The Rebellion of the Prayer Book , The Prayer Book Revolution , Increasing Prayer Book , Western Awakening or Western Rebellion (Cornish: Rebellyans and Lyver Pejadow Kebmyn ) was a popular uprising in Devon and Cornwall in 1549. That year, the Book of Common Prayer, theology of the British Reformation, was introduced. The change was very unpopular - especially in faithful areas of Catholicism (even after the Supreme Court of 1534) such as Lancashire. Along with the poor economic conditions, the enforcement of English liturgy caused an outburst of anger in Devon and Cornwall, initiating a rebellion. In response, Edward Seymour, the First Duke of Somerset sent Lord John Russell with troops comprised partly of German and Italian mercenaries to suppress the insurgency.
Video Prayer Book Rebellion
​​â € <â €
One possible cause of the Book Prayer Rebellion is a recent religious change carried out by the new king, Edward VI. In the late 1540s, Lord Protector Somerset, in the name of the young king, introduced various legislative measures as an extension of the Reformation in England and Wales, its main purpose was to change theology and practice, especially in traditional Roman Catholic fields. religious allegiance - for example, in Cornwall and Devon.
When traditional religious processions and pilgrimages are prohibited, the commissioners are sent to abolish all Catholic symbols, in line with Thomas Cranmer's religious policy which further supports Protestantism. In Cornwall, this task was given to William Body, who considered blasphemy of religious sanctuaries causing his assassination on April 5, 1548, by William Kylter and Pascoe Trevian in Helston.
This pressure on the lower classes is exacerbated by recent voting taxes on sheep. This will affect the region significantly, the West Country is a sheep breeding area. Rumors are circulating that the tax will be extended to other cattle may have increased dissatisfaction.
The damaged social structure then means local rebellion is not sufficiently handled by the landowner nearby. The Marquess of Exeter, a large landowner in Sampford Courtenay, was recently acquainted. His successor, Lord Russell, is based in London and rarely comes to his country. Perhaps this creates a lack of local power, which is usually expected to quell the rebellion.
It is possible that the roots of the uprising can be traced back to Cornwall's own ancient desire for independence from Britain, meaning they are reluctant to accept new laws from the central government that are geographically far from them. More recently, the Cornish Rebellion of 1497 and the subsequent destruction of monasteries from 1536 to 1545 under King Henry VIII have ended formal scholarship, backed by monastic orders, which have retained Cornish and Devonian cultural identity. Dissolution of Glasney College and Crantock College plays an important role in the fight against future cultural reforms. It has been argued that the Catholic Church has "proved itself very accommodative of Cornish language and culture" and that government attacks against traditional religions have revived the spirit of resistance in Cornwall, and in particular the Cornish-speaking majority in the far west.
Rewards were soon followed by the execution of twenty-eight Cornishmen in Launceston Castle. One of the executions of the "Cornwall traitors" took place at Plymouth Hoe - the city account gave details of the cost of wood for the poles and pylons. Martin Geoffrey, pro-Catholic priest of St. Keverne, near Helston, was taken to London. After Geoffrey's execution, his head was punctured on the staff who were erected on the London Bridge as usual.
Maps Prayer Book Rebellion
Sampford Courtenay and the beginning of the uprising
The new prayer book was not uniformly adopted, and in 1549 the Uniformity Act made it unlawful to use the Latin liturgical rites of Whitsunday 1549 and beyond. The judge is given the task of enforcing change. Following the upswing at Whitsunday, in Whitmonday, parishioners of Sampford Courtenay in Devon forced their priest to return to the old worship service. The rebels argue that the new British liturgy is "but only a Christmas game." This claim may be related to the provisions of the book for men and women to apply to quire on different sides to receive the sacrament, which seems to remind people dancing in Devon country. The judge arrives at the next service to enforce the change. A quarrel in the worship service causes a proponent of change (William Hellyons) to be killed by running through with a pitchfork on the steps of the church house.
After this confrontation a group of parishioners from Sampford Courtenay decided to march to Exeter to protest the introduction of a new prayer book. As the rebel groups moved through Devon, they gained a large number of Catholic supporters and became a significant force. Marching east to Crediton, Devon's rebels besieged Exeter, demanding the withdrawal of all British liturgies. Although some residents in Exeter sent a message of support to the rebels, the city refused to open its gates. The gates had to be closed for more than a month of siege.
"Kill all men"
In Cornwall and Devon, the problem of the General Book of Prayer proves to be the last anger people can endure. Two decades of repression followed by two years of rampant inflation, in which the price of grain quadrupled. Along with the rapid closure of public land, an attack on the Church, perceived as the center of a rural community, caused an outburst of anger. In Cornwall, troops gathered in Bodmin town under the leadership of the mayor, Henry Bray, and two faithful Catholic landlords, Sir Humphrey Arundell from Helland and John Winslade from Tregarrick.
Many nobles seek refuge in the old palace. Some people shut down at St. Michael's Mount where they were surrounded by rebels, who started a confusing smoke screen with a burn of hay reels. This, combined with the lack of food and the misery of women, forced them to surrender. Sir Richard Grenville found shelter in the ruins of Castle Trematon. Dismissed by many of his followers, the old man was drawn outside into the alley. He was arrested and the castle ransacked. Sir Richard and his friends were imprisoned in Launceston prison. The Cornish army then proceeded to march east across the Tamar border into Devon to join the Devon rebels near Crediton.
The religious objective of rebellion is highlighted in the slogan "Kill all men and we will have Six more Articles, and ceremonies while they are in the time of King Henry." However, it also implies a social cause (views supported by historians such as Guy and Fletcher). Future demands including limiting the size of noble households - theoretically beneficial in the period of population growth and unemployment - may indicate an attack on the prestige of the nobility. Surely contemporaries like Thomas Cranmer take this view, cursing the rebels for deliberately inciting class conflict with their demands: "to reduce their strength and to take their friends, that you may order the people on your pleasure". The patron of Somerset himself saw the displeasure of the nobility as a common factor in all the rebellions of 1549: "in fact everyone has an enormous hatred of the masters and takes them all as their enemies."
The Cornish rebels are also concerned about the use of English in new prayer books. The current Cornwall-language map is quite complicated, but philological research shows that the Cornish language has been in a territorial retreat throughout the Middle Ages. Summarizing this research, Stoyle said that in 1450, the county was divided into three major linguistic blocks: "West Cornwall is populated by a predominantly Cornish-speaking population of Celtic, the western part of East Cornwall inhabited by a population of Celtic descent, most of whom have left the Cornish tongue for the sake of England, and east of East Cornwall is populated by Anglo-Saxon descendants, who are fully English-speaking. "
However, West Cornish reacted badly to the introduction of English in 1549 service. The eighth article of The Demands of the Western Rebels states: "and so we the Cornyshe people (where certeen of us do not understand Englysh) totally reject the new English". In response to this, however, Bishop Cranmer asked why Cornishmen should be offended by holding services in English rather than Cornish, when they previously held it in Latin and did not understand it.
Confrontation
In London, King Edward VI and his Advisory Council were worried about this news from the West. Upon instructions from Lord Protector Duke of Somerset, one of the Privat Advisers, Sir Gawen Carew, was ordered to calm the rebels. At the same time, Lord John Russell was ordered to take troops, including German and Italian mercenaries, and implemented military solutions.
The rebels have many different backgrounds, some farmers, some tin miners, and some fishermen. Cornwall appears to have militias that are significantly larger than other regions of equal size.
Credit conferencing
After the rebels passed Plymouth, the Devonian knights, Sir Gawen and Sir Peter Carew, were sent to negotiate, meeting the Devonian rebels on Crediton. They found the approach blocked and attacked by longbowmen. Shortly before the Cornish rebels arrive and Arundell now divides his combined forces, sends an army to Clyst St Mary to help the villagers, with the main troops advancing to Exeter, where he besieges the city for 5 weeks.
The Exeter Siege
The rebel commanders failed to persuade John Blackaller, the pro-Catholic mayor of Exeter, to surrender the city. The city gate closed as an initial force of about 2,000 people gathered outside.
Battle of Fenny Bridges
On July 2 Lord John Russell, Earl's early Bedford troop had reached Honiton. These include 160 Italian arquebusiers and a thousand landsknechts, German footsoldiers, under the command of Lord William Gray. With reinforcements promised from Wiltshire and Gloucestershire, Russell will have over 8,600 people, including horsemen from 850 men, all armed and well trained. Russell estimates a combined rebel force from Cornwall and Devon is only 7,000. On July 28, Arundell decided to block their approach to Exeter at Fenny Bridges. The outcome of this conflict is inconclusive and about 300 on each side are reported to have died with Lord Russell and his troops back to Honiton.
General Woodbury Battle
Lord Russell's reinforcements arrived on 2 August and his army of 5000 people began to march to Exeter, westward, crossing down. Russell's progress goes to Woodbury Common where they set up camp. On August 4 the rebels attacked but the results were inconclusive with the large number of prisoners carried by Lord Russell.
Battle of Clyst St Mary
The Arundell troops reunited with a 6,000 major contingent at Clyst St Mary, but on August 5 were attacked by a central force led by Sir William Francis. After a violent war, the Russell forces gained profits, leaving a thousand Cornish and Devonians dead and many more captured.
Clyst Heath massacre
Russell set up camp in Clyst Heath and has 900 insurgents tied up and gagged who were killed, their throats cut within 10 minutes according to the author John Hayward.
Battle of Clyst Heath
When news of the atrocities reached Arundell's army, a new attack took place on 6 August. Lord Gray then commented that he had never seen anything like it, or had taken part in a commotion like murder. As he led the attack against Scotland in the Battle of Pinkie Cleugh, this is a telling statement. Some 2000 died at the Battle of Clyst Heath. A group of Devon males went to the north of the Exe Valley, where they were defeated by Sir Gawen Carew, who left the bodies of their leaders hanging on the gibbons from Dunster to Bath.
Relief Exeter
Lord Russell continued his attack with the help of Exeter. In London, a proclamation was issued that allowed the land of the people involved in the uprising to be confiscated. Arundell's estate was moved to Sir Gawen Carew and Sir Peter Carew was rewarded with all Devon John Winslade estates.
Battle of Sampford Courtenay
Lord Russell had the impression that Cornish had been defeated but news arrived that Arundell's troops were reassembling in Sampford Courtenay. This disrupted his plans to send 1,000 people to Cornwall by ship to bypass his enemy's retreat. Russell's forces were reinforced by the arrival of troops under Provost Marshal Sir Anthony Kingston. His troops now number over 8,000, far more than the rest of his opposition. Lord Gray and Sir William Herbert led the attack and contemporary historian Exeter John Hooker wrote that 'Cornish will not surrender until most of their numbers have been slaughtered or captured.' Lord John Russell, reported that his army had killed between five and six hundred and his pursuit of retreating Cornish kills a further seven hundred.
Aftermath
Many fled, including Arundell, who fled to Launceston. There, he was then arrested and taken to London with Winslade, who was arrested at Bodmin. In total, more than 5,500 people lost their lives in rebellion. Subsequent orders were issued on behalf of the king by Lord Protector of the Duke of Somerset and Archbishop Thomas Cranmer for continuous onslaught. Under Sir Anthony Kingston, British troops and mercenaries then moved across Devon and to Cornwall and executed or killed many before the bloodshed finally stopped. The proposal to translate the Prayer Book into Cornish was also suppressed.
The loss of life in the Rebellion of Prayer Books and subsequent retaliation and the introduction of the English Prayer Book is seen as a turning point in the Cornish language, which - unlike Welsh - complete Bible translations are not produced. The research also shows that, prior to the uprising, the Cornish language has been strengthened and more concessions have been made to Cornwall as a "nation", and that anti-British sentiment has grown stronger, giving an additional boost to rebellion.
Bishop of Truro Apology for Response to Rebellion
In June 2007, then Bishop Truro, The Rt Revd Bill Ind, reportedly said that the massacre during the brutal suppression of the Book Prayer Rebellion over 450 years ago was a "big mistake" that the Church of England should be ashamed of. Speaking at a ceremony at Pelynt, he said:
Source of the article : Wikipedia
0 Comments