Rebellions in England during Elizabeth's Reign and in the Period between 1485 and 1558

Explain why there were fewer rebellions in England during Elizabeth’s reign than in the years between 1485 and 1558

Elizabeth I only saw three rebellions during her reign and one of those barely classed as a rebellion (Oxford), this is surprising seeing as before her there was a high rise in rebellions this was when the Western, Ketts and Wyatt’s took place. There were many contributing factors as to why there were fewer rebellions during Elizabeth’s reign but the main underpinning cause would be the changing attitudes of the elite. Before Elizabeth’s reign the nobles led dynastic challenges and grievance rebellions which sometimes had the support by thousands of Englishmen of all different social classes. Rebellions led by the nobles were particularly more destructive due to how manipulative they could be in twisting the causes so that they get more support. It was the changing attitudes and roles of the nobility and the way they supported the government that decreased the rebellions. Other factors included there being a better welfare state and the country having religious stability that meant that rebellions became an event which one only used as a last resort for people with nothing to loose, an example of this was the Essex rebellion in 1601.
The removal of dynastic threats and the stability of the monarch was the key cause to the decrease in rebellions. Before hand there were numerous noble led dynastic threats, including Simnel in 1487 which was only a year after Henry VII had managed to secure the crown after the battle of Bosworth, and it contained much yorkist support a group which it can be argued that Henry should have dealt with sooner like Elizabeth did in destroying any potential threats as soon as she could. Simnel was passed off as Earl of Warwick who was rumoured to have died, he managed to get the support of 2000 mercenaries sent by Margaret of Burgundy and the rising became a real challenge and although Henry was eventually successful it did not stay that way for long as the challenge of Perkin Warbeck came soon after. Like Simnel it was a rebellion involving Warbeck being passed off as someone with a more legitimate claim to the throne than Henry but in this case it was Richard Duke of York. Warbeck finally gave himself up and was later put on trial and executed. However these two rebellions show the dynastic threats Henry faced and how ineffectively he dealt with holding on to the crown. Henry knew a lot of the nobility had strongly supported Richard at Bosworth but instead of cutting them off he gave them a chance to prove their loyalty, however he was smart in the way that he used loss of land as a big bribe to keep them on side. None the less Henry still faced rebellions yet some say that these risings were inevitable and the measures he took were successful as the risings never became a serious threat. Henry VIII also had to deal with dynastic threats from the start of his reign, the first being the Arogonese faction which was closely followed by the Pilgrimage of Grace which included dynastic threats in the way that as the rebels felt the court was mainly dominated by the Boleyn faction and they wanted to get rid of men such as Cromwell, Cranmer and Richie. However after putting this down at the Cumberland rising Henry managed to securely keep his throne which little threat after that. The main dynastic threat under Edward was at the very end of his reign and it was Northumberland’s conspiracy to the Lady Jane Grey plot which was more about who would succeed Edward rather than replacing him in 1554. This can be argued to be the biggest dynastic rebellion of the Tudor period as Northumberland actually managed to crown Lady Jane Grey as queen however this only lasted for nine days before Mary violently fought back and took the crown for herself. Mary herself suffered no major dynastic threats after this which may be due to how violently she approached the Lady Jane Grey rebellion and the clear statement she made that no one should question her. There were no more dynastic threats under the Tudors apart from Mary Queen of Scots but this was disregarded quickly as Elizabeth had majority support and was more popular therefore nothing came of it.
Religious stability is something that was very up and down during the Tudor period, it suffered regular religious upheaval. Religious factors were the main triggers for many rebellions the first being the Pilgrimage of Grace which just from the name is clear that religion is involved. It also showed the religious aspects through holding the banner of 5 wounds and the involvement of monks and clergy. Also of the 24 demands nine were completely religious. The next came under Edward and was the western rebellion of which the starting trigger was the murder of William Body who was in Cornwall to supervise the destruction of images. The demands themselves were drawn up by the clergy and therefore many of them were religious such as wanting the restoration of old religious practises hence the two calls for the restoration of the six articles. Mary also suffered religious instability and this was shown in the Wyatt’s rebellion which although seemed to be about foreign invasion does have evidence at having some religious backing due to the fact that 8 of the 14 leaders had sympathies with Protestantism. Also the main areas which rebelled such as Kent was a very religiously radical area. Elizabeth managed to stabilise religion at the start of her reign with the Elizabethan settlement in 1569 which was more moderate and the fact that she left her religious direction obscure let people accept it. She did not make herself head of church which made it easier for Catholics to accept her title. However the Northern Earls can be said to have a slight religious stance although it was mostly political due to the fact that the rebels seized Durham cathedral and destroyed English bibles and re instated mass being in Latin. This is supported by the fact that over the country the protestant service book was destroyed in 70 churches. However it is argued that it was resentment towards the growing power of the state that was the main cause to the Northern Earls.
The attitude of the nobles played a key part in the changing rate of rebellions as at the start especially in Henry VII reign all the rebellions involved nobles and it showed how quick they were to express their grievances. Also some historians say the main reason he didn’t come under any serious dynastic threat was because there was a lack of males with royal blood however he was always concerned about the security of his throne. Nobles under Henry VIII were quick to show their unhappiness about political faction in the Pilgrimage of Grace in which the Aragonese faction were outraged at the takeover of the Boleyn faction and so they were quick to join a rebellion and successfully gathered support. 1549 was a year were the nobles caused a particular stir in the Ketts and Western rebellions where nobles pulling the strings behind both of them and it can be said that they successfully managed to cause a disturbance and have their voice heard. After Elizabeth’s succession nobles involvement in rebellions declined rapidly and the only one which contained nobles was the Northern Earls which they only participated in due to the fact that it was their last desperate at to retain some of their wealth and status. Nobles displeasure is said to have decreased due to Elizabeth increasing the roles of lieutenants and having the highest ever rate of central courts being used to solve land disputes, also the nobles were given more of a voice especially in parliament. The Tudor dynasty had been on-going for so long that a serious loyalty had been built up and Elizabeth seemed to realise that in order to keep the nobles happy she needed to act as more of a peace maker and allowed families which had always remained loyal to the Tudors to build up big fortunes and therefore they had more to loose and so were les likely to rebel.
Government action also played a big part in the instability of the nobility as the welfare system was extremely manic with inflation continuously being a problem; also the government caused a lot of their own problems when starting the dissolution of the monasteries. People did not like these acts and it was the background setting for a lot of rebellions such as the Pilgrimage of Grace which is when the first few monasteries started to be destroyed. Also the Kett’s rebellion had the welfare state as a main cause as people could no longer afford rent and so were losing their homes. Whereas Elizabeth introduced a far better welfare system including providing for the poor with poor laws being introduced in 1572, 1576 and 1597. She also helped labourers with the 1563 statute of labourers. Through keeping the poorer people happy which was the majority of country meant that any nobles who may have tied to round up support for a rebellion would have found it hard as people had more to loose. However the nobles played their part and the new government efforts meant that people had alternative options rather than just turning to rebelling as a first option.
Overall it is clear to see that the key underpinning cause to why Elizabeth faced fewer rebellions was due to the changing attitudes of the nobility and the roles of the ruling class which was changed through Elizabeth’s distribution on more prestigious titles. Also through Elizabeth creating religious stability she reduced the chances of dynastic threats and religion always tended to be the main cause behind rebellions so with that factor gone people were more inclined to comply with the government.it took away any motivation the nobles may have had for rebelling. Also the overall improvement of the welfare state and labourer laws brought in helped significantly as this helped to appease the peasants which meant that any rebellions the nobles did try to spark were scarcely supported due to the peasants not wanting too= loose what they had, this is evident in the Essex and Oxford rebellions.