We say our sovereign lord may understand that his false council has lost his law, his merchandise is lost, his common people is destroyed, the sea is lost, France is lost, the king himself is so set that he may not pay for his meat nor drink, and he owes more than ever any King of England ought, for daily his traitors about him where anything should come to him by his laws, anon they take it from him.[1]
In 1450, Jack Cade and many other Englishmen rallied together to address their concerns about King Henry VI’s leadership. Following failed military campaigns as part of the Hundred Years War, the country spiralled into significant debt and there was a general fear of foreign invasion. This coupled with increasing taxation and the perceived corruption of the king’s key advisors meant that tensions began to rise amongst ordinary working people. In response to this, Cade put together a Proclamation of Grievances which was sent to the king. They believed the king was acting ‘above his laws to his pleasure’ and was being guided by untrustworthy advisors. Furthermore, Cade expressed sympathies with Richard, Duke of York, who was a rival for the English crown.[2] The people of Kent were also fearful of being blamed for the death of the Duke of Suffolk, who was mysteriously killed on his way into exile. All of these concerns emphasis how the lower classes had lost all faith in their king and felt it was time for reform.
However, the king did not address Cade’s manifesto, motivating the rebels to march on London. In May 1450, Cade and his men began to band together and move towards the city and by 11th June, the rebels had set up camp at Blackheath. Henry VI sent a small posse, led by Sir Humphrey and William Stafford, to ensure the groups dispersion. As the historian I. M. W. Harvey recognises, the king’s army had underestimated the rebels, as they encountered some of them at Sevenoaks, which led to both the Staffords and some forty men being killed.[3] The rebellion grew beyond Kent, into the capital, and throughout the South of England. On 29th June, William Aiscough, bishop of Salisbury, was murdered by rebels in Wiltshire as he fled London.[4] Aiscough had been a close associate of Henry VI and the king sought refuge once he heard of his death.
Finally, on 3rd July, Cade and his rebels entered London. They began ‘to riful and robbe’, causing chaos throughout the city.[5] Actively seeking the king’s corrupt officials, they captured and held a mock trial for James Fiennes, 1st Baron Saye and Sele, and his son-in-law, William Crowmer. Once they were found guilty, they were executed and their heads paraded around the city:
they toke the hede of Croumer and pyght it vpon a pole, and soo entred agayne the cytie wit y heddes of the lordes Saye and of Croumer; and as they passed the stretes, ioyned the poles togyder, & caused eyther deed mouth to kysse other dyuerse and many tymes[6]
After days of uncontrollable and riotous behaviour, the citizens of London were angry and wanted to be rid of the rebels. On 5th July, when Cade’s men returned to Southwark for the evening, the citizens of London planned to close the bridge. However, Cade heard of their plans and rallied his men. He also released the prisoners from Kings Bench and Marchalsea to increase his numbers.[7] A vicious street fight ensued, lasting all night before the citizens of the city and Cade’s men reached a truce. A general pardon was offered to Cade and his followers on 7th July, asserting that anyone holding such a pardon would go untouched by the king’s justices, escheators, sheriffs, coroners, or bailiffs.[8] However, Cade quickly left London after the negotiations, suggesting he was suspicious of this offer. Not long after, the royal pardons were made invalid and 1,000 marks were offered for whoever turned Cade in. Furthermore, 500 marks were offered to anyone bringing in one of Cade’s chief councillors, and ten marks were offered for the taking of any of his followers.[9] The Crown had betrayed the rebels by going against their promise and they soon started searching for Cade and his followers.
Cade was eventually arrested on 13th July, but he died on his way to London. Once his body arrived in the city, he was beheaded and his head set on London Bridge. However, much like the Great Revolt of 1381, the death of their leader would not ensure the end of the rebels’ antics. The king sought to root out all of the remaining rebels, sending his men out to Kent to find out who had been accessories to the event. This search led to eight men being judged and executed in one day.[10]
The legacy of Cade’s Rebellion lived on as a defining moment in Henry VI’s downfall and the start of the Yorkist uprising. Shakespeare included the revolt in his play, Henry VI, Part 2, where Cade is presented as the puppet of Richard, Duke of York, who orders him to stage a rebellion. While it is merely speculation that York was connected to Cade and the rebellion, the event demonstrated why many in England supported the Yorkist cause. It took over ten years, but, finally, in 1461, Edward, Duke of York, was crowned King of England. Yet, the country remained divided throughout the Wars of the Roses, as demonstrated by Henry VI’s return to the throne in 1470. England would not be united until the two houses were joined together through the marriage of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York in 1486.
By Elena Rossi. Elena is an MA medieval Studies student at Royal Holloway and a Citizens Project intern.
[1] https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/source/1450jackcade.asp
[2] https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/source/1450jackcade.asp
[3] I. M. W. Harvey, Jack Cade’s Rebellion of 1450 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1991), p. 84.
[4] Ibid,, p. 86
[5] A Chronicle of London, 1189–1483, ed. N. H. Nicolas and E. Tyrell (London, 1827), p. 136.
[6] Fabyan Robert, The New Chronicles of England and France, ed. by Ellis Henry (London, 1811), p. 624.
[7] ‘Gregory’s Chronicle: 1435-1450’, in The Historical Collections of a Citizen of London in the Fifteenth Century, ed. James Gairdner (London, 1876), pp. 177-196. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/camden-record-soc/vol17/pp177-196 [accessed 7 August 2019].
[8] Harvey, p. 97.
[9] Harvey, p. 98.
[10] The Brut, or the Chronicles of England, ed. F. W. D. Brie, ii. (Early English Text Society, 136, 1908), p. 519.
