OCR Specification focus:
‘Support for, and opposition to, the religious changes at a local level including unrest; attitudes to Marian policies; Catholic restoration and persecution.’
Local responses to Tudor religious reform varied greatly, shaped by regional traditions, social pressures, and political contexts. Communities often revealed both compliance and resistance simultaneously.
Support for Religious Change under Edward VI
Edward VI’s reign saw the rapid implementation of Protestant reforms. The introduction of the 1549 Book of Common Prayer and the 1552 revision altered worship drastically.
Title page of the first English Book of Common Prayer (1549), associated with Thomas Cranmer. This mandated vernacular services and new rites that many communities resisted, especially in the West Country. As a primary source, it illustrates the textual origin of changes that provoked local protest. Source
Reasons for Local Support
Some urban areas, such as London and East Anglia, already contained strong reformist traditions.
Protestant preaching appealed to merchants and artisans seeking a religion that emphasised the written word and individual faith.
Royal Injunctions of 1547 encouraged the destruction of images and relics, aligning with reformist communities eager for change.
Evidence of Acceptance
Removal of altars and images was carried out willingly in certain parishes.
Clergymen in reform-leaning regions preached sermons against superstition, showing grassroots enthusiasm.
Parish accounts indicate communities investing in English Bibles and vernacular service books.
Opposition to Edwardian Reform
Despite some support, widespread hostility also emerged, rooted in the pace and depth of religious transformation.
Causes of Discontent
The transition undermined traditional rituals linked to local identity and communal memory.
Many resented the Crown’s seizure of church wealth, including chantries that had funded education and poor relief.
The shift to English liturgy alienated those attached to Latin traditions.
Key Manifestations
Western Rebellion of 1549: Sparked in Devon and Cornwall, this rising demanded the restoration of the Latin Mass and traditional practices.
Local priests and parishioners were at the forefront, illustrating genuine popular attachment to Catholic forms of worship.
Rebellion slogans declared loyalty to the King but rejection of heretical advisors, emphasising a distinction between monarchy and reformers.
Chantry: A form of religious foundation that funded priests to say masses for the souls of the dead, often providing local charity and education.
Marian Restoration of Catholicism
When Mary I succeeded in 1553, she aimed to restore Catholicism and undo her brother’s reforms. Local reactions varied, ranging from relief to resentment.
Enthusiastic Reception
In traditionalist regions such as the north and west, communities eagerly reinstated Catholic rituals.
Parishioners restored altars, images, and vestments that had been removed under Edward.
Records show voluntary fundraising to reintroduce Catholic symbols, suggesting genuine grassroots enthusiasm.
Enforcement and Policy
Mary’s government repealed Edwardian legislation and reintroduced the Heresy Acts, legitimising persecution of Protestants.
Bishops such as Edmund Bonner in London enforced strict conformity.
Public burnings of prominent Protestants, including Latimer, Ridley, and Cranmer, created both fear and widespread attention.
Sixteenth-century woodcut from John Foxe’s Actes and Monuments (Book of Martyrs) depicting the 1555 execution of Hugh Latimer and Nicholas Ridley at Oxford. While a Protestant martyrology and therefore polemical, it remains a key visual source for the Marian persecution and its reception. Extra contextual detail (e.g., background buildings) reflects the illustrator’s perspective rather than a photographic record. Source
Opposition to Marian Policies
While Mary restored Catholic worship, opposition emerged in both active and passive forms.
Protestant Resistance
Some Protestants went into exile, forming communities in Geneva, Frankfurt, and Zurich, which later fuelled Elizabethan Protestantism.
Others engaged in clandestine worship, maintaining underground Protestant networks within England.
Protestant texts were smuggled into the kingdom, sustaining resistance.
Popular Reactions
Public executions were meant to deter opposition but often provoked sympathy for martyrs.
Eyewitness accounts suggest crowds were sometimes moved emotionally by the victims’ steadfastness, reinforcing Protestant identity.
In London and the south-east, stronger Protestant traditions made enforcement more difficult.
Heresy Acts: Legislation reintroduced under Mary I that made the denial of Catholic doctrine punishable by death.
Local Unrest and Social Factors
Religious change often overlapped with social and economic pressures, intensifying local unrest.
Economic Discontent
Under both Edward and Mary, economic hardship magnified dissatisfaction.
Inflation, poor harvests, and rising rents contributed to instability, intertwining economic and religious grievances.
Rebellions Linked to Religion
Wyatt’s Rebellion (1554): While primarily political in opposing Mary’s marriage to Philip of Spain, it also reflected Protestant fears of Catholic dominance.
Local involvement reveals how religion could catalyse broader political dissent.
Regional Variation in Reactions
The degree of support or opposition depended heavily on geography and local tradition.
Strongholds of Catholicism
Northern counties and Cornwall retained deep attachment to traditional religion.
Rural parishes, isolated from reformist preaching, often complied willingly with Catholic restoration.
Centres of Protestantism
London, Kent, and East Anglia nurtured stronger Protestant sympathies, partly due to economic links with reformist Europe.
These regions experienced more overt resistance to Marian policies.
Catholic Restoration and Persecution
Mary’s persecution campaign between 1555 and 1558 created over 280 Protestant martyrs. The policy had significant local consequences.
Impact on Local Communities
Executions took place in market towns, aiming to display royal authority across regions.
Instead of instilling uniform obedience, many burnings strengthened local Protestant identities.
The spectacle of martyrdom was remembered in works such as Foxe’s Book of Martyrs, embedding opposition narratives into English memory.
Long-Term Effects
While Catholicism was briefly restored, its forced imposition and violent persecution created resentment in Protestant-leaning areas.
Local communities internalised these experiences, shaping responses to later Elizabethan religious settlements.
FAQ
Regional variation reflected cultural and linguistic differences as well as exposure to reformist ideas.
In Cornwall, the population spoke Cornish, making English services harder to accept.
London and East Anglia had greater contact with reformist Europe, where merchants and printers spread Protestant writings.
Rural parishes often clung to tradition, while urban centres were more receptive to innovation.
Economic pressures deepened unrest during both Edward’s and Mary’s reigns.
The dissolution of chantries removed funding for education and poor relief, angering communities reliant on this support. Rising inflation and taxation added to local discontent, meaning religious grievances often combined with economic hardship to fuel rebellion and opposition.
Parish churches were central to local identity, making them the focal point of religious change.
Removal of images, altars, and vestments disrupted centuries of custom.
Parish accounts reveal how some communities eagerly purchased English Bibles, while others secretly preserved Catholic items.
Disputes over whether to follow royal directives often divided neighbours, intensifying local tension.
These groups functioned discreetly to avoid persecution.
Secret gatherings were often held in private homes.
Illegal Protestant texts were smuggled from Europe, sometimes hidden in cargo.
Preachers operated covertly, moving between sympathetic households to keep reformist ideas alive.
Such networks ensured that Protestantism did not disappear despite harsh repression.
Executions were intended as deterrents but often backfired.
In towns where burnings took place, memories of martyrdom became embedded in local culture. Communities preserved stories of individuals who died for their faith, sometimes associating sites of execution with later Protestant identity.
This collective memory was reinforced by John Foxe’s Book of Martyrs, which turned local experiences into a national narrative of persecution.
Practice Questions
Question 1 (2 marks)
Name one reason why the Western Rebellion of 1549 broke out and one way in which local people showed opposition to the Edwardian Prayer Book.
Mark Scheme:
1 mark for a valid reason for the outbreak (e.g., resistance to the 1549 Book of Common Prayer, defence of traditional Latin Mass, resentment at loss of chantries).
1 mark for a valid form of local opposition (e.g., active participation in rebellion in Devon and Cornwall, slogans demanding restoration of Catholic practices, priests leading resistance).
Question 2 (6 marks)
Explain two ways in which local communities reacted to Mary I’s restoration of Catholicism.
Mark Scheme:
Award up to 3 marks for each valid way explained.
1 mark for identifying a valid reaction.
1 mark for providing supporting detail/evidence.
1 mark for explaining the significance/impact of this reaction.
Examples:
Some parishes enthusiastically restored altars, images, and vestments (1), as shown by parish fundraising records (1), reflecting grassroots enthusiasm for the Catholic restoration (1).
Protestants resisted by forming exile communities on the Continent (1), such as in Geneva or Frankfurt (1), ensuring that Protestant ideas continued to develop and later influenced Elizabethan England (1).
Executions of Protestant martyrs provoked sympathy (1), with eyewitness accounts recording crowd reactions (1), strengthening Protestant identity despite government attempts to enforce conformity (1).
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