Rebellion and warfare in the Tudor state: military organisation, weaponry, and field tactics in mid-sixteenth century England

This thesis investigates the battles associated with rebellion in the Tudor state between 1549 and 1554, considering these actions as case studies for English warfare, rather than as internal policing operations. Evaluating such engagements in this fashion broadens the currently limited sample of battles fought in the sixteenth-century British Isles and provides an opportunity to assess the organisation, weaponry, and tactics of Tudor armies in the field. The thesis also makes use of methodologies of terrain reconstruction to ascertain the historic landscape in which these encounters occurred, building up a picture of their battlefield environment from cartographic and narrative source material. These reconstructions are then used to undertake detailed analysis of individual battles, beyond that which can be attempted using purely written accounts, discerning how opposing forces deployed and manoeuvred within the terrain. The first half of the thesis explores England’s available military resources, in terms of personnel and armaments, and establishes the way in which these assets were typically employed in battle. This forms a vital precursor to the case studies of subsequent chapters, illustrating the sources of recruitment upon which both loyalist and rebel forces could draw, as well as defining how English armies were equipped, and how they fought. The case studies themselves comprise the latter half of the thesis, with conclusions regarding the composition, requirements, and battlefield performance of Tudor armies being extrapolated from the outbreak and suppression of uprisings in Devon and Cornwall, Norfolk, and Kent. In each of these instances, insurgents conducted military campaigns that culminated in battles with government forces, furnishing a rich seam of information that can complement and enhance the study of warfare in this period.