How far were economic factors to blame for the Pilgrimage of Grace? Ess

Sparked in Lincolnshire in October 1536 and expanding rapidly through Yorkshire and the far north, the Pilgrimage of Grace was a popular rising that presented a â€Å"major armed challenge to the Henrician Reformation† . Historians have argued endlessly about the true causes of the Pilgrimage. But, it is fair to say that the rising incorporated a mixture of political, religious, social and economic issues. Therefore, economic factors were only partly to blame for the Pilgrimage of Grace. Firstly, politics was partly to blame for the Pilgrimage of Grace. By early 1527 King Henry VIII sought a divorce from Catherine of Aragon. Though, it is hard to pinpoint exactly why, the most plausible explanation is his belief that â€Å"his marriage was barren because of its illegality† . This is because Henry argued that it was blasphemous of him to marry his brother’s widow. Understandably, any hopes of the divorce being granted were dashed because Henry was a Roman Catholic and the head of this church was the Pope based in Rome. More importantly, the Roman Catholic faith believed marriage was permanent; therefore, only widowers could remarry. Accordingly, a change in strategy intended to â€Å"separate the English church from the larger Catholic Church† in order to get the divorce without any right of appeal to the Pope. In effect, the foundations began with the Pardon of the Clergy in January 1531, carried on with the Submission of the Clergy in May 1532, and accomplished with the declaration of the royal supremacy in 1534. However, by far the most important was the Act in Restraint of Appeals ratified in April 1533, which allowed the divorce to be granted by the Archbishop of Cranmer. As a result, anger ar... ...tting the downfall of the Cromwellian regime. As a result, it is fair to say that once the rebellion began, Robert Aske and Lord Darcy, â€Å"for their own reasons: self-advancement, principle, fear-dabbled in treason† . But, Elton’s argument is useful in the sense that it gives a helpful view on popular attitudes during this period. Works Cited C. S. L. Davies, ‘Popular Religion and the Pilgrimage of Grace’ in Order and Disorder in Early Modern England, eds. Anthony Fletcher and John Stevenson Ethan H. Shagan, Popular Politics and the English Reformation Michael Bush, ‘Up for the Commonwealth’: the significance of tax grievances in the English rebellions of 1536, English Historical Review Barrett L. Beer, Rebellion and Riot: Popular Disorder in England during the reign of Edward VI R. W. Hoyle, The Pilgrimage of Grace and the Politics of the 1530s