The Pilgrimage of Grace, 1536-1537, and, The Exeter Conspiracy, 1538

Volume 1

Madeleine Hope Dodds, Ruth Dodds

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2019
• eBook ISBN: 9780429590412
• Edition: 1
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: British History
• Index: History

Originally published in 1915, The Pilgrimage of Grace, 1536-1537, and The Exeter Conspiracy, 1538 examines this period of British Tudor history in great detail, including chapters on the rising in Lincolnshire, the musters at Pontefract, and the first appointment at Doncaster. It is the first of two volumes written by these authors on this period in history.

CHAPTER XIV

THE COUNCIL AT PONTEFRACT

At the great council which was now approaching, the Pilgrims were confronted by the very serious business of stating and justifying their position. Obedience to the government in the sixteenth century was not merely a theory or a convenience, as at the present day, it was a fundamental duty. There were none of the methods of peaceful opposition which are so common now. To resist the government meant civil war and social anarchy—cattle driven, houses burnt, women ravished, men slaughtered. The duty of non-resistance was the first principle of self-preservation, and the Pilgrims were not fulfilling that duty. They had risen in arms, and they were seriously anxious to show that they had sufficient grounds for this desperate step. Their justification was that the Church was in danger. The Church had always upheld the duty of obedience to the secular government, with but one important reservation, that the Pope had the power to release subjects from their allegiance if the King’s conduct was such that to obey him was mortal sin. In the opinion of Pope Paul III, the crisis in England entitled him to use this extreme power. He had prepared a bull of deposition against Henry, but he lacked courage to publish it. Though the people of England had heard rumours of this bull, they knew nothing with certainty. The Pilgrimage of Grace had lasted for two months without the smallest sign of approval arriving from Rome.

It was of the utmost importance to the success of the movement that both gentlemen and commons should be convinced of the justice of their cause, for it was their unity in faith alone which held them together. As the Pope made no sign, the leaders resolved to obtain the sanction of the Church, if possible, from her chief representatives among themselves.

Even before the council at York, it had been proposed that the clergy of the northern parts should be asked to define clearly the ancient faith for which the Pilgrims had risen. After the truce at Doncaster, Aske requested Archbishop Lee to make a “book of the spiritual promotions” but Lee did not reply¹. At York it was resolved that the spiritual men of the north should be bidden to prepare themselves for an assembly at Pontefract, where they were requested to declare their opinion touching the faith². William Babthorpe took this order to the Archbishop, who was very reluctant to obey such a summons. He tried to persuade Sir Robert Constable to give him leave to remain at home, but Sir Robert would only agree to this if he would send his opinion to the council in writing. Shortly before the assembly at Pontefract Sir Ralph Ellerker, Robert Bowes and William Babthorpe waited on the Archbishop and told him that he was expected to draw up articles for the conference, with Norfolk; Lee was very much alarmed, though they explained that they meant articles concerning the faith. He replied that he must first know on what points the Pilgrims wished to consult the clergy, and Babthorpe wrote to Aske for a statement of them, giving his own advice in the letter.

Aske with unsuspecting candour sent the Archbishop an outline of the articles which he thought should be considered³. This list of questions proposed to the clergy may be the one contained in an existing document, without heading or signature⁴. Most of the subjects mentioned in it were afterwards discussed at Pontefract, but there was one point of great importance which was not raised there. “If one oath be made and after one other oath to the contrary, and by the latter oath the party is sworn to repute and take the first oath void, whether it may be so by [spiritual] law or not⁵?”

This was a pressing question to most of the Pilgrims; nearly all, even the commons, had taken an oath of allegiance to the King, and although their new oath had been framed so that it should not directly contradict the former one, they could not hide from themselves that its meaning was very different. But this problem did not confront only the laymen. The English bishops had all taken an oath of canonical obedience to the Pope on their first installation, before the breach with Rome. The clergy had sworn to obey the bishops in all lawful and canonical mandates, and to oppose all heresies condemned by the Church. But in February 1535 the bishops had made a solemn renunciation of any sort of obedience to the Pope, and in June of the same year the oath of the clergy had been altered to include a similar renunciation. In these cases also some attempt had been made to avoid a direct contradiction of their first oaths. The form laid before the bishops was not an oath, but a renunciation. The clergy had not sworn to obey the Pope, but only to obey their diocesans, who in turn obeyed the Pope¹. The parallel of the Pilgrims’ case with that of the clergy was obvious, and might be so inconvenient that it is no wonder they did not choose to argue the point.

When he sent his list of questions, Aske referred them wholly to the Archbishop as metropolitan², and begged that the clergy should determine the points “whereupon we may danger battle.” Lee assured Cromwell that as soon as he read this he resolved to go to Pontefract, in order that he might explain to the misguided people that they had nothing to fight for, as the King had taken pains to have the faith clearly set forth in the Ten Articles, with the consent of the bishops and clergy³. It is impossible to avoid the suspicion that he really went because he found the Pilgrims were resolved to have either his written or his spoken word, and it was easier to explain away the latter than the former.

A letter was sent to all the northern clergy “that they should go a procession every day and send their minds, out of Holy Scripture and the four doctors of the Church, touching the commons’ petition.” Lee did not admit that he had anything to do with this letter, though it was issued in his name⁴.

The leading north-country divines were summoned in person; the less important clergy were requested to send their opinions in writing⁵. Grice brought one of these written opinions to Pontefract, probably from a priest who lived near Wakefield⁶. Hallam brought two others from Watton. The alleged letter from the Archbishop was brought to Watton by William Horskey, and the curate of Watton forwarded it to a bachelor of divinity named Wade, who lived near by. When he received it Wade said that there was not time before the meeting to deal with such a difficult subject. The other theologians of the neighbourhood were not so diffident. Thomas Asheton, a young monk of Watton Priory, wrote a paper on the supremacy “comparing Peter and his apostles.” Dr Swinburne, who lived thereabouts, also wrote out his opinion on the same subject¹.

As early as Tuesday 28 November the Pilgrims had begun to assemble at Pontefract, and Shrewsbury was alarmed by the report of their numbers. Sir Anthony Browne was sent by Norfolk to guard the bridges at Doncaster and Rotherham². On 30 November Darcy wrote from Templehurst to Shrewsbury and Hastings to assure them that the meeting at Pontefract had no other object than to draw up articles to lay before Norfolk, that the truce should be observed, and that no treachery was intended at Doncaster, but all earnestly hoped for peace³.

The leaders rode into Pontefract on Saturday, 2 December. Lord Darcy took up his abode at the Castle; Aske went to the Priory, and Lord Lumley to “Mr Henryson’s, the late mayor,” where he displayed the banner of the Five Wounds⁴. From all the districts concerned in the Pilgrimage the “worshipful men” had been summoned, as well as a certain number of yeomen and “well-horsed commoners.”⁵ These, with the gentlemen’s servants, formed a picked force, which Norfolk had some reason to regard with misgiving, especially as more came than were summoned, a proof that the Pilgrims’ zeal had not cooled. The towns were also represented. For York the lord mayor and his council had elected Sir George Lawson, the sheriff of the city, and six burgesses, with servants. They were given money for new coats, presumably of the city livery, ranging in price from 6s. 6d. for Lawson’s to 2s. 4d. for the servants’. Their expenses were paid by the city which also provided them with a tent and all other necessaries⁶. With them came Richard Bowyer, who was a burgess but not one of the chosen delegates⁷. The companies marched into Pontefract well harnessed and bringing with them the latest achievement of military engineering, a bridge “to shoot over any arm of the sea in this realm.” It was a device which had been constructed by “one Diamond of Wakefield, a poor man,”⁸ and must have been designed to make the Pilgrims independent of the guarded bridges of the Don.

Early on this morning the leaders at Pontefract wrote to Norfolk and Shrewsbury saying that as yet there were not above a hundred assembled there, that they intended no treachery, and were awaiting the safeconduct to treat with Norfolk. They expected the safe-conduct to arrive on Sunday, 3 December¹.

The Pilgrims’ council at Pontefract seems to have sat only from Saturday, 2...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Original Copyright Page
• Original Title Page
• Table of Contents
• Additions and Corrections
• I The Turning-Point
• II Plots and Tokens
• III Affinity and Confederacy
• IV Facts and Rumours
• V The Rising in Lincolnshire
• VI The Failure of Lincolnshire
• VII The Insurrection in the East Riding
• VIII The Pilgrims’ Advance
• IX The Extent of the Insurrection
• X The Musters at Pontefract
• XI The First Appointment at Doncaster
• XII The First Weeks of the Truce
• XIII The Council at York
• XIV The Council at Pontefract