Remembering Rebellion in the Tudor South West

Abstract This article explores how the five major rebellions which took place in Devon and Cornwall between 1485 and 1603 were subsequently remembered by the region’s inhabitants. It begins by demonstrating that – although early modern elites generally preferred to say as little as possible about episodes of popular protest once they had been safely suppressed – the revolts which had occurred under the Tudor monarchs went on to be officially memorialised in several South Western communities. The article then moves on to discuss how local gentlefolk looked back on the rebellions, and argues that such individuals tended, in their retrospective accounts, to exaggerate the degree of social radicalism which had been exhibited by the insurgents. Next, the article considers the few scraps of evidence which have survived about popular memories of the protests, and suggests that, while the specific grievances which had motivated the rebels may well have been quite quickly forgotten, the desperate courage with which they had fought – particularly during the Western Rising of 1549 – had continued to be remembered by the ordinary people of the region for decades to come. The fourth and last part of the article looks at ‘modern’ commemoration of the revolts and draws out some general conclusions.