The Pilgrimage of Grace and the Politics of the 1530s [Hardcover]

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.

1. The Risings of 1536-7: Retrospect and Prospect
2. A Northern Panorama
3. 1536: The Year of Three Queens
4. Lincolnshire
5. The Dynamics of the Lincolnshire Rising
6. Fever Days: The Reaction to Lincolnshire
7. The Rising in the East Riding
8. The 'Captain Poverty' Revolts
9. Misunderstanding Darcy
10. The Confrontation at Doncaster
11. The Benignity of the Prince
12. Winding up the Pilgrimage
13. The King's Love for the North
14. The Return of the Duke of Norfolk
15. The Rebellions as Commons' Revolts
Epilogue: 'to knit up this tragedy'
Select Documents
Bibliography of Printed Sources
Index

Hoyle's study of the Pilgrimage remains impressive. Where Hoyle says that he hopes to be read, we can safely add that he should be read. --Renaissance Quarterly