Question 1
Evaluate the interpretations in both of the two passages and explain which you think is more
convincing as an explanation of the reasons for the Western Rebellion.
Passage A
The first manifesto was a lay protest against changes in religious practices and rituals that touched deep emotions in a small inland market town. Yet already, at this stage of the rebellion, there is good reason to think that more than just religion was involved. In his letter of 26 June Somerset responded to a request from the Devon magistrates for a delay in the execution of a new statute imposing new taxes on goods, including a poll tax on sheep and a sale of woollen cloth. These taxes had both a fiscal and social purpose: Somerset needed money for his intended war against the Scots and he wanted to discourage the enclosure which went with large-scale sheep farming. Devon, long an enclosed county, was likely to be hit particularly hard because the rate of the tax on sheep kept on enclosed pasture had been set higher than those kept on commons. Most Devon farmers kept some sheep. Rumour mongering of the kind that affected Lincolnshire in 1536 also seems to have played its part in Devon in 1549.
Adapted from A. Fletcher and D. MacCulloch, Tudor Rebellions, published in 2008.
Passage B
The rebels’ demands were drawn up by the clergy. Therefore, it is hardly surprising that they illustrate a strong sense of religious conservatism. They complained about the religious changes that they thought were taking place in baptism and confirmation. The rebels also wanted the restoration of many of the old religious practices, which would undermine all the work of the Edwardian reformation. There was a strong desire for much of the ceremony and ritual of Catholicism. They also wanted the return of many old traditions. Most clearly of all the demands was an attack on Protestantism.
Despite the economic and social grievances of the time it is surprising that the demands do not reflect these concerns. Although there is evidence that the rebels condemned the new sheep tax, which if applied would hit them hard, it does not appear in their final list of grievances. However, the action of the rebels does suggest that social tensions were an important factor in the rising. Throughout the rebellion the behaviour of the rebels appears to make it clear that the gentry were their enemies. The Cornish rebels had started by attacking and robbing the gentry. Meanwhile, in Devon the rebels killed the only member of the gentry class who was brave enough to resist them. Contemporary commentators agreed that social issues played an important role in the rising.
Adapted from N. Fellows, Disorder and Rebellion in Tudor England, 2001.
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Answer
