ABSTRACT
The rebellion in Yorkshire in April 1489 arose from the efforts of the fourth Percy Earl of Northumberland, who was Lieutenant General of the Middle and Eastern Marches, to collect the subsidy for that year. This was a new levy, which had been granted by parliament to enable Henry VII to intervene on behalf of Brittany against the French crown (Hicks, 1986: 51-2). Northumberland heard of a gathering of people from Cleveland who were resolved to protest, and he marched to meet them; he was assassinated near Thirsk – the only person killed in the entire rising (Hicks, 1986: 44). The growing armed crowds which coalesced under the leadership of Sir John Egremont galvanised the king into raising a large army to march north. The massive scale of his reaction unnerved the rebels, who dispersed as the advance guard under Thomas Howard, Earl of Surrey arrived at York, and further action became unnecessary (Bennett, 1990: 38-41, 52-5).
