Exam

DBQ


Commoners still liked the king, but were not fond of Thomas Cromwell. 
People felt that they had to fight for themselves, that nothing would get done if they didn't do it. 
The people wished for the king to listen to them, and they had many things to ask and tell him. 
Pilgrimage of Grace was not peaceful, many were convicted of treason. 


During the reign of King Henry VIII he made himself the head of the Anglican Church. Thomas Cromwell then instituted many new laws and regulations that had to be followed. The people of England were not happy with Thomas Cromwell's decisions and organized the Pilgrimage of Grace to try and return England to what it had once been. The people felt that they had been betrayed by their most beloved leader. If no one would help them they would have to help themselves. The members of the Pilgrimage of Grace wanted the King to have full power over their state, yet felt that they could do well on their own, but those who were opposed to the movement felt that the people of the Pilgrimage of Grace should be imprisoned.

The protesters of the new laws put into effect by Thomas Cromwell took an oath before they were accepted into the Pilgrimage called the "Oath of Honorable Men". This oath states, "You shall not enter into our Pilgrimage of Grace for worldly gain. Do so only for your love of God,... for the purification of all nobility" (Doc. 1). The members of the march believed that what they were doing was for the good of the state, and that they were doing it for God. The goals of the protesters are outlined in a petition to the King's Council. It says, "We humbly beseech our most Sovereign King...to have Thomas Cromwell... punished as a subverter of the good laws of this realm" (Doc. 5). Document 6, an anonymous pamphlet, stated that the people wanted Thomas Cromwell exiled from England. The people wanted to see Thomas Cromwell out of power, and have the King take over his position, instead of being the head of the Church. The people thought of King Henry VIII to be just under God, and knew that he could make their world a peaceful one.

The people who made up the Pilgrimage of Grace believed that if their goals of having Henry put back into a position of absolute power, they would have to take it upon themselves to get the job done. The Marcher's Proclamation stated, "Because the rulers of this country do not defend us from being robbed by thieves and Scots we have to rely on charity, faith, poverty, and pity" (Doc. 2). The people were slowly losing faith in their rulers and felt that they would have to rely on their own powers if they wanted to have a chance of being a part of a successful nation. There was also a ballad that outlined that the people feared would happen if King Henry did not fix the problems. It reads, "Robbed, spoiled and and shorn of cattle and corn" (Doc. 4). The people thought they their villages would be pillaged if King Henry did not abolish the laws of Cromwell.

Even though the Pilgrimage of Grace had many followers, there were still some supporters of Cromwell who had their own points of view on the matter. Richard Morrison wrote, "An order must be had and a way found so that the better rule the rest" (Doc. 7). He is referencing Thomas Cromwell and how he is a better ruler than Henry ever could have been. King Henry himself commented on the Pilgrimage of Faith. He proclaimed, "You have given comfort to your enemies the Scots, to the high displeasure of God" (Doc. 9). He told his subjects that they had done exactly the opposite of what they wanted and also displeased God. They did not want this to be so, and they were discouraged.

The Pilgrimage of Grace was a prime example of how the people loved their ruler to the end. They wanted to see him have absolute power and could not stand to see anyone else try and institute new laws. They were outraged. People took different sides and conflicts arose. People were imprisoned and many others faced horrible consequences. The members of the Pilgrimage feared that their country was going to be shattered. They were only doing what they thought was right, and what they thought would benefit the common good.