The Pilgrimage of Grace, 1536-1537, and the Exeter Conspiracy, 1538

This gripping history of the Pilgrimage of Grace and the Exeter Conspiracy reconstructs one of the most dramatic eruptions of resistance in Tudor England. Drawing on maps, notes, corrections, and close documentary analysis, it follows the rising from its first rumors and regional sparks through musters, negotiations, councils, and the shifting fortunes of rebels and crown. At its center is a kingdom unsettled by Henry VIII's unstable succession, heavy taxation, monastic wealth, and the struggle to redefine power, faith, and government. The narrative shows how Thomas Cromwell, brilliant and ruthless, drove royal policy through Parliament, while the Duke of Norfolk pursued his own advantage amid bitter rivalry. Laws against the clergy, the break with Rome, the Ten Articles, Royal Injunctions, and the Succession and Treason Acts remade England from above, alarming communities and criminalizing dissent. Against this backdrop, northern leaders and local gentry rallied under St Cuthbert, while towns, bishops, monasteries, and households in Durham and York were forced to choose between loyalty and rebellion. Newcastle's fate, and the uneasy diplomacy of its merchants and mayor, becomes a vivid test of whether the rebellion can hold. This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design.