ABSTRACT
On Tuesday 14 November 1536 the King decided that the Pilgrims’ ambassadors must be sent back with some sort of answer, as the reports from the north showed that delay was not producing so good an effect as he had hoped. The Pilgrims’ suspicion had naturally been awakened by the network of royal plots which they discovered or half-discovered. They were no longer so sure as they had been in the beginning that the King was the fountain of honour, and that Norfolk was as straightforward as they were themselves. In spite of the delay in the Pilgrims’ answer, Norfolk and Fitzwilliam decided to continue their journey in order to review the royal troops, inspect the fortifications at Nottingham and Derby, and consult with Suffolk at Newark. On Tuesday 21 November the great council of the Pilgrims assembled at York.
