POLITICAL HISTORY 



to the rebellion, Sir Ralph Eure still held Scarborough and the Earl of Cumberland Skipton Castle, 

 with the help of Christopher Aske, brother of the insurgent captain," but most of the county 

 magnates were now, willingly or unwillingly, with the insurgents. Shortly after the surrender of 

 Pontefract Castle, Thomas Miller, Lancaster herald, arrived in the town with a royal proclamation 

 of a general pardon for all except the ringleaders, but he was not allowed to read it at the market 

 cross, and was brought before Aske, who received him courteously and gave him a written copy of 

 the articles or demands of the insurgents." Hearing that the Duke of Norfolk was at Doncaster, 

 Aske advanced with about 3S,ooo men, the men of Durham, Cleveland and Richmondshire gomg 

 first, under Lords Nevill, Lumley, and Latimer, Sir Thomas Hilton and Sir Thomas Percy. Next 

 came the main body of Yorkshire under Aske himself. Sir Robert Constable and Lord Darcy, the 

 rear being brought up by 12,000 men from the north and west of the county under Lord Scrope, 

 Sir Christopher Danby, and Sir William Malore. Against this great force Norfolk could only 

 oppose 8,000 men, many of whom were believed secretly to favour the rising." Had the 

 insurgents been rebels aiming at the king's overthrow they could have made short work of their 

 opponents, in spite of the swollen waters of the Don which separated the two hosts, but they were 

 in the impossible position of conservative revolutionists. A victory resulting in the death of the 

 Duke of Norfolk and the Earls of Shrewsbury, Rutland, and Huntingdon would have been as bad 

 as a defeat ; °* they were thoroughly loyal to the king ; their quarrel was with Cromwell and his 

 infamous ministers.^' Negotiations were opened, in which Norfolk was perfectly willing to perjure 

 himself by making promises and then breaking them, and at last Sir R.alph Ellerker and Robert 

 Bowes were sent up under a safe conduct with the Duke of Norfolk to lay their demands before the 

 king. Henry replied uncompromisingly to demands of the commons, denying their right to 

 dictate to him,^" and kept Ellerker and Bowes at court for some days,*' while he endeavoured to 

 sow dissension by reproaching the insurgent nobles with serving under a man so socially inferior as 

 Aske.*^ Norfolk at the same time endeavoured to persuade Darcy to betray Aske, but the old lord 

 refused indignantly.'' Meanwhile the commons were growing impatient and the king's 

 commanders were urging the grant of a complete pardon and other concessions. Henry for some 

 time endeavoured to except at least a few of the ringleaders from the pardon,'* but had at last to ' 

 yield. Arrangements were made for the insurgents to meet the duke at Doncaster '° on 

 5 December, and a preliminary council was held on 2 December at Pontefract, at which were 

 present the Lords Darcy, Scrope, Nevill, Latimer, Lumley, and Conyers, Sir Robert Constable and 

 a large number of the knights and esquires, representatives of the families of Vavassour, Hilliard, 

 Wolsthrope, Fairfax, Bulmer, Lawson, Hamerton, Tempest, Norton, Gascoigne, Plumpton, and 

 indeed of practically all the leading county families.'' When the delegates chosen by this 

 conference met the Duke of Norfolk, as arranged, he promised on the king's part a full pardon to 

 all concerned in the rising, and further undertook that a Parliament should be held at York the next 

 year at which the grievances of the commons should be discussed, and for this Parliament burgesses 

 should be freely elected not only for York and Scarborough, but also for Beverley, Ripon, 

 Richmond, Pontefract, Wakefield, Skipton, and Kendal." As a further mark of the king having 

 remitted his displeasure he would have the queen (Jane Seymour) crowned at York. Aske, 

 confident in the justice of his cause and the knowledge of his own loyalty, accepted these terms 

 without demanding any security for their fulfilment, renounced his position as chief captain, and tore 

 off the badge of the Five Wounds of Christ, which had been worn by all the participants in this 

 Pilgrimage of Grace,'* saying that henceforth he would wear no badge but the king's, and his 

 example was followed by the other leaders.'^ The levies on either side were then dismissed and 

 Aske sent word of the settlement to the men of Craven and the Lancashire borders just in time to 

 prevent a collision with the Earl of Derby.'" 



King Henry now sent for Aske and other leaders of the movement, and treating them with 

 courtesy and apparent friendliness, confirmed their belief in his intention to redress their grievances." 

 But when Aske returned to Yorkshire, early in January 1537, he found that the commons were in 

 a state of excitement ; they feared that the Parliament would be postponed indefinitely ; they 

 suspected that the king had bribed the gentry and even Aske himself ; it was known that Cromwell 

 was still in favour and it was rumoured that Hull was being fortified.'^ Aske did his best to allay 



'I^nd^E,H_en,J^n,xn{i),ii%6. '= Ibid, xi, 826. "Ibid, xii (i), 6. "Ibid. 1175. 



'Ibid, xi, 841 ; a smith at Dent said to a man who wore the king's livery, 'TThy master is a thief, for 

 he puUeth down all our churches.' But he was rebuked and everyone said, 'It is not the king's deed, but the 

 deed of Cromwell, and if we had him here we would crum him and crum him that he was never so crummed 

 and if thy master were here we would new crown him.' 



«» Ibid, xi, 957. " Ibid. 1064. «' Ibid. 1 175. «=> Ibid. 1045. 



"Ibid. 95S, 1237, 1271. "Ibid. 1246. \!llbid,xii (i), 6.-^ «'Ibid. 



''Ibid. 901 (73). "Ibid. 6. "Ibid. xi,~FB46. ■ 



'' Ibid, xii (I), 20, 43, 44, 46. " Ibid. 67, 138. 



413 



59 1 



