ABSTRACT
Supporters of the pilgrimage of grace declared their grievances through a variety of physical acts: for example, by restoring religious houses; by disrupting church services; by refusing to pay taxes, rents and tithes; by pulling down enclosures; by sporting badges and banners; by placing priests carrying crosses at the head of their armies.1 Yet the uprising was much more than a succession of deeds. Its most distinctive feature is the quantity, elaborateness and explicitness of the Pilgrims’ written complaint. This extensive documentation comprises four types of statement: first, circulars to drum up support, notably muster proclamations, manifestos, rumourmongering bills, justificatory prophecies and rousing rhymes; secondly, the oaths and orders issued to bind and direct this support; thirdly, petitions to declare grievances and to propose remedy to the government; and fourthly, personal accounts of the uprising, the work of participants and other eye-witnesses. Thanks to it, a great deal is revealed about the people of the early Tudor north and their attitude to government, religion, region, landownership and society.
