The Prayer Book Rebellion

When the Reformation reached the parish

In 1549 the government of Edward the Sixth ordered a new English prayer book to be used in every parish church in the land. ⭐ In the West Country, ordinary people rose against it. The Prayer Book Rebellion shows the Reformation was not welcomed by everyone; it reached right into daily worship and was resisted. ⚠️ See why they resisted, and why they lost. This was a rising from below, and the strongest answers explain both what drove it and why such a rising could be crushed.

Religious grievances, and hardship

As with other risings, weigh a mix of causes. Hold the two together.

Order the course of the rising

Put the stages of the Prayer Book Rebellion into order.

• The new English prayer book is ordered for every parish
• People in the West Country refuse it and demand the old services back
• The rebels march and lay siege to Exeter
• Royal forces, including hired foreign soldiers, are sent against them
• The rising is crushed with heavy loss of life

What set the rebellion off

What set off the Prayer Book Rebellion of 1549?

• The new compulsory English prayer book, which replaced the familiar services and felt alien, especially in Cornish-speaking areas
• Anger that the Latin mass had been kept unchanged
• A demand for even more Protestant reform
• The closing of the monasteries that same year

Words for the rising

Five words that let you explain the rebellion, rather than just retell it.

Spot the grievances behind the rising

Three of these were grievances behind the Prayer Book Rebellion. Choose the three.

• The new English prayer book felt alien
• The loss of familiar old ceremonies
• Economic hardship and enclosure
• A demand for faster Protestant reform
• Anger that Latin services had been kept

A rising from below, and why that mattered

The sharpest answers see that this was a rebellion of ordinary parishioners, not great lords, and that this shaped both its meaning and its fate. As evidence, it is powerful. It shows that Edward changes to worship were radical enough to drive ordinary people to rise, so the Reformation was clearly not welcomed by all. As a rising, it was weak. Without noble or gentry leadership, and confined to one corner of the country, it could be isolated and then crushed by professional royal forces. That is why so many parish risings, however heartfelt, ended the same way.

Match each part of the story

Find the explanation of the failure

A student explains why the rising failed. Select the ONE sentence that gives the soundest reason.

• The rebellion was confined to one region and had no noble or gentry leaders, so royal forces could isolate it and crush it.
• The rebellion failed because nobody in the West Country actually cared about religion.
• The rebellion nearly overthrew Edward the Sixth and captured London.
• The rebellion had no causes that anyone can explain.

A worked example: one town against the capital

Imagine a single town that refuses a rule sent down from the capital, while every other town simply goes along with it. Because no other town joins in and no powerful figures back the protest, the authorities can send their whole force to that one place and put the protest down, however strongly the townspeople feel. Hold that idea. A protest can be heartfelt and even large locally, yet still be crushed if it stands alone, in one place, without powerful allies.

Complete the account of the rising

The new English service book of 1549 was the _____. The rising against it was the _____. It took hold in the _____, the region of Devon and Cornwall. Among the economic grievances was _____, the fencing off of common land. To pressure Exeter, the rebels laid a _____ to it.

Judge why the rising failed

Which is the soundest judgement on why the Prayer Book Rebellion failed?

• It was regional and lacked noble or gentry backing, so royal forces could isolate and crush it
• Nobody in the region really cared about the cause
• It actually succeeded and reversed the Reformation
• A foreign invasion defeated the rebels

What drove it, and why it lost

The strongest answers weigh why people rose against why the rising could not win.

Judge the rising like an examiner

You are marking three claims about the Prayer Book Rebellion. For each, choose the soundest judgement.

• An essay says the rebellion proves everyone welcomed the Reformation. Is that safe?
• An essay says the rising was purely about economics. Is that safe?
• An essay says it failed because the rebels were cowardly. Is that safe?

Write: why it rose, and why it failed

Why did the Prayer Book Rebellion happen, and why did it fail? Weigh the causes, explain the failure, and reach a judgement. This is written in English and is not auto-marked.

• Give the religious causes of the rising
• Give the economic grievances
• Explain what the rising shows about the Reformation
• Explain why the rising failed
• Reach a supported judgement