This is the first full account of the Pilgrimage of Grace since 1915. In the autumn and winter of 1536, Henry VIII faced risings first in Lincolnshire, then throughout northern England. These rebellions posed the greatest threat of any encountered by a Tudor monarch. The Pilgrimage of Grace has traditionally been assumed to have been a spontaneous protest against the Dissolution of the Monasteries, but R. W. Hoyle's lively and intriguing study reveals the full story. Professor Hoyle examines the origins of the rebellions in Louth and their spread; he offers new interpretations of the behaviour of many of the leading rebels, including Robert Aske and Thomas, Lord Darcy; and he reveals how the engine behind the uprising was the commons, and notably the artisans, of some of the smaller northern towns. Casting new light on the personality of Henry VIII himself, Professor Hoyle shows how the gentry of the North worked to dismantle the movement and help the crown neutralize it by guile as events unfolded towards their often tragic conclusions.

Revisionist history - the true account of...
Reviews
... this is a substantial work of scholarship which will be valued, not least for Hoyle's admirable determination, throughout, to go behind the calendar entries, correcting and expanding wherever necessary. * Northern History *
A number of small gems and sharp insights pervade the text ... Hoyle has an impressive command of the sources and of northern society ... a treat among academic monographs. This study has been long anticipated by historians of early modern protest, Henrician politics, and the early reformation, and it handsomely repays the wait. * Canadian Journal of History *
Richard Hoyle's thorough, detailed and comprehensive study ... will be required reading for generations of historians of Henrician politics. * Andy Wood, Times Literary Supplement *
Richard Hoyle's book is the first comprehensive treatment of the Pilgrimage of Grace to be published since the Dodds sisters produced their justly famous two-volume work in 1915. Historical debate has not stood still in the intervening years and the nature and causes of the revolts of 1536-37 have been hotly debated. Professor Hoyle thus faces the daunting task of combining a readable narrative of the rebellions with a judicious analysis able to take all these arguments into account. It is a task in which he succeeds to very good effect ... an impressive and thought-provoking book. Richard Hoyle has given us a book on the Pilgrimage which has been worth the wait since 1915. * Annual Journal of Society for Lincolnshire History and Archaeology *
Fascinating and impeccably researched study of the risings that nearly changed English history. * Diarmaid MacCulloch,The Guardian Saturday Review *
This will not so much answer the questions as draw you into the rich and complex world of early Tudor politics and the destruction of the medieval church. * New Directions *
Most interesting is the manner in which he destroys that favourite explanation, 'The north is different'. * New Directions *
Neither patronises its readers nor reduces its subject to the level of glamourised simplification, and all professional Tudor historians who believe the subtleties of their subject can be explored outside universities should be grateful to Richard Hoyle for his contribution. * BBC History Magazine *
A meticulous evaluation ... going behind the printed Calendar to that mine of information which is the State papers themselves, and an unrivalled knowledge of the grass-roots politics of Northern England. There will never be a definitive history of the Pilgirmage of Grace, but this is as close to it as we may hope to get. * Patrick Collinson, London Review of Books *


Awards
Winner of Shortlisted for the 2001 Longman/History Today Prize.



Book Information
ISBN 9780198208747
Author R. W. Hoyle
Format Hardback
Page Count 504
Imprint Oxford University Press
Publisher Oxford University Press
Weight(grams) 1g
Dimensions(mm) 243mm * 162mm * 32mm