The Mid-Tudor Crisis 1547–1558

The period between Henry VIII's death in January 1547 and Elizabeth I's accession in November 1558 has traditionally been characterised as a "mid-Tudor crisis" — an era of weak government, religious turmoil, economic distress, and social unrest. Two child or controversial monarchs (Edward VI and Mary I), two powerful protectors, and dramatic reversals of religious policy make this one of the most turbulent periods in Tudor history. Yet revisionist historians have questioned whether "crisis" is the right word.

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Edward VI and the Duke of Somerset 1547–1549

Edward VI was nine years old when he became king on 28 January 1547. Government was conducted by a regency council, quickly dominated by Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset (the king's maternal uncle), who assumed the title of Lord Protector.

Somerset's Character and Policies

Aspect	Detail
Title	Lord Protector of the Realm and Governor of the King's Person
Character	Idealistic, arrogant, and politically inept; styled himself as a champion of the common people
Scottish policy	Invaded Scotland and won the Battle of Pinkie (September 1547), but the expensive occupation that followed achieved nothing; the young Mary Queen of Scots was sent to France
Religious policy	Pursued a cautiously Protestant programme
Social policy	Sympathetic to the poor; established commissions against enclosure led by John Hales

Religious Changes Under Somerset

Reform	Detail
Repeal of the Six Articles	Removed the conservative religious legislation of Henry VIII's final years
Dissolution of the chantries	The Chantries Act (1547) dissolved chantries, confiscating endowments meant to fund prayers for the dead — a rejection of the doctrine of purgatory
First Book of Common Prayer	Introduced in 1549 through the Act of Uniformity; replaced Latin services with English; deliberately ambiguous on the Eucharist to accommodate different views
Clergy allowed to marry	A significant Protestant reform reversing the celibacy requirement
Removal of images	Injunctions ordered the removal of "superstitious" images from churches

Key Definition: A chantry was an endowment that funded a priest to say masses for the soul of the founder and their family, accelerating their passage through purgatory. The dissolution of the chantries was both a financial measure (raising approximately £600,000) and a doctrinal statement against purgatory.

The Western Rising (Prayer Book Rebellion) 1549

The introduction of the English Prayer Book provoked rebellion in Devon and Cornwall.

Aspect	Detail
Cause	The new English Prayer Book was imposed on Whitsunday 1549; in Devon and Cornwall, many parishioners spoke Cornish rather than English and resented the changes
Demands	Restoration of the Latin Mass, the Six Articles, and traditional Catholic ceremonies; the rebels famously complained that the new service was "like a Christmas game"
Size	Approximately 6,000 rebels besieged Exeter for five weeks
Suppression	Lord Russell with foreign mercenaries defeated the rebels; approximately 4,000 killed
Significance	Demonstrated that religious change "from above" could provoke violent resistance; the rebellion was primarily religious in motivation

Kett's Rebellion 1549

Simultaneously, a very different rebellion erupted in Norfolk.

Aspect	Detail
Leader	Robert Kett, a prosperous tanner and landowner
Cause	Primarily economic: enclosure of common land, rack-renting, and abuse of manorial rights by landlords
Character	The rebels were orderly and disciplined; they held courts, maintained order, and sought legal redress rather than revolution
Size	Approximately 16,000 rebels camped on Mousehold Heath outside Norwich
Demands	An end to enclosures; reform of local government; better protection of tenants' rights
Suppression	The Earl of Warwick (John Dudley) defeated the rebels at the Battle of Dussindale with professional troops including Italian mercenaries; Kett was hanged

Exam Tip: The simultaneous rebellions of 1549 revealed Somerset's fundamental weakness as a governor. He sympathised with the Norfolk rebels' grievances (he had himself promoted anti-enclosure commissions) but could not maintain order. Diarmaid MacCulloch argues that Somerset's personal sympathies actually encouraged rebellion by raising expectations he could not fulfil.

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The Duke of Northumberland 1549–1553

John Dudley, Earl of Warwick (later Duke of Northumberland), overthrew Somerset in October 1549 and became the effective head of government.

Aspect	Somerset	Northumberland
Title	Lord Protector	Lord President of the Council (avoided the provocative Protector title)
Style	Idealistic, populist	Pragmatic, efficient, authoritarian
Finance	Reckless spending on war	Restored financial stability; reformed the coinage
Religion	Cautious Protestantism	More radical Protestantism
Reputation	Traditionally sympathetic; the "Good Duke"	Traditionally villainous; but rehabilitated by revisionist historians

Religious Changes Under Northumberland

Reform	Detail
Second Book of Common Prayer (1552)	Far more Protestant than the first: the Eucharist was clearly described as a memorial, not a sacrifice; the Black Rubric denied the real presence of Christ in the bread and wine
Forty-Two Articles (1553)	A Protestant confession of faith, largely the work of Archbishop Cranmer
Ordinal (1550)	A new form for ordaining clergy, removing Catholic references to sacrifice
Destruction of altars	Stone altars replaced by wooden communion tables, symbolising the Protestant rejection of the Mass as sacrifice

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The Lady Jane Grey Crisis 1553

As Edward VI lay dying of tuberculosis in 1553 (aged 15), Northumberland attempted to alter the succession.