How Effectively Did Tudor Governments Deal with Rebellion in England and Ireland?

Prior to the Western rising, also known as the Prayer Book rebellion, England had experienced uprisings. The Amicable Grant uprising in 1525 and the Pilgrimage of Grace in 1536 are just two examples of monumental uprisings that occurred. In 1549, large swathes of the country (23 counties) were shaken by rebellions. The huge geographical extent of the rebellions made them the most serious, widespread movements of disorder since the Peasants Revolt of 1381. One of the rebellions that posed as a particular threat was the Western rebellion in Devon and Cornwall. Some historians argue that the Western Rising was not a significant threat to royal

The Extent to Which Tudor Rebellions Have Similar Causes Tudor rebellions were caused by one or more of the following factors: dynastic, political, religious, and social and economic. There was an element of both similarity and continuity in the period as most of the rebellions were politically motivated starting with Warbeck’s rebellion in 1491 until the end of the period with Essex’s rebellion in 1601. This displays clear political motives across the period. During the reign of Henry VII, many of the rebellions were dynastically motivated with a series of challenges from pretenders to the throne, Simnel and Warbeck and rebellions due to heavy taxation; Yorkshire and Cornish anti tax riots.

During the years of 1547-1553 England experienced a handful of serious rebellions during the six-year reign of

Somerset lacked charm and made enemies easily. His arrogance and pride created resentment. He was a weak administrator who refused to listen to the experts. The crisis came for Somerset, in 1559 when he failed to deal decisively with rebellions in the west and in Norfolk (which had been partly caused by his own policies). As Dale Hoak points out "his colleagues decided to get rid of him at this point not because he supported the poor but because he was incompetent".

During the reign of Edward VI, Northumberland and Somerset attempted to rule England. They dealt with several issues, including foreign policy, finance, social and economic affairs, working as political operators and dealing with with rebellions. Northumberland proved to be successful in many of these aspects, particularly in social and economic affairs as well as finance. This is because he was able to effectively correct the faults Somerset had made such as introducing certain taxes and causing debt as well as debasement. This essay will talk about the extent of how successful Northumberland was in comparison to Somerset when it came to ruling England.

I believe the colonists were justified in rebelling against the British, because of the abusive king and British parliament, the taxes without representation, the laws without consent of colonists (such as the Quartering Act), and deaths of the colonists in brutal events, such as the Boston Massacre. All these events combined caused outrage throughout the colonies (such as the Boston Tea Party, and tarring and feathering of British officials), and sparked a rebellion that would change the history of the colonies forever.

Pollard)"crushing foreign policy failures" (Matusiak, 2005, p.32) striking in congruence with popular rebellions, occurring at a greater rate than had occurred in the whole rest of the Tudor era. Some of the most devastating (The Western Rebellion 1549, Ket's rebellion 1549 and Wyatt's Rebellion 1554) having been struck in Southern England; the centripetal seat of Tudor power. The impact of these incursions on the politico-administrative continuity of Tudor dominance was magnified by their concurrence with foreign war, escalating into the vacuum of localized administration exacerbated not only by ubiquitous famine and religious turmoil but also by the absence of a sufficiently strong magnate presence in several key counties. Despite this deficiency in localized administrative rule these factional conflicts, far from being the catalysts of a political crisis were indicative of the extent of dominance and stability of central authority; the effective suppression of civil rebellion illustrates that monarchical supremacy was sufficiently internally fortified against the "many-headed monster" (Matusiak, 2005, p. 35) of social insurrection directed at subverting

The influence of political factors and change cannot be ignored when weighing up the most significant cause of rebellion throughout the Tudor period. Both in England and Ireland, political unrest was common among all of the Tudor Monarchs meaning it was a consistent factor in all rebellions across the era. The main problems came from self-serving greed, with plans to overthrow the Monarchs in order to position someone who would be in their favour or get rid of corrupt advisors in order to attain more political influence.

On April 19, 1775, the citizens of the british colonies of america started a revolution against Great Britain by signing the Declaration of Independence. The decision to do so was supported by what the american people felt was a severe lack of freedom from the British government. the beginning of the American Revolution, the british colonies in America were very harsh on their citizens in terms of freedom. Citizens of these colonies were not allowed to verbally disparage the government and were forced to share religious beliefs with the Church of England. In rebellion, the american people took a stand against Great Britain, and declared themselves as the United States of America.

When a revolt occurred in American History, there were countless reasons that triggered the public eye to perform acts of violence or open confrontations to the government or a famous ruler. To be more specific, the Bacon’s Rebellion was one of the most famous uprisings in the 1670s and the outcome was being defeated. Nathaniel Bacon, who was a Virginia settler, instigated the issue and wanted to start a rivalry towards the Native Americans. William Berkeley, who was the Governor of the Virginia Colony, was very easy-going about the situation and wanted no tension towards the Native Americans. Bacon believed that the Native Americans was invading Jamestown’s territory area, and he wanted Berkeley to take action by advancing better security. Since nothing was being done on Berkeley’s side of the bargain, Bacon took it upon himself and initiated his opinions to the community. Bacon informed other settlers, servants and slaves to oppose against the Native Americans. Even though this rebellion was about fighting over property, it sparked a lot of additional motives within a one-year period. The revolt had countless cause/effects, and diverse civil rules and beliefs between Berkeley and Bacon. In the 1600’s, events like culture clashing and land rights played a huge role of the riot and molded the background to the Bacon’s Rebellion. Also, the importance of the rebellion encouraged affective outcomes like the Declaration of the People and it becomes one of the first rebellions in the American Colonies.

In England, from about 1400 to 1700 there was a constant struggle between Parliament and the ruling monarch. During that time, there were six documents that tried to weaken or challenge the power of the monarch. One of these documents was the Petition of Right. The Petition of Right, although it did not last, challenged Charles I by stating that he could not levy taxes without Parliament’s approval, not declare martial law, not to quarter soldiers in private homes while during peacetime, and could not imprison someone without a valid charge. Another document is the Grand Remonstrance. The Grand Remonstrance was a list of grievances against Charles I. This lead to Parliament asking for control of the army. Although it was brutally denied, it

To make an effective religious policy, there must be no opposition, it needs to be enforced, the monarch’s beliefs should be equal to the country’s beliefs, it should be stable with no ambiguity and people should conform. During the period of 1547-1549, Edward’s regent, Somerset, created a rather ineffective religious policy, with there being no clear statement of doctrine and with him repealing the treason acts and heresy laws, unrest was created, with people being able to voice their opinions without punishment. The First Book of Common Prayer was the main source of rebellion, because it was said to be too radical by some in the move towards Protestantism, but not radical enough by others, by being designed to keep the Catholics happy through the continuation of some practices, showing that it satisfied no-one. As well, the Prayer Book was not enforced during services, showing that it was an ineffective act. Also, it was rather irresponsible to implement religious changes when at war, because the soldiers were

The success of Parliament during the first phase of the English Civil War can be attributed to Oliver Cromwell's New Model Army. This army consisted of radical Puritans and Independents, who believed they were fighting for God. Cromwell was one of the Independents. The first phase of the war was ended with capture of Charles I. Blinded by his belief in divine right, Charles took advantage Parliament’s troubles and decided to flee to the Scots for protection. The Rump Parliament now accused the king of treason saying that he had acted as a tyrant, traitor, murder, and a public enemy to the good people of the nation. Charles was beheaded for his actions in 1649 and his attempt at absolutism was put an end. This was a great achievement in the rise of absolutism, as Parliament continued to gain more power in England with every passing monarchy. After the death of Charles I, his son Charles II rose to power (during the civil war). The Roundheads, supporters of Parliament, were victorious by the end of the English Civil War. Oliver Cromwell became Lord Protector of England and held all executive power; legislative power was given to Parliament. Cromwell came to find that it was difficult to work with Parliament, even more so when members debated his authority. Six years after the death of Charles I, who Cromwell fought so hard to eliminate, Cromwell himself had done the exact same thing as Charles; demolish Parliament.

Anglo-Norman invaders arrived in Ireland in 1169, attempting to colonize the island over the next 500 years. The invaders began to expand their influence across the island by means of force. These attacks caused rebellions from the Irish people, as they were no strangers to aggression from the East. “Religious persecution of Catholic Irish grew – in particular after the accession of Elizabeth I, a Protestant, to the throne in 1558. Oliver Cromwell's subsequent siege of Ireland in 1649 ended with massacres of Catholics at Drogheda and Wexford and forced the resettlement of thousands, many of whom lost their homes in the struggle. By 1691, with the victory of Protestant English King William III over the Catholic forces of James II, Protestant supremacy in Ireland had become complete. Catholics in Ireland suffered greatly in the subsequent period of British occupation, enduring laws that prevented them from bearing arms, holding public office and restricting their rights to an education. While many of those rights were eventually restored, the animosity between Catholics and Protestants remained.” (Washington Post, 1999).

It was turbulent times for England during the 17th and 18th century. England was in an unquenchable thirst for more power. “During the 17th and 18th century, England was determined to subdue all lesser countries, especially Ireland” (Stevenson, 28). At the time, England was the dominating country, looking to expand their influence across the world. War broke out constantly as the conquest for more land continued. Moreover, war was constant with the three kingdoms, England, Ireland, and Scotland. Revolts in each kingdom also affected the country’s ability to participate in the war. As