ABSTRACT
If one describes Tudor rebellions, at first sight it seems strange that anyone bothered to rebel: the record of failure looks so consistent, the odds seem so heavy. However, this ignores the truth of Sir John Harington’s maxim:
Successful Tudor rebellions have been ignored precisely because they were successful. There were in fact four. The first was Henry VII’s takeover in 1485, the second was the rejection of the Amicable Grant in 1525, the third was the overthrow of Protector Somerset in 1549 and the fourth was Princess Mary’s seizure of power in 1553. There is one obvious fact about these successes: they all occurred in the first half of the Tudor age. In fact Elizabeth I had to face far fewer rebellions than her predecessors, and none of them deflected her from her chosen policies. She bequeathed to her successor King James one of the most trouble-free kingdoms in Europe, which was a pleasant change for James, after forty years of coping with Scotland. What was the secret of Elizabeth’s success? Was it in fact thanks to her?
