Revolt Of The Peasantry 1549

This book, first published in 1977, looks at the two peasant revolts that occurred in 1549, in the troubled period following the death of Henry VIII. The uprisings reveal a harsh background of economic and social injustice, intensified at the time by inflation. Peasants in North Devon rose against the imposition of the English Prayer Book, and with the local authorities paralysed and the government wavering between conciliation and repression, a general rebellion broke out. Reinforced by Cornishmen, rallying to the defence of their national identity, the peasants assembled a formidable army and laid siege to Exeter itself. Only after three major battles was the revolt suppressed. The Norfolk peasants rose against agrarian abuses, routing a small royal force and occupying Norwich. Ably led by Robert Kett, they expelled the gentry and governed the county on a programme of social justice until they were crushed by the forces released by the collapse of the other risings. These revolts display the deep-seated resentments and injustices felt by the peasantry of the sixteenth century.

From C.J. Sansom, the highly anticipated new novel in his acclaimed Shardlake series of Tudor mysteries, which have sold two million copies around the world. Spring, 1549. Two years after the death of Henry VIII, England is sliding into chaos... The king, Edward VI, is eleven years old. His uncle Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset, rules as Protector. Radical Protestants are conducting all out war on the old religion, stirring discontent among the people. The Protector's prolonged war with Scotland is proving a disastrous failure. Worst of all, the economy is in collapse, inflation rages and rebellion is stirring among the peasantry. Since the old King's death, Matthew Shardlake has been working as a lawyer in the service of Henry's younger daughter, the Lady Elizabeth. The gruesome murder of the wife of John Boleyn, a distant Norfolk relation of Elizabeth's mother--which could have political implications for Elizabeth--brings Shardlake and his young assistant Nicholas Overton to the summer assizes at Norwich. There they are reunited with Shardlake's former assistant Jack Barak. The three find layers of mystery and danger surrounding the death of Edith Boleyn, as more murders are committed. During their investigation, a peasant rebellion breaks out across the country. Yeoman Robert Kett establishes a vast camp outside Norwich and leads a force of thousands to overthow the landlords. Soon the rebels have taken over the city, England's second largest. Barak throws in his lot with the rebels; Nicholas, opposed to them, becomes a prisoner in Norwich Castle; while Shardlake has to decide where his ultimate loyalties lie. As government forces in London prepare to march north and destroy the rebels, he discovers that the murder of Edith Boleyn may have connections reaching into both the heart of the rebel camp and of the Norfolk gentry... Tombland is both a thrilling murder mystery and a vivid and engaging portrait of a divided nation.

Essays from a range of disciplines examine different, but linked aspects of the social organization of Europe from the 13th to 16th centuries.

This book, first published in 1984, brings together three essays written by specialists in German history of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries whose important work is examines the politics, religious changes and social situations around the social protest movements of the period.

War should be recognised as one of the defining features of life in the England of Henry VIII. Henry fought many wars throughout his reign, and this book explores how this came to dominate English culture and shape attitudes to the king and to national history, with people talking and reading about war, and spending money on weaponry and defence.

This book offers a fresh understanding of the substance behind the rhetoric of English Renaissance monarchy. Propaganda is identified as a key factor in the intensification of the English state. The Tudor royal image is pursued in all its forms: in print and prayer, in iconography andarchitecture. The monarchy surrounded itself with the trappings of majesty at court, but in the shires it relied on different strategies of persuasion to uphold its authority. The Reformation placed the provincial pulpit at the disposal of the crown, and the church became the main conduit of royalpropaganda. Sermons taught the duty of obedience, and parish prayer was redirected from local saints towards the sovereign as the symbolic core of the nation.Dr Cooper examines the relationship between the Tudor monarchy and its subjects in Cornwall and Devon, and the complex interaction between local and national political culture. These were years of social and religious upheaval, during which the western peninsula witnessed three major rebellions,and many more riots and affrays. A vibrant popular religion was devastated by the Protestant Reformation, and foreign invasion was a frequent threat. Cornwall remained recognizably different from England in its ancient language and traditions. Yet in the midst of all this, popular allegiance tomonarchy and nation survived and prospered. The Tudors were mourned and celebrated in towns and parish churches. Loyalty was fostered by the Duchy of Cornwall and the stannaries. Regional difference, far from undermining the power of the crown, was fundamental to its success in the westcountry.This is a study of government at the dangerous edges of Tudor England, and a testament to the unifying power of propaganda.