The Northern Rebellion

Queen Elizabeth I sought to bring about a religious settlement with the objective of establishing in England a Protestant Anglican Church with herself as the Supreme Governor. Things began to fray around the edges when Mary Queen of Scots fled to England. The problem for Elizabeth I was that Mary was a Catholic claimant to the English throne. Elizabeth I had Mary locked away in various castles, but she still became the center of numerous conspiracies to overthrow the upstarts who had displaced the ancient aristocracy. Their basic idea was to marry Mary to Norfolk, England's only Duke. This combination represented a serious threat to Elizabeth I but Norfolk seemed undecided and continued to delay until Elizabeth I invited him to London whereupon she locked him in the Tower. Elizabeth I suspected that the Earls of Northumberland, Westmorland and Cumberland were involved in the conspiracy and invited them to London as well. The Earls guessed their accommodation would be the Tower and opted instead for a rebellion which began at about midnight on the 9 November 1569. The Catholic faith had survived in the North and there was real resentment against the extension of Tudor domination and Elizabeth I's new men. The Earl of Northumberland mustered his troops in Richmond on the 16 November. Sir George was appointed provost marshal and martial law was declared. Elizabeth I ordered that 700 of the riffraff be executed, 200 of these were to be from or around Richmond. How many were actually executed is not known, but seemingly it was a smaller number, perhaps around 57, 12 of whom were from Richmond. The decade after the Rebellion was a difficult period for Catholics who faced constant persecution. Religious meetings were held in secret, away from the eyes of unfriendly informants. It seems, however, that the few gentry who were accused in court of holding Catholic beliefs were the 'mere tip of a great pyramid' which represented a hidden underground movement.