Jack Phillips

‘The Pilgrimage of Grace, more than any other rebellion, presented the most
serious threat to Tudor government.’ How far do you agree?
Many rebellions throughout the reign of the Tudors presented serious threats. There are
three areas we can use to determine the threat the rebellion poses to the Tudor government:
support levels, aims and location. I believe that the Pilgrimage of Grace did not present the most
serious threat to Tudor government.

The Pilgrimage of Grace was the only rebellion to have a huge number of rebels and true
cross-class support. By the time the rebels reached the river Don and Pontefract Castle they had
around 40,000 men, with 9 regional armies led by 9 regional captains around the north. There was a
wide range of classes including Lords such as Darcy and Hussey, Gentry such as Aske and Constable
and Clergy such Abbott of Fountains. This rebellion had the largest number of supporters and
outnumbered the government forces 8:1. This makes it a serious threat to the government because
if the rebels decide to march on London, nothing could stop them. However, other revolts could
have posed more of a threat. Simnel’s revolt had the support of the Earl of Lincoln, a powerful noble,
and German mercenaries supplied by Margret of Burgundy. Also the Cornish revolt showed a large
number of supporters, 15,000, with a large number of support from abbots, monks and priests. I
think that the massive number of supporters and the cross-class support makes this rebellion a
serious threat to the Tudor government.

The Pilgrimage of Grace’s aims were very conservative and therefore played an important
part in the threat to the government. The rebels did not want to overthrow Henry, the wanted to
make Mary the heir to the throne, and they had all pledged an oath of allegiance to God, the
Commonwealth and the King. In contrast to this Simnel (1486-87) and Warbeck’s (1491-97) revolts
were both aiming to overthrow the king and therefore posed more of a threat. Lovel’s revolt of 1486
also tried to get the king off the throne and was more threatening. In the Pilgrimage of Grace, 9 of
the 24 articles the rebels presented to King Henry VIII were religious based which shows the religious
intentions of the rebels. These religious aims make the revolt more conservative and therefore less
of a threat to the Tudor government.

The location of a rebellion can be a factor in how much of a threat it poses to the
government. The Pilgrimage of Grace did not go further south than the River Don where they met
Henry’s troops. Henry had time to think of a response to the rebels and deal with them effectively
because they were so far away from London. This is in contrast to the Cornish Revolt (1497) which
marched on London and fought the battle of Blackheath which therefore posed a greater threat than
the Pilgrimage of Grace of which they were far away, and no battle was fought. Similarly, Warbeck’s
revolt was more threatening than the Pilgrimage of Grace even though Warbeck only reached
Taunton, which is 160 miles from London. However, Henry VII had to respond and arrest Warbeck
quickly before he advanced closer to London. This shows that the location of the Pilgrimage of Grace
did not prove too much of a threat.

In conclusion, I don’t think that the Pilgrimage of Grace presented the most serious threat to
Tudor government. Other rebellions were closer to London and had more violent aims and therefore
proved more of a threat than the conservative aims and attitudes of the rebels in the Pilgrimage of
Grace.