John Hussey

John Hussey, the elder son of Sir William Hussey and his wife, Elizabeth Berkeley Hussey, was born in Sleaford, Lincolnshire, in 1465. According to his biographer, Richard Hoyle: "He had a younger brother, Sir William Hussey, a courtier and MP. While it would not be unreasonable to infer that he attended the inns of court, nothing specific is known on this point, nor of his early life generally except that he was appointed surveyor of the Lincolnshire lands of George, duke of Clarence, on 12 June 1481." (1) Hussey fought for Henry VII against the rebels supporting the pretender Lambert Simnel in 1487. (2)

Hussey married Margaret Blount on 4th August 1492. The couple had two sons but after Margaret's death he remarried Anne Grey. (3) He was a loyal soldier to Henry VIII and was knighted after the Battle of Blackheath in 1497. Hussey commanded the rearguard in the war against France in 1513. Lord Hussey was also employed on various diplomatic missions, most notably as envoy to Emperor Charles V. Hussey was also asked to make representations to Pope Clement VII during his attempt to gain a divorce from Catherine of Aragon. (4)

Lord John Hussey and Henry VIII

In June 1521 Lord Hussey was appointed as chief butler of England. He also Star Chamber cases under Cardinal Thomas Wolsey. He also served as a member of the House of Commons. In 1529 he was elevated to the House of Lords as Baron Hussey. After the Dissolution of the Monasteries Hussey acquired a large number of monastic leases. His total annual income, before costs, was over £1,000. (5)

Lord Hussey gradually became disillusioned with the religious policies of Henry VIII. Like many Roman Catholics he was especially critical of Thomas Cromwell. In September 1534 he had a discussion with Eustace Chapuys and urged him to encourage King Charles V "to intervene in England" and place Henry's daughter, Mary, on the throne. Lord Hussey had served as Mary's chamberlain and his wife, Lady Anne Hussey had formed a deep attachment to the young woman, but made the mistake of referring to her as "Princess", which was a forbidden word as far as Henry was concerned and she was sent to the Tower of London for a few months before being released. (6)

Hussey put Chapuys in contact with Thomas Darcy. According to Richard Hoyle: "Darcy believed that Henry could be overthrown if Charles would land in the Thames estuary and the north. Darcy and Hussey were clearly in cahoots, and Darcy at least thought that they might be able to call on the support of other older noblemen among their circle. Nothing came from these private conversations, but Hussey's wife was indiscreet in her support for Mary, persisting in calling her Princess Mary, and she suffered a short period of imprisonment during the summer of 1536 as punishment." (7)

Pilgrimage of Grace

On 28th September 1536, the King's commissioners for the suppression of monasteries arrived to take possession of Hexham Abbey and eject the monks. They found the abbey gates locked and barricaded. "A monk appeared on the roof of the abbey, dressed in armour; he said that there were twenty brothers in the abbey armed with guns and cannon, who would all die before the commissioners should take it." The commissioners retired to Corbridge, and informed Thomas Cromwell of what had happened. (8)

The following month disturbances took place at the market town of Louth in Lincolnshire. The rebels captured local officials and demanded the arrest of leading Church figures they considered to be heretics. This included Archbishop Thomas Cranmer and Bishop Hugh Latimer. They wrote a letter to Henry VIII claiming that they had taken this action because they were suffering from "extreme poverty". (9) Soon the whole of Lincolnshire was up in arms. (10)

Thomas Cromwell — The Beginning of the Pilgrimage of Grace in Lincoln in 1537.

Hussey was at his house at Sleaford on 2nd October 1536 when reports reached him about the disturbance at Louth. His immediate reaction was to organise against the rebels. He ordered the breaking down of bridges and opening of sluices to stop the passage of people into East Anglia. However, most of the people Hussey tried to reach either had fled or were under house arrest. "Hussey offered to ride to the king and plead for their pardon if they would submit, a suggestion which they refused. It was also reported that at this meeting Hussey refused to betray Henry by joining the rebels, but he also admitted that he was impotent to resist them because his tenants would not serve against them." (11) Geoffrey Moorhouse has argued that "Hussey certainly behaved from the outset like someone who was not at all sure which side he proposed to back." However, he refused to join the king's army being assembled in Nottinghamshire. (12)

The rebellion spread to Yorkshire. People joined what became known as the Pilgrimage of Grace for a variety of different reasons. Derek Wilson, the author of A Tudor Tapestry: Men, Women & Society in Reformation England (1972) has argued: "It would be incorrect to view the rebellion in Yorkshire, the so-called Pilgrimage of Grace, as purely and simply an upsurge of militant piety on behalf of the old religion. Unpopular taxes, local and regional grievances, poor harvests as well as the attack on the monasteries and the Reformation legislation all contributed to the creation of a tense atmosphere in many parts of the country". (13)

Within a few days, 40,000 men had risen in the East Riding and were marching on York. (14) Their leader, Robert Aske called on his men to take an oath to join "our Pilgrimage of Grace" for "the commonwealth... the maintenance of God's Faith and Church militant, preservation of the King's person and issue, and purifying of the nobility of all villein's blood and evil counsellors, to the restitution of Christ's Church and suppression of heretics' opinions". (15) Aske published a declaration obliging "every man to be true to the king's issue, and the noble blood, and preserve the Church of God from spoiling". (16)

Henry VIII summoned Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, out of retirement. Norfolk, although he was 63, was the country's best soldier. Norfolk was also the leading Roman Catholic and a strong opponent of Thomas Cromwell and it was hoped that he was a man who the rebels would trust. Norfolk was able to raise a large army but he had doubts about their reliability and suggested to the King that he should negotiate with Aske. (17)

Thomas Darcy, Robert Constable and Francis Bigod took part in negotiations with Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk. He tried to persuade them and the other Yorkshire nobles and gentlemen to regain the King's favour by handing over Robert Aske. However, they refused and Norfolk returned to London and suggested to Henry that the best strategy was to offer a pardon to all the northern rebels. When the rebel army had dispersed the King could arrange for its leaders to be punished. Henry eventually took this advice and on 7th December, 1536, he granted a pardon to everyone north of Doncaster who had taken part in the rebellion. Henry also invited Aske to London to discuss the grievances of the people of Yorkshire. (18)

Robert Aske spent the Christmas holiday with Henry at Greenwich Palace. When they first met Henry told Aske: "Be you welcome, my good Aske; it is my wish that here, before my council, you ask what you desire and I will grant it." Aske replied: "Sir, your majesty allows yourself to be governed by a tyrant named Cromwell. Everyone knows that if it had not been for him the 7,000 poor priests I have in my company would not be ruined wanderers as they are now." Henry gave the impression that he agreed with Aske about Thomas Cromwell and asked him to prepare a history of the previous few months. To show his support he gave him a jacket of crimson silk. (19)

Arrest and Execution

Following the agreement to disband the rebel army in December 1536, Francis Bigod began to fear that Henry VIII would seek revenge on its leaders. Bigod accused Robert Aske and Thomas Darcy of betraying the Pilgrimage of Grace. On 15th January 1537, Bigod launched another revolt. He assembled his small army with a plan to attack Hull. Aske agreed to return to Yorkshire and assemble his men to defeat Bigod. He then joined up with Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, and his army made up of 4,000 men. Bigod was easily defeated and after being captured on 10th February, 1537, was imprisoned in Carlisle Castle. (20)

On 24th March, Robert Aske, Thomas Darcy and Robert Constable were asked by the Duke of Norfolk to return to London in order to have a meeting with Henry VIII. They were told that the King wanted to thank them for helping to put down the Bigod rebellion. On their arrival they were all arrested and sent to the Tower of London. (21) It was also decided to arrest Lord John Hussey and he was tried for treason on 15th May 1537. This not only involved his failure to deal with the uprising but his attempts at conspiracy with Lord Darcy in September 1534.

Lord John Hussey was found guilty and executed in Lincoln on 29th June, 1537.

Primary Sources

(1) Richard Hoyle, John Hussey : Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (2004-2014)

Hussey was at his house at Sleaford when reports reached him from Edward Fiennes de Clinton, ninth Baron Clinton, of the disturbance at Louth on 2 October and from George Heneage, dean of Lincoln, the following morning. Later that same day he also had a letter from a JP, Thomas Moigne, written in ignorance of the capture of a large number of gentry at Caistor after Moigne had left them, but trying to arrange a meeting to resist the commons. Hussey attempted to call his own meetings of the local gentry to assess the situation; he also ordered a mobilization against the commons and the breaking down of bridges and opening of sluices to stop the passage of people into East Anglia. However, most of the people Hussey tried to reach either had fled or were under house arrest at Louth. The Louth commons sent him a letter written in the name of the gentry on 4 October telling him to throw in his lot with them or threatening to come to Sleaford and take Hussey as their enemy. Hussey also established contact with the secondary rising at Horncastle and met a delegation from the town during 4 October...

While Hussey has been seen to vacillate in these days, his language shows that he had no truck with the commons. In his letter to Heneage, which fell into the hands of the commons at Louth, he referred to them as rebels: he told the Horncastle commons that they should "walk home knaves, for the king is used not to condition with no such rebellious". He offered to ride to the king and plead for their pardon if they would submit, a suggestion which they refused. It was also reported that at this meeting Hussey refused to betray Henry by joining the rebels, but he also admitted that he was impotent to resist them because his tenants would not serve against them.