A Murderous Midsummer: The Western Rising of 1549

by Mark Stoyle

The fascinating story of the so-called “Prayer Book Rebellion” of 1549 which saw the people of Devon and Cornwall rise up against the Crown

The Western Rising of 1549 was the most catastrophic event to occur in Devon and Cornwall between the Black Death and the Civil War. Beginning as an argument between two men and their vicar, the rebellion led to a siege of Exeter, savage battles with Crown forces, and the deaths of 4,000 local men and women. It represents the most determined attempt by ordinary English people to halt the religious reformation of the Tudor period.

Mark Stoyle tells the story of the so-called “Prayer Book Rebellion” in full. Correcting the accepted narrative in a number of places, Stoyle shows that the government in London saw the rebels as a real threat. He demonstrates the importance of regional identity and emphasizes that religion was at the heart of the uprising. This definitive account brings to life the stories of the thousands of men and women who acted to defend their faith almost five hundred years ago.

Genres: History

501 pages, Hardcover

First published August 23, 2022

Reviews

[Debbie · Rating 5 out of 5]

In 'A Murderous Midsummer' Mark Stoyle offers a compelling new narrative of the Western Rising, a revolt that threatened the very heart of the Tudor regime and almost halted the English Reformation in its tracks.

While Stoyle states that much has previously been written on the subject, the Western Rising - otherwise known as the Prayer Book Rebellion - is an event of which many may only be peripherally aware. Perhaps because of the West Country's remoteness from English centres of power - then and now - the rising has never attracted the same attention as the likes of the Pilgrimage of Grace, or even of the contemporaneous East Anglian social protests of Kett and his followers. Yet Stoyle convincingly makes the point that it is at least as deserving of attention as either of the above, that it is not a niche subject that should be confined to the dustiest of library shelves and quietly forgotten, but rather that it shows how the English Reformation was built upon the shakiest of foundations, and could, so easily, have toppled - along with the regime that supported it.

This has been achieved through the author's thorough re-examination of all of the sources. In true revisionist fashion, Stoyle has left no stone unturned, but has followed the clues down every rabbit hole and through every looking glass, trusting nothing that has gone before. This dedication to the sources - many of which have been ignored by centuries of historians - has yielded some startling results that must, surely, change our opinions of the very essence of mid-sixteenth-century history as well as of the rising itself. This is academic history at its finest.

However, what must help to ensure that this new narrative of the rising goes beyond the confines of academia is that it is superbly written. It is pacy, yet explanative without being patronizing. It builds tension, it creates sympathy, it is as human as the characters in its pages who drive the events forward. If only more academics could bring this quality of research to this quality of style and narrative, the world would be a much better informed place.

[Owain · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stoyle has a good, scientific approach to his research into history going straight to primary sources where possible, it's unfortunate that more primary sources haven't come down to us - that's likely down to the repression carried out by the Crown across Devon and Cornwall - focused largely on the Church (Churches and other religious institutions would have been the main repositories of written evidence) and the turmoil between the 1500s and mid/late 1600s. Unfortunately the repression and loss of manuscripts and documents in Cornwall leaves a black hole in this period meaning Stoyle's account is Devon-centric.

The main failing of this book is the failure to fully address issues of the Cornish - undoubtedly they produced a huge amount of rebel soldiers towards the Catholic efforts, Stoyle mentions 'cultural and linguistic' differences that spurred the Cornish fervour for rebellion against the Govt. providing likely over 10,000 men towards the effort. Stoyle's main point is that the Rising also was instigated by Devon, however I think Stoyle neglects to say that Cornwall was in a very unruly state before the events in Devon with Govt officials being murdered by mobs in public and the author neglects to mention a very important event of 1548 in Cornwall - namely that of the sack of Glasney College and the pitched battle that happened there between Cornish soldiers and the Crown forces who came to undertake the 'dissolution' resulting in the death of thousands. This was undertaken by the English William Body who Stoyle does say was murdered in public in Helston - but completely neglects to include any mention of the events of Glasney. If the Cornish rose in the defence of Glasney (the centre of religion, learning and literature in Cornwall and the Cornish Language) then they were up in arms against the Crown a full year before anyone in Devon.

Also it's pertinent to mention that the men who ultimately became the rebel leaders were Cornish Lords and that whilst certain regions of Devon were collectively punished, it was Cornwall that was subjected to a widespread genocide that meant that Cornish people would foster ‘a fresh memory of their expulsion long ago by the English’ for generations likely feeding the Cornish national feeling into the 'Civil War' period.

[Ken Sampson · Rating 4 out of 5]

[30 May 2024 PB] An extremely detailed, meticulously researched account of what British History calls 'the Prayer Book rebellion' of 1549. Unbelievably, Henry VIII, once he got what he wanted from the reformation - control and fortunes - pretty much left people to get on with it. His successor, Edward VI, was only a boy when his father died and was therefore controlled by his Uncle, Edward Seymour, later the Duke of Somerset. He wanted to push further with suppressing Catholicism and its trappings. His New English Prayer book was imposed with Catastrophic results.

The book tells us the tale in almost day-by-day steps, it is an easy read and is suitable for the general reader and for those that are not historians. I like the way descriptions are tied to the evidence and if the interpretations are unclear, ambiguous or contentious he says so. There is some new evidence and some genuinely new ways of looking at things. This is therefore, in my opinion, the definitive account of the events of that summer of 1549.

He uses 'the western rising' as opposed to 'the prayer book rebellion' as he believes it was caused by wider issues. There are a couple of things for me that I queried. The rebellion may or may not have started in West Cornwall. He focuses on St Keverne, which he describes as on the Lizard Peninsular. The Lizard is a small village in a parish, which in turn, is a on the Meneage Peninsular. The other issue for me is his description of 'the Cornish at that time of being proud of their language and culture' as if they were then but are not now - well they still are and always have been. The major one is however a sense that he is/or maybe down-playing the ethnic and cultural oppression that occurred. Imagine any other people being told that they were legally not permitted to use their own language in their own land in their own religious ceremonies and you get the drift. This was - or it seems to most Cornish people today - the core of the rebellion or uprising. The English state violently imposed act of cultural oppression followed by genocide of a people to force them to adopt your language! In the 1970s, English Heritage was bizarrely permitted to look after Cornish heritage and its symbol was a Tudor Rose. Its signs were routinely vandalised, repeatedly, with mass support. Its signs were removed and dumped outside its offices in Bristol. So it seems the Tudors remained a hated dynasty in Cornwall well into the twentieth century. Today - uniquely - English Heritage does not put its logo on its signs in Cornwall.

A very interesting and informative read about a pivotal moment in English and Cornish history.

[Alan Bright · Rating 4 out of 5]

I did judge the book by its cover – and it looked fun and the title drew me in. I noted that it covered a time also known as The Prayer Book rebellion – and having become more familiar recently with the Prayer Book that also piqued my interest.

I learnt that the Cornish element of the uprising was partly because of the switch of church services from Latin to English. The intention was that the people could then understand the service – but what if you didn’t speak English, but rather Cornish, which was the case the further west one went?

There was also that people were simply used to Latin and felt that to be an attack on their religion. While, as a good evangelical, I have appreciated that the Reformation allowed people to read the Bible for themselves, perhaps I hadn’t appreciated how comforting the familiar (if Latin) words of the church services were to some.

I also noted light disparaging comments by the author towards some of the evangelicals in the story. Were there similar comments regarding adherents to the ‘old religion’? I didn’t keep a count and perhaps my feeling shows more of my own leanings rather than any authorial bias – none of us is neutral.

It was a good read but I certainly didn’t keep track of all the characters and events and how they all individually developed – did any reader?

[Martin Empson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mark Stoyle's book is the first new study of the Western Rising for many years, and he has found much new archival material to freshen a story that has often been told. Stoyle argues that the Rising was essentially just a religious rebellion, designed to challenge the furthering of the evangelical cause. In this sense he says there was little or no "social" aspect to the rebellion. Personally I only think this holds up if you crudely separate religious belief in the 16th century from wider social context. I'm writing a longer review of this elsewhere, but despite my disagreements with Stoyle's central argument - this is an excellent history, detailed, interesting and very readable. Sadly lack of archival material means we don't know enough about what motivated the common people to rebel, but Stoyle does his best to tell us.

[Paul Graham · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautifully researched and argued case for the fragility of England's government in 1549. And has certainly set me thinking about my own Devonshire ancestry, one member of which appears in the pages of the book.