When Ellerker and Bowes first arrived Chapuys heard that their articles were:
(1) that their petition might be authorised by Parliament,
(2) that Parliaments might be held in the ancient way, and that all pensioners and government servants might be excluded,
(3) that the Princess’ (Mary’s) affairs might be dealt with by Parliament,
(4) that the King might not take money from his people except in time of war.
These articles were said to be signed by all the gentlemen. In the third particular Chapuys was mistaken, but (1), (2), and (4) were all points on which the rebels insisted, and later in the letter he mentioned that he had been mistaken about (3); the rebels had not ventured to name Mary, for fear the King did her harm.
Chapuys believed that the King would not give way, as he boasted that the Duke of Orleans (Angoulême) was willing to marry Mary although she was not legitimate, and that the King of France would help him with four or five thousand men. Later Chapuys found that his conjecture was correct. The King would not change anything that had been determined by Parliament, and told the rebels that they had no right to meddle with his Privy Council. Nevertheless the news of the fresh rising might force him to alter his decision, and Norfolk was using his influence on the Pilgrims’ side. Finally Bowes and Ellerker were sent back with no better answer. “The King said he would rather lose his crown than be so limited by his vassals.” Five or six ships were being prepared, and Henry boasted that he would go against the rebels in person, but first he had despatched Norfolk and Fitzwilliam to corrupt them by secret means if possible. Chapuys, however, thought that it was more likely that the King’s emissaries would go over to the rebels themselves.
Chapuys heard that Lord Hussey had sent a message to the King that the rebels were ready to fight, for they were a third more numerous than the King’s troops, with provisions and money, and they expected the Emperor to help them. “Hussey” is probably a mistake for “Darcy”; Chapuys had great difficulty with English names, and his account of the message seems to be derived from Darcy’s interview with Somerset Herald.
In a very interesting passage, Chapuys says that “among fifteen or twenty articles which the northern ambassadors have proposed” there were two which he thought unreasonable,—(1) that the King should give an account of his expenditure, showing what had become of his father’s treasure and of all the money he had obtained from the Church and by taxation, and (2) that in cases of treason the criminal’s property should not be confiscated, but should be restored to his heir, and that the lands of Buckingham and others who had been executed should be thus restored. Chapuys feared that if the King yielded on the main points, the rebels might lose all by insisting on these or similar minor details[1579]. The interesting point is that no detailed list of demands had yet been drawn up by the rebels. They had only sent in the five general articles, and did not think of going into particulars until the King replied that their demands were “general, dark and obscure.” The resolution to draw up a detailed list of grievances was taken at York on 21 November, and the list was not compiled until the council met at Pontefract. Moreover, the complete articles do not contain either of the two demands which Chapuys mentions.
Where then did the ambassador hear of the fifteen or twenty articles of which these were two? The reference to the Duke of Buckingham suggests that his informant was one of the Poles. The northern Pilgrims had no particular interest in Buckingham, and the clause is not likely to have been inserted in a northern petition, but if, as is possible, the Poles were the secret friends who communicated with Aske, they may have drawn up a list of their own complaints, shown it to Chapuys, and then sent it north. There is one letter which may possibly be connected with this. John Heliar, the vicar of East Meon in Hampshire, and rector of Warblington, had fled to France some time before. Warblington was the home of the Poles, and Heliar was their friend and dependent; Sir Geoffrey Pole was accused of having aided his escape[1580]. On 21 December 1536, after the second conference at Doncaster, Richard Langgrische, a priest, wrote from Havant, a town near Warblington, to Mr Heliar beyond the seas: “I have been so far north since your being beyond sea that I lacked messengers, but now having your servant ready to bear my letters, I could no longer use unkind silence. I trust to settle in my own country among my friends within a few years. Not that I like the north so ill, but mine own country so well. Everyone desires your prosperous return.”[1581] There is not much in this, only the fact that a priest who lived in the same neighbourhood as the Poles, and knew a self-exiled friend of theirs, had been in the north at the time of the Pilgrimage, and was in hopes that better times were at hand. Still the circumstances suggest that he may have been the messenger to the rebels. This, however, is only a conjecture. Chapuys derived his information partly from Mary, partly from a gentleman in the royal army, and partly from someone at court who had good, but not first-hand, information. For instance the informant cannot have had direct communication with Bowes and Ellerker, or he would have known that their articles were not signed, and that Mary was not mentioned; on the other hand, he reported the general tone of the articles rightly, and corrected the mistake about Mary. The identity of this informant, however, cannot be discovered.
The Pilgrims were firmly convinced that they had the sympathy of Europe, and in particular of the Emperor, who was very popular in England. In order to trace the impression which the news of the rising made abroad, it may be as well to recapitulate the various letters to and from the ambassadors.
Henry was nominally the ally of Francis I, but relations between them were strained at this time, as James V of Scotland had arrived in France on 27 August 1536[1582] with the avowed intention of marrying a French princess, although Henry was bitterly opposed to such a marriage. In his letter of 11 October Henry instructed Gardiner and Wallop to make themselves fully acquainted with the nature and qualities of the young King[1583].
On 23 October the Bishop of Faenza, the papal nuncio in France, wrote to Rome that the rising in England against the suppression of abbeys was so serious that the King would probably be forced to yield. The passages from England had been closed, and it was difficult to get news, but this showed how grave the situation must be. James V was winning favourable opinions everywhere, and was to marry Francis’ daughter Madeleine. Cardinal du Bellay suggested that by means of this marriage Francis might be influenced to act against Henry, who was very unpopular among the French nobles[1584]. Du Bellay had a correspondent in London who on 24 October sent news that the Lincolnshire rebels had dispersed, but that there was a much more serious rising in Yorkshire[1585]. After this no further news reached France for some time. The Bishop of Faenza believed that Henry was purposely preventing communications for fear the King of Scotland should learn the extent of the insurrection[1586]. On 3 November there was a rumour that Henry himself was besieged in a castle[1587]. The Pope wrote to Francis I on 7 November to congratulate him on the Scots marriage and to exhort him not to help Henry against the rebels[1588]. It was known in France on 19 November that Henry was negotiating with the rebels, and James V sent civil messages to the Pope, promising to serve him if possible[1589].
The betrothal of Madeleine de Valois to James V took place on 26 November[1590]. The papal nuncio was delighted. He reported that Francis and James were both ready and even anxious to act against Henry. Francis, however, said that the disturbances in England were now at an end; nevertheless he would let Faenza know when the time came to move[1591]. James was very affable to the nuncio, but treated the English ambassadors with marked coldness. Du Bellay was in hopes that the time had almost arrived to strike at Henry. The movement in England had been premature and without a leader, but though it was now pacified, the malcontents would rise again at the summons of the King of Scotland[1592]. On 28 November Faenza sent to the Pope further professions of James’ goodwill, and his readiness to act against his uncle[1593], and on 29 November he reported that James was entering into negotiations for a treaty with Denmark which would be very prejudicial to Henry[1594].
From all this it appears that Francis was ready to turn against Henry if he dared, but he was afraid of precipitating an alliance between England and the Emperor. Faenza suggested that to prevent this the Pope might excommunicate Henry, and make it impossible for anyone to become his ally openly[1595]. The party in the French court which was hostile to Henry and the papal nuncio himself built great hopes on James. They did not realise that there was no other prince in Christendom whose interference in English affairs would not have been preferred by the most ardent Pilgrim to that of James V. Of all Henry’s reproaches to the rebels the one which had most effect was that they were exposing their country to the danger of a Scots invasion[1596], and reports were spread by the royalists that the Scots were mustering on the borders[1597]. The Pilgrims professed themselves willing to help the King against the Scots at any time[1598], and an attempt on James’ part would have strengthened Henry by rallying the whole kingdom to his side against their ancient enemies.
The Imperial ambassador in England watched the progress of events with no less interest than the French. His reports have already been quoted, and need only be mentioned briefly. In his despatch on 7 October Chapuys alluded to the Lincolnshire rising, which he believed to be more threatening than the King would admit[1599]. His despatch was sent to the Emperor at Genoa[1600]. Next day he wrote to the Count of Cifuentes, the Imperial ambassador at Rome, chiefly about Mary’s affairs; at the end of his letter he alluded to the rising, but thought it might turn out to be nothing after all[1601]. On 14 October he reported to the Empress that there was certainly a rebellion, and from the King’s preparations it seemed to be a great one, but he still had no certain information[1602]. The next day, apparently, he had obtained information, and sent his nephew with an elaborate account of the whole affair to the Regent of the Netherlands, advising her to help the rebels[1603]. By this time negotiations for peace had been opened between Charles and Francis, but the project proceeded slowly, though the Pope was very anxious to reconcile them, in order that they might unite against Henry[1604].
The Regent of the Netherlands sent to Calais for news on 24 October, and professed her willingness to help Henry against the rebels[1605]. Lord Lisle, as in duty bound, replied before 28 October that the disturbances were ended[1606], and on 6 November received congratulations from the Netherlands on the restoration of peace in England[1607]. These professions of friendship did not receive much credit in England. John Hutton, the English agent at Brussels, wrote to Cromwell on 9 December that “there is large talking of the rebellions in England.”[1608] Cromwell ordered him to buy “500 pair of Almain rivets,” but the Regent’s Council refused to license the export of harness, giving the excuse that the Emperor needed all that could be procured. Cromwell was afraid that the rebels were procuring arms from the Low Countries, but Hutton assured him that they could not obtain much, as the Regent was favourable to Henry, and the customs officers were so strict that it would be difficult to smuggle weapons. Three ships had sailed from Zeeland for Newcastle-upon-Tyne in November which might have carried arms, but there was only one Newcastle vessel at Antwerp on 13 December, with some men from Newcastle and York, and one from Hull. Hutton promised to take care that she carried nothing for the rebels[1609]. There is no evidence to prove that the Pilgrims obtained any armour from the Netherlands, but when William Morland entered Sir Robert Constable’s service at Hull his master gave him a pair of Almain rivets, which he wore when he carried Sir Robert’s banner[1610].
On 22 November Chapuys despatched from England the full account of the Pilgrimage which has been described above[1611], and on 24 November it was noted on one of the Emperor’s despatches that the rebels in England had dispersed only after obtaining terms which were disgraceful to the King[1612]. Charles V, however, refused to move at all in the matter, either for or against the Pilgrims[1613].
The persons to whom the rising was of the greatest importance were the Pope and Reginald Pole. At the beginning of October Paul III summoned Pole to Rome, and, in spite of Henry’s positive prohibition, Pole obeyed. He was at Sienna on his way there on 10 October[1614]. On his arrival he was lodged at the Vatican, and was treated most kindly by the Pope[1615]. It is exceedingly difficult to calculate how long it took for news to travel from England to Rome, but it seems probable that when Pole arrived some account of the Lincolnshire insurrection had been received there, as the Bishop of Faenza wrote on 1 November to Ambrogio, the Pope’s secretary, alluding to the rising as something of which they both had knowledge[1616], and on 6 November Dr Pedro Ortiz reported to the Empress that a letter had come from the Regent of the Netherlands with news that the rebels numbered 30,000 to 40,000 men[1617]. This was probably taken from Eustace Chapuys’ letter of 15 October[1618].
When he heard this news, Reginald Pole cannot have failed to see that a great opportunity lay before him. The question was how to use it for the good of the Church. In circumstances not apparently so favourable Henry of Richmond had invaded England, defeated the King, married the rightful heiress, and established his dynasty upon the throne. If Pole had been a man of that type, he would have procured letters of censure upon Henry from the Pope, together with all the money he could raise, and would have embarked for England at once. But Pole’s was no ignoble personal ambition, and, although he was not yet ordained, all his hopes and interests were bound up in the Church of Rome. Though he abstained from taking the vows of celibacy for many years, and was thus free to wed Mary if necessary, he never seems to have looked upon the hypothetical marriage as anything but a disagreeable duty which he might be called upon to perform for the good of the Church. As far as he himself was concerned he desired no part in the government of England.
Pole was no adventurer, but he was also no crusader. His heart did not leap up at the call to arms. He did not say to himself, “My countrymen are prepared to fight and die for the True Faith. I must be by their side.” His idea of his own mission was that of a highly honoured ecclesiastic, returning, fully accredited, amidst the most respectful enthusiasm, to his native land to reconcile to a gracious Pope a deeply penitent monarch and a humbly joyful nation. His dream at last came true, but the Lincolnshire rising gave no immediate prospect of its fulfilment. In deciding whether or no to join the rebels, Pole was really forced to choose between his opinions and his prejudices. He had himself stated in his book that he believed subjects were sometimes justified in rebelling against their sovereign, and that Englishmen would in fact be justified in rebelling against Henry. But that was a strange and terrible opinion, which he had expressed more to frighten Henry than for any other reason. The book was kept a dead secret, and only his most intimate friends knew its contents. It was all very well to write such things in a book, but if it came to putting his theories into practice, he would be obliged to steal back to England secretly, in constant fear of arrest, to go marching about in the mud with a mob of undisciplined commons, to hold councils with their boorish leaders in unknown provincial towns; and in doing all this he would be acting openly and avowedly against Henry, the theologian, the musician, his own cousin and early patron. The idea was revolting to Pole, who was an aristocrat to his finger-tips. Accordingly he simply remained in Rome, awaiting developments.
When Paul III first heard of the rebellion he was anxious to take advantage of it. On 7 November he wrote to exhort Francis I to unite with other Christian kings against Henry[1619], and about the same time the suggestion was made that Pole should be created a cardinal. The news of this proposal reached England on 18 November, and was received by Henry with the utmost indignation. Starkey wrote to Pole in the King’s name and in the most positive terms forbade him to accept such promotion[1620]. But Pole seems to have refused before the prohibition could have reached him. Perhaps the above suggestions as to his feelings are not wholly just, and his real reason for declining to stir may have done his heart more credit. His mother and brothers were in Henry’s power, and he knew that any movement on his part might endanger their lives. Accordingly he declined the honour which the Pope proposed to bestow upon him expressly on account of his family[1621]. Pole did not realise that he had already endangered their lives to such an extent that only the most vigorous action could save them. Henry would never forgive “De Unitate Ecclesiastica” and Pole’s journey to Rome. Henceforward the King would bide his time, but in the end he would strike. The unfortunate Poles did not perceive this. They still thought that they had not gone too far for pardon, and thus, fearing to injure them, Reginald Pole lost the last chance of saving the lives of his nearest relatives.
On 21 November it was reported in Rome that the insurrection in England was nearly pacified, and that Henry had marched against the rebels in person[1622]. This referred, however, only to the Lincolnshire rising. Chapuys knew as early as 14 November that the Pope was thinking of sending Reginald Pole to England, and the ambassador encouraged the idea warmly[1623].
On 24 November Cifuentes, the Imperial ambassador at Rome, told the Pope that according to despatches from England, part of the rebels had been crushed, and the rest were dispersing for want of a leader[1624]. The Pope replied that he had had a letter from France, dated 3 November[1625], from which it appeared that the rebels were holding their own, and that they had a leader whose name ended in “folc” (Norfolk). The Pope also said that he had sent the rebels money by means of a secret go-between in Picardy. There is no further record of this money. Perhaps the secret Picard stole it. At this time there was a rumour that the bull of privation against Henry VIII had been printed. It was not published in Rome, but it was suspected that the Pope intended to send it secretly to England[1626].
On 26 November Faenza wrote that the insurrection in England was appeased, and that Pole could not go there now without manifest danger, but he ought to be in readiness, for it would be well to send him as soon as fresh disturbances arose, the people held him in so much esteem. Faenza proposed that Pole’s writings should be disseminated in England to encourage people in the true faith[1627]. The letter was sent from Paris, and cannot have reached Rome until at least a week after the date of writing. In the meanwhile, on 29 November a letter arrived at Rome from England which was dated 10 November. It does not appear who wrote it, but it contained the news that there were seventy or eighty thousand of the rebels, that the King’s troops were disaffected, and that the leaders on both sides had determined to treat. Three honoured persons were sent from the rebels to the King, hostages being given for them, and they laid before him their demands:
(1) that the Pope should be acknowledged supreme head of the Church;
(2) that Queen Katharine’s marriage should be declared valid and Mary proclaimed the legitimate heir to the throne;
(3) that the abbeys should not be suppressed;
(4) that recent statutes should be repealed;
(5) that Parliaments should be held as of old, without pensioners or placemen.
It was believed that the King would be compelled to grant these demands, although he was very reluctant to do so[1628]. Naturally this news caused the greatest rejoicing in Rome. Next day arrived letters dated 12 November from the Regent of the Netherlands, in which it was reported that Henry had quelled the first rebellion by sending the Duke of Norfolk to the rebels with a promise of a general pardon, but that when the insurgents had dispersed, the King seized and executed fifty of the ringleaders. This caused a much greater insurrection all over the island, and the Duke of Norfolk, indignant at the King’s breach of faith, had joined the rebels, who had seized several towns and forced the King to fly to London[1629]. It is interesting to see how distorted the facts at the base of this spirited narrative have become as they passed from mouth to mouth.
A more sober version of events came from France in a letter announcing the betrothal of James V and Madeleine de Valois. In this it was said that the rebels in England were negotiating with Henry, and that the rising was practically at an end[1630]. There was a story afloat on 16 December that the King of England had consented to James’ marriage while the rebels were in arms, but that as soon as they dispersed he had written to forbid it, though his letter did not arrive until after the betrothal had taken place[1631]. As a matter of fact Henry’s consent had never been asked, and the rebels had not interested themselves in the subject. The satisfactory tidings from England and France encouraged the Pope to make an effort himself. Pole’s hesitation was overcome, and on 22 December, 1536, he was made a cardinal[1632].
It is clear from these despatches that foreign courts were bewildered between the English ambassadors’ assurances that the rebellion was of no importance, on the one hand, and, on the other, the exaggerated successes attributed to the Pilgrims in the letters which from time to time eluded Henry’s vigilance.
It is plain that neither Francis nor Charles had any real intention of moving in the matter, Francis because he was still half-tempted by the marriage between Mary and Orleans, and because in any case he would only act through Scotland, Charles because he was afraid of precipitating Mary’s French marriage, and because he was exhausted by his disastrous Italian campaign.
The Pope was half inclined to take action, and any encouragement from him might really have had a good effect on the rebels, but there was no one to advise him as to the measures which he ought to take. Pole, having twice defied Henry, did no more, and the precious time was allowed to slip away. If Pole had accepted the Pope’s first offer of the cardinalate he might have been in England by the time the news of the offer reached the King on 18 November, for it was easy then to travel as fast as a letter. Pole might have filled the pulpit at Pontefract in which Archbishop Lee proved so ignominious a failure. His presence could not, of course, have prevented the Reformation, but might have altered its whole progress in England, whether for better or for worse. But these are mere fancies. He did not come.