Today in 1537 Robert Aske was executed. He was one of the leaders of the Pilgrimage of Grace, which spread throughout the north of England, and was the largest rebellion that Henry VIII had to deal with in his reign. It was actually three separate rebellions, and was a reaction to the reformation, as well as complaints against economic issues.
There were rumours spreading that with all the changes in religion strange things would happen like there would be no more white meat available to commoners. It was a time of great change with the Dissolution of the Monasteries, which had provided education, medicine, and hospitality throughout England. People were also coming in and destroying relics, which had meant so much to the local communities. They were so far away from the center of power, and it was hard to get news of what was actually happening.
At one point the rebellion reached 40,000 people, and Henry was forced to negotiate with the leaders to buy time. He actually invited Robert Aske to spend the Christmas holidays with him, but when Aske went back north, more fighting broke out, giving Henry the excuse he needed to take decisive action and execute Aske, who was killed today, July 12.
That’s your Tudor Minute for today. Remember you can dive deeper into life in 16th century England through the Renaissance English History Podcast at englandcast.com.
Suggested links:
Episode 052: Rebellions Part 2
Episode 051: Rebellions One
From my shop:
Women’s “Eat, Sleep, Tudor, Repeat” short sleeve t-shirt
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Heather Teysko is the creator, writer, and producer of The Renaissance English History Podcast,  one of the longest running indie history podcasts, going since 2009. She's been writing about history online for over 25 years, since her first site on Colonial American history became number one in history on Yahoo in 1998. She writes books, created the original Tudor Planner (a yearly diary filled with Tudor history) and in 2019 created the world's first Tudorcon (you can "attend" online this year!). She has been passionate about Tudor England since she first read Alison Weir's The Six Wives of Henry VIII 20 years ago, and subsequently moved to London after college to spend her time immersed in Tudor history.