wanting to keep the Latin [or their own Cornish language and wafers instead of communion bread in services.
  • Economic Causes:                                                                    There is evidence of distrust between peasants/rural labourers and land owners>>Duffy described the situation as "class antagonism".                                                                 Taxation was also a grievance. S's government, in attempting to solve the social problems of the enclosures, placed a tax on sheep. To farmers in Cornwall and Devon who made a living off grazing sheep this came as yet another major blow imposed on them by a seemingly uncaring and ignorant government from far away.

Effects

  • A group of parishioners from Sampford Courtenay decided to march to Exeter to protest at the introduction of the new prayer book. As the group of rebels moved through Devon they gained large numbers of Catholic supporters and became a significant force. Marching east to Crediton, the Devon rebels laid siege to Exeter, demanding the withdrawal of all English liturgies. Although a number of the inhabitants in Exeter sent a message of support to the rebels, the city refused to open its gates. The gates were to stay closed because of the siege for over a month.
  • The govt sent Lord Russell to put down the rebellion but he recieved little support from local gentry. As a result he only managed to put down the rebels, with a force that included foreign mercenaries, in August.
  • In total, over 5,500 people lost their lives in the rebellion. 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 SirAnthony Kingston, English and mercenary forces then moved throughout Devon and into Cornwall and executed or killed many people before the bloodshed finally ceased. Proposals to translate the Prayer Book into Cornish were also suppressed.

Overall summary

Somerset successfully crushed the rebels and did put an end to the revolt with relative ease. However this rebellion, combined with the Vagrancy Act, discredits the traditionalist perspective of him being the 'good duke' and a 'liberal friend of the poor'>>he acted quickly to crush the rebellion, killing 5,500 peasants.  

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