Prayer Book Rebellion - Background

Background

One probable cause of the Prayer Book Rebellion is the religious changes recently implemented by the government of the new king, Edward VI. In the late 1540s Lord Protector Somerset, on behalf of the young king, introduced a range of legislative measures as an extension of the Reformation in England and Wales, the primary aim being to change theology and practices of the Church of England along Protestant lines.

In 1549 the Book of Common Prayer, reflecting the theology of Protestantism while keeping much of the appearance of the old rites, replaced, in English, the four old liturgical books in Latin. The change was unpopular, particularly in areas of traditionally Roman Catholic religious loyalty, for example, in Devon and Cornwall.

When traditional religious processions and pilgrimages were banned, commissioners were sent out to remove all symbols of Catholicism, in line with Thomas Cranmer's religious policies favouring Protestantism ever more. In Cornwall, this task was given to William Body, whose perceived desecration of religious shrines led to his murder on 5 April 1548, by William Kylter and Pascoe Trevian at Helston.

This pressure on the lower classes was compounded by the recent poll tax on sheep. This would have affected the region significantly, the West Country being an area of sheep farming. Rumours circulating that the tax would be extended to other livestock may have increased the discontent.

A damaged social structure then meant this local uprising was not sufficiently dealt with by landowners nearby. The Henry Courtenay, 1st Marquess of Exeter, a large landowner in Sampford Courtenay, had recently been attained. His successor, Lord Russell, was based in London and rarely came out to his land. It is possible this created a lack of local power, who would have normally been expected to quell the revolt.

It is possible that the roots of the rebellion can be traced back to Cornwall's own ancient wish for independence from England, meaning they were loathe to take on new laws from a central government, who, geographically, were very far away from them. More recently, the Cornish Rebellion of 1497 and the subsequent destruction of monasteries from 1536 through to 1545 under king Henry VIII which brought an end to the formal scholarship, supported by the monastic orders, that had sustained the Cornish and Devonian cultural identities. The dissolution of Glasney College and Crantock College played a significant part in fomenting opposition to future cultural reforms. It has been argued that the Catholic Church had "proved itself extremely accommodating of Cornish language and culture" and that government attacks on the traditional religion had reawakened the spirit of defiance in Cornwall, and in particular the majority Cornish-speaking far west.

Immediate retribution followed with the execution of twenty eight Cornishmen at Launceston Castle. One execution of a "traitor of Cornwall" occurred on Plymouth Hoe — town accounts give details of the cost of timber for both gallows and poles. Martin Geoffrey, the pro-Catholic priest of St Keverne, near Helston, was taken to London. After execution his head was impaled on a staff erected upon London Bridge as was customary.