Zusammenfassung der Ressource
Causes of the Northern
Rebellion 1569
- political and social
- courtly conspiracy
- there was a suggestion of
possible courtly conspiracy
centred on the Duke of
Norfolk and other members of
the conservative nobility
- the arrival of Mary Queen of Scots in
England had destabilised the political
situation in England and focused
attention of the succession again
- the Duke of Norfolk had been
approached by agents acting
on behalf of Queen Mary that
the two might marry
- and that, consequently, Mary
would return to the Scottish
thrown and any children of the
marriage would be next in line
to the throne
- slight issue
with the plan-
Mary was
already married
- Moreover, Norfolk's
interest in the plan
was treasonable and
Elizabeth's response
when she found out
was volcanic
- Norfolk, who had left
the court without
permission, was
summoned back and
threw himself on the
Queen's mercy
- perhaps Elizabeth can be
blamed for the revolt
because she forced the
earls into a position
where they felt the
rebellion was inescapable
- it's quite clear that the Earl
of Westmorland, Norfolk's
brother-in-law, and the Earl
of Northumberland were
aware of the plan
- it has been asserted, for example by Wallace
MacCaffrey and Norman Jones, that the
failure of the plan was the event that forced
them into rebellion
- the issue with this
argument is that
there is virtually no
direct evidence to
back it up
- it is certainly not supported by the actions of
the rebels, who made no attempt to turn south
to pressurise the government
- as Krista Kesselring has
argued, 'whil the Norfolk
marriage plan cannot safely
be treated as a direct cause
of rebellion, it very directly
increased Elizabeh's fears
and contributed to the more
general sense of crisis that
gave rise to the revolt'
- militant associates
- the resolve of the rebel leaders
may certainly have been
stiffened by the militancy of
their associates, including
Richard Norton and Christopher
Neville
- moreover, the Countess of
Westmorland seems to have
shamed the rebel leaders into
rising when they had
considered withdrawing
- 'we and our country were
shamed for ever, and that we
must seek holes to creep into'
- this was the interpretation that was
shared even by the Crown's own servants
who tended to assume that 'these simple
earls' had been pushed into rebellion by
their more militant associates
- feudal loyalties
- to some extent, there were
feudal loyalties to the ancient
houses of Percy and Neville
- certainly the pardon patents issued after the
rebellion listed numerous tenants of the Percy and
Neville estates
- however, it would be an oversimplification to view
the rebels' actions simply in these terms
- local and specific factors
- downplaying the
wider political
situation means
that the more local
and specific factors
need to be
emphasised
- the rebel earls felt very
deeply a sense of
dishonour through
being cut out of the
northern government
- moreover, the
earls had no
influence in Court
- Northumberland was
also bitter that the Crown
had allegedly ridden
roughshod over his claim
to mineral rights
- in addition, their
relatives had been
deprived of minor
offices
- for example, Westmorland's
uncle, Christopher Neville, had
lost the right to lead into battle
the tenants of the Dean and
Chapter of Durham Cathedral and
was 'sore offended'
- religious
- the earls were clearly motivated by religion
- Westmorland, in particular,
resented the Protestant
establishment being imposed in
Durham by Bishop Pilkington and
Dean Whittingham
- it is significant in this context
that on the 14th November
Richard Norton carried the Five
Wounds banner into Durham
Cathedral
- not only was Norton demonstrating his religious
conservatism, he was also explicitly linking the actions
of the rebels of 1569 with those of the 1536 rebellion,
the Pilgrimage of Grace, who had used the badge as
their symbol
- religious motivation
from ordinary
participants was vital
- in the diocese of
Durham, particularly,
radical Protestants had
been established in
key posts and had
pushed religious
reform with no
concern for
conservative
sensitivities
- a typical example of this
was the dispute about the
replacement of the alter by
a communiion table in the
parish church at Sedgefield
in County Durham
- the inhabitants at
Sedgefield participated in
the rebellion in large
numbers
- the Dean and Chaptr of Durham had
allegedly discriminated against
Catholic tenants and there was
much desecration of the symbols of
the Catholicism
- for example, the Bishop
Pilkington vandalised the
collegiate church of St Andrew,
Bishop Auckland and Dean
Whittingham desecrated the
Cathedral's holy water stoups by
having them used in the kitchen
- most importantly, there
was a conscious
destruction of the last
vestiges of the cult of St
Cuthbert
- Mrs Whittingham burned
the banner of St Cuthbert
'in the notable contempt
and disgrace of all ancient
and godly relics'
- causing huge offence