BattlefieldsCumberland Rising — Western Pilgrimage of Grace 1537
Tudor

Cumberland Rising — Western Pilgrimage of Grace 1537

1537
Cumberland, England
Era
Tudor
Battle Type
Pitched Battle
Location
Cumberland, England
Status
Unregistered
The Combatants

Who Fought

Defeated
Cumberland rebels
Forces
Royal force under Norfolk c.5,000
VS
Victor
Royal forces under Duke of Norfolk
Forces
Cumberland rebels c.3,500
Outcome
Cumberland rising suppressed by Norfolk; approximately 70 rebels executed including some in their own homes; Carlisle threatened but not taken; remaining rebel leaders captured and tried in London.
The Battle

History & Significance

Cumberland and Westmorland rose in a separate phase of the Pilgrimage of Grace in early 1537, independent of Bigod's East Riding revolt, driven by specific local grievances about tenant rights and monastic dissolution. The Cumberland rebels seized several local towers and briefly threatened Carlisle before Henry VIII's reprisal force under the Duke of Norfolk arrived to suppress the rising. The Cumberland rising was suppressed with considerable violence — several dozen rebels were hanged including some using their own doors and windows as gallows, in a deliberate act of local terror.

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