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wounds of Christ which had been assumed by the rebels. It seems certain that the rebels at the time believed that the whole of their petitions had been granted. It is possible that Norfolk, who had much sympathy with them, held out larger promises than Henry intended. The King's views at all events were not what the rebels supposed. He at once proceeded to organize the North, to establish fortified posts, and secure the ordnance stores. Norfolk was sent to Pontefract to make preparations for the coming Parliament. All this looked very unlike a favourable answer to the insurgents' petition. Still more were they disappointed when they found that, instead of a general anınesty, each individual had to petition for his own pardon, and received it only in exchange for the oath of allegiance. There was much natural disappointment and smouldering discontent. A man of little influence, called Sir Francis Bigod, contrived a disorderly rising in opposition to the old chiefs. This afforded opportunity for Norfolk to establish martial law, and seventy-four persons were hanged. Perhaps some new treasonable correspondence was discovered, and perhaps the opportunity for vengeance had now arrived, but without any very clear renewal of their offences, the three leaders of the old insurrection—Aske, Darcy, and Constable-were arrested (March). Discontented words could no doubt be proved against them, and on this the charges against them were chiefly based. They were all condemned and executed, as were also many others of the prominent gentry of the North. Nineteen of the Lincolnshire rebels were executed (July 1537). Of the three leaders, by far the most interesting is Aske. His popularity and influence were enormous, his power of organization seems to have been great, and there is visible in his whole career a genuine desire for the objects of the insurrection, apart from his own aggrandizement, which, coupled with his marked moderation and uprightness, renders him a very remarkable character. The Pilgrimage of Grace, as the Northern insurrection was called, and its consequences, had not been over for three months when the event occurred which was to complete the edifice of Henry's success, to set at rest the vexed question of the succession, and enable his projects to be perpetuated. On October 12th, the Queen Jane gave birth to a son; but with this piece of good fortune was linked a great grief. Ten days after the birth of the prince, the Queen died. She had not been dead a day before the Privy Council begged the King to proceed to a new marriage, a request to which he yielded. "His tender zeal," says Cromwell, "to his subjects hath already overcome his Grace's disposition."

Birth of
Edward VI.

1537]

WESTERN INSURRECTION

409

The birth of an heir, by apparently excluding all hopes of a natural succession to the throne on the part of any remnants of the family of York, seems to have excited them to more immediate action. There was a large family connection in the West of England, at the head of which was the Marquis of Exeter, the head of the Courtenays, and the grandson of Edward IV.

Lady Salisbury, the daughter of the Duke of Clarence, and mother of Lord Montague and of Reginald Pole, who was constantly intriguing on the Continent in Papal interests, was closely Insurrection allied to the Marquis; while, on the other hand, she in the West. was closely connected with the Nevilles, the family of the great Earl of Warwick. Exeter, though he had joined in the suppression of the Northern insurrection, was a bitter enemy of Cromwell's, and that minister, when he found some traces of intercourse between the Marquis and Reginald Pole, was not slack in pursuing the clue. It seems that in Cornwall, at St. Kevern's, a banner had been ordered bearing the suspicious emblem of the wounds of Christ. The name

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of the Marquis was connected with this affair. It seemed to be intended to declare Exeter heir-apparent to the throne. There was another brother of the Pole family called Sir Geoffrey. Frightened at the turn affairs were taking, and implicated himself in whatever conspiracy there was, he denounced his brother and friends. On his witness, the Marquis of Exeter, Lord Montague, Sir Edward Neville, and Sir Nicholas Carew, Master of the Horse, were apprehended, and, after examination by the Council, executed for treason. In every instance the charge was based solely upon language used. Anything more different from the usual requirements for a charge of treason can hardly be conceived. Lady Salisbury was for the present spared. This closed the treasonable efforts of this reign. The King, aided by the secret system of Cromwell, had proved too much for all conspirators, and there remained scarcely any one of sufficient importance to threaten the succession of his son.

Reformation continued.

Almost contemporaneously with the Ten Articles, which animosity to the Papacy and political necessity had induced Henry to publish in 1536, each church had been supplied with a copy of the English Bible, a step indeed almost necessary when the Bible was regarded as the rule of faith. Up to this time the publication of English Bibles had been carefully forbidden. In 1526 Tyndale had completed the translation of the New Testament, which

Its very moderate character.

had been rapidly distributed in England among that class of which the Reformation had begun to take hold. Since that time the whole Bible had been translated and published. The Bishops were much set against it, but the King told them they had better make a more perfect translation themselves. In vain did Cranmer try to get this plan carried out, he ultimately had to employ Miles Coverdale to correct and arrange Tyndale's work, and a translation was published by authority. It was this edition which was ordered to be used in churches. Tyndale, whose work was the basis of our present magnificent translation, fell a victim to his religion, and was burnt at Augsburg, at the demand of the English Government. The dissolution of the greater abbeys and monasteries had at length followed that of the lesser. Although confessedly not in the immoral condition of the smaller suppressed monasteries, there could not but be, inasmuch as they were strongholds of the old religion, much irritation amongst their inmates; while it was thus desirable that they should be destroyed, they were not open to the same violent attacks as the lesser monasteries had been. But it was found possible

Dissolution of the greater monasteries.

1538]

PROGRESS OF THE REFORMATION

411

to put such pressure upon them as to produce voluntary surrenders, which increased extraordinarily in number now that the insurrections had failed, and the Government found itself stronger. In 1536-37 there were but 3 such surrenders; in the following year 24; in the next 174; in the next 76. The great popular relics and shrines were also destroyed. It was the usual habit to give to each abbot and monk of a surrendered house a certain income. These, however, were very far from absorbing the whole income of the abbey. The residue passed into the hands of the Crown. The work was completed in the Parliament of 1539, by an Act confirming the surrenders up to that time, and allowing the King to extend the Act to all monasteries yet remaining. Large property thus passed into the hands of the King, who issued a noble project for the employment of it for great ecclesiastical and educational objects. No less than twenty-one new bishoprics were to be founded, with cathedrals and chapters. They dwindled practically, however, to six, and the wealth was employed in the King's wars, and in his extravagant household, and the lands given or sold at low rates to the new rising nobility.

Though Cromwell and Cranmer had been thus far successful, they were now to meet with a severe check. The chief life and vigour of the Reformation resided undoubtedly in the poorer educated classes. It was among them that the Bible had met with its ready sale, and it was the exception for men of the wealthier classes to be otherwise than complacent in their religion. It was not therefore to be expected that the growth of the new religion should be free from eccentricities and coarseness. The disclosure of priestly deceptions, and the claim to a perpetual miraculous power in the Church, might The Reformacasily excite derision, which would again easily sink tion checked. to ribaldry. There were indeed frequent exhibitions of such a temper. The Sacrament was laughed at, and scurrilous jests made upon it and upon other parts of the old organization. This disorder was very repugnant to the King's disposition. Indeed, yielding to the pressure of circumstances, he had allowed the Reformers to go further than he really approved. The separation from the Church of Rome, the absorption by the Crown of the powers of the Papacy, the unity of authority over both Church and State centred in himself, had been his objects. In doctrinal matters he clung to the Church of which he had once been the champion. He had gained his objects because he had the feeling of the nation with him. In his eagerness he had even countenanced some steps of doctrinal reform. But circumstances had changed; he was, in the first place, no longer in danger from Charles;

and secondly, the national feeling was no longer unanimous; thus much he had learnt from the Pilgrimage of Grace, and to that portion of the nation which desired no change belonged almost all the nobility. Without detriment to his position he could follow his natural inclinations. He listened therefore to the advice of the reactionary party, of which Norfolk was the head. They were full of bitterness against the upstart Cromwell, and longed to overthrow him as they had overthrown Wolsey. The first step in their triumph was the Bill of the Six Articles, carried in the Parliament of 1539. These laid down and fenced round with extraordinary severity the chief The Six Articles. points of the Catholic religion at that time questioned by the Protestants. The Bill enacted, first, "that the natural body and blood of Jesus Christ were present in the Blessed Sacrament," and that "after consecration there remained no substance of bread and wine, nor any other but the substance of Christ;" whoever, by word or writing, denied this Article was a heretic, and to be burned. Secondly, the Communion in both kinds was not necessary, both body and blood being present in each element; thirdly, priests might not marry; fourthly, vows of chastity by man or woman ought to be observed; fifthly, private masses ought to be continued; sixthly, auricular confession must be retained. Whoever wrote or spoke against these five Articles, on the first offence his property was forfeited; on the second offence he was a felon, and was to be put to death. Under this "whip with six strings" the kingdom continued for the rest of the reign. The Bishops at first made wild work with it. Five hundred persons are said to have been arrested in a fortnight; the King had twice to interfere and grant pardons. It is believed that only twenty-eight persons actually suffered death under it.

All this time, almost two years, the King had remained unmarried, and each party was eager to secure for a representative of its own interests the position of Queen. Cromwell's eager spirit of party got the better of his prudence, secured the triumph of his rivals, and was the cause of his own destruction. He had been intrusted with the duty of seeking a new consort for the King. Approaches towards friendship with the Emperor had been made for some time previously; the first lady thought of was the Duchess of Milan, his niece; but when a treaty was concluded at Nice between Charles and Francis, with the approbation of the Pope, in which Henry was not mentioned, this scheme was broken up once for all. Room was thus left for Cromwell to carry out his own wishes by connecting Henry with the Protestant Princes of Germany. He pitched

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