William Thirsk

William Thirsk was educated at Oxford University where he graduated in 1523. He was elected Abbot of Fountains Abbey in 1526.

In January 1535, Thomas Cromwell was appointed as Vicar-General. This made him the King's deputy as Supreme Head of the Church. In September he suspended the authority of every bishop in the country so that the six canon lawyers he had appointed as his agents could complete their surveys of the monasteries. (1)

Cromwell provided his agents with eighty-six questions. This included: "Whether the divine service was kept up, day and night, in the right hours?"; "Whether they (monks) kept company with women, within or without the monastery?"; "Whether they had any boys lying by them?; "Whether any of the brethren were incorrigible?" "Whether you do wear your religious habit continually, and never leave it off but when you go to bed?" (2)

According to David Starkey: "Their subsequent reports concentrated on two areas: the sexual failings of the monks, on which subject the visitors managed to combine intense disapproval with lip-smacking detail, and the false miracles and relics, of which they gave equally gloating accounts." (3)

Cromwell was shocked when the reports came back. It was claimed that William Thirsk was guilty of "theft and sacrilege, stealing and selling the valuables of the abbey and wasting the wood, cattle, etc of the estates". He was also claimed that he kept "six whores". (4) Thirsk was replaced by Marmaduke Bradley in 1536 who was a "right apt man" for the post.

In 1536, a lawyer named Robert Aske formed an army to defend the monasteries in Yorkshire. The rebels were joined by priests carrying crosses and banners. This included William Thirsk. (5) Leading nobles in the area also began to give their support to the rebellion. The rebels marched to York and demanded that the monasteries should be reopened. This march, which contained over 30,000 people, became known as the Pilgrimage of Grace. (6)

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.

In February, 1537, Bigod's men arrived at Jervaulx Abbey asking for help. Abbot Adam Sedbar gave them money for drink, and suggested they visited William Thirsk, the abbot of Fountains Abbey. (7) Bigod army was easily defeated and after being captured on 10th February, 1537, was imprisoned in Carlisle Castle. (8)

William Thirsk was arrested and tried on a charge of treason and was executed at Tyburn in June, 1537. (9)

Primary Sources

(1) Peter Ackroyd, Tudors (2012)

There were in all eighty-six questions... "Whether the divine service was kept up, day and night, in the right hours?"; "Whether they (monks) kept company with women, within or without the monastery?"; "Whether they had any boys lying by them?; "Whether any of the brethren were incorrigible?" "Whether you do wear your religious habit continually, and never leave it off but when you go to bed?"...

One prior was accused of preaching treason and was forced to his knees before he confessed. The abbot of Foundations kept six whores... The canons of Leicester Abbey were accused of buggery. The prior of Crutched Friars was found in bed with a woman at eleven o'clock on a Friday morning. The abbot of West Langdon was described as the "drunkenest knave living".