The Wyatt's Rebellion of 1554
Wyatt's Rebellion was an uprising that was aimed at overthrowing Queen Mary I who had then just recently ascended to the throne of England. Beginning in the year 1554, the rebellion was named after Thomas Wyatt the Younger, who was himself the son of Sir Thomas Wyatt. Wyatt was among the many people who were staunchly opposed to the return of the Kingdom of England to the Roman Catholic Church and the inevitable curtailment of the rights of the Protestants which was sure to follow in the wake of Mary I's rise to power.
While the overthrow of Mary I was the generally accepted reason for the Wyatt Rebellion, many other alternative reasons have been put forth by some historians over the years, resulting in quite a bit of confusion. The historian, D.M. Loades in particular has suggested that the rebellion was largely motivated by politics and its real goal was to prevent Mary I's betrothal to Prince Phillip of Spain. Many members of the rebellion felt that the country was being "overrun by strangers” and that the marriage between the two monarchs would only serve to make an intolerable situation even worse. Conveniently for Mary I, nearly all of the leaders of the rebellion were avowed Protestants. This was all the reason Mary needed to consider the uprising a religious issue. The subsequent branding of the dissidents as heretics made it easier for her to round up support against their cause.
Thomas Wyatt may have been the one that the rebellion was named after but there were actually four leaders associated with the uprising: Wyatt himself, Sir James Croft, Sir Peter Carew and Henry Grey, who was the Duke of Suffolk. All four of these men were members of the noble class in England at that time. Wyatt was quite an influential figure in the town of Kent and owned vast tracts of land there, Sir James Croft came from a distinguished family in Herefordshire and Sir Peter Carew was an MP for the town of Devon.
The plan was that the four of them would initiate uprisings in their own counties after which they would head towards London and take over the throne. They intended to replace Queen Mary I with her half sister Elizabeth Tudor who would later marry Edward Courtenay according to plan. A fleet of French ships was also dispatched with the intention of keeping prince Phillip of Spain from reaching the country.
Unfortunately for the dissidents, the Imperial ambassador Simon Renard got wind of the plot and divulged the details to Lord Chancellor, Stephen Gardiner. Edward Courtenay was brought before Gardiner and under questioning he confirmed that such a plot did exist. In light of this development, Sir James Croft decided that to proceed with his involvement in the plot would be unwise and he withdrew his support for the cause. Henry Grey for his part was adamant about continuing on with the uprising but was able to round up only a few men in addition to his own soldiers. All told, he was only able to amass a modest force of 140 men. His progress was halted at the gates of Coventry and he gave himself over to the Royalist forces. He was subsequently tried in court and sentenced to death. Two other people, namely Guilford Dudley and the Lady Jane Grey, were executed along with Grey, although they had no part in the plot.
Carew meanwhile tried to gain supporters for the rebel cause in Devon, but was met with the unwillingness of the Protestant nobility there to take part in such an action, perhaps fearing the consequences of what was tantamount to treason. The peasant class in Devon was largely made up of Roman Catholics and so he failed to gain their support as well. Carew was arrested soon after when he tried to escape to Normandy.
Thomas Wyatt was able to gather considerable forces numbering about 4,000 men. In an encounter with the Duke of Norfolk, Thomas Howard Jr., 500 of the Duke's own men abandoned him to fight for the rebel cause. Wyatt was able to get as far as the outskirts of London before being halted by the forces at Ludgate. He was later tried and executed along with 90 of his men.
Original Authors:Doods Pangburn
Edit Update Authors: M.A.Harris
Updated On: 23/07/2008
