Kent Academic Repository Full text document (pdf) Citation for published version Byrne, Katherine Elizabeth Mary (2018) Identity, Memory and Popular Politics in Sixteenth-Century Kent. Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) thesis, University of Kent,. DOI Link to record in KAR https://kar.kent.ac.uk/73246/ Document Version UNSPECIFIED Copyright & reuse Content in the Kent Academic Repository is made available for research purposes. Unless otherwise stated all content is protected by copyright and in the absence of an open licence (eg Creative Commons), permissions for further reuse of content should be sought from the publisher, author or other copyright holder. Versions of research The version in the Kent Academic Repository may differ from the final published version. Users are advised to check http://kar.kent.ac.uk for the status of the paper. Users should always cite the published version of record. Enquiries For any further enquiries regarding the licence status of this document, please contact: [email protected] If you believe this document infringes copyright then please contact the KAR admin team with the take-down information provided at http://kar.kent.ac.uk/contact.html Identity, Memory and Popular Politics in Sixteenth-Century Kent Katherine Elizabeth Mary Byrne A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Kent at Canterbury July 2018 Word Count: 98,863 1 Abstract This thesis is an investigation of social memory, the landscape, and identity in Tudor Kent, with the aim of obtaining a better understanding of popular politics in early modern England. By the end of Elizabeth’s reign, England was in a very different position to the England of Henry VII. In 1603 England was a Protestant nation, the state’s reach into the lives of its subjects was further than ever before, and popular rebellion on the scale of 1381 and 1549 had died out. Each of these changes would have had a significant impact on the commonalty. In order to understand the political lives of the common people of England, it is therefore important to explore their experiences. The way people remembered their lives, and the way that these memories were embedded in collective histories and written into the local landscape itself, were vital to the formation of identities, which in turn influenced their political associations and actions. The use of sociological and anthropological theories make it possible to look deeper into the way identity influenced political action, especially in an area where sources are scarce. This study of Kent, a county with a strong identity and a long history of popular rebellion, examines the overlapping identities available to its sixteenth century inhabitants. It looks at the way in which local layers of identity, based in customs, access to resources, and a relationship with the landscape, combined with external influences such as the Reformation or the Armada to form a variety of identities of different strengths in different contexts. The way in which these identities interacted with each other as well as with the political circumstances is shown to influence collective participation in protest action. Kent’s rebellious traditions, with the associated rhetoric and physical spaces, form another layer of identity to be called upon at certain times. The strength of the superordinate and subordinate identities of the Kentish people in such contexts is explored in order to understand the engagement in rebellion, as well as the decline of such engagement in the second half of the sixteenth century. By combining this with the labels applied to the people of Kent in chronicles, plays and other texts, which served to undermine identities such as Invicta, this thesis looks at the political ramifications of identity and memory in Kent. 2 Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................................................... 1 Contents .............................................................................................................................................. 2 Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................................. 3 Abbreviations ...................................................................................................................................... 4 Author’s Note...................................................................................................................................... 4 Introduction ......................................................................................................................................... 5 Chapter 1: Customs and Community ................................................................................................ 32 Chapter 2: External Influences on Local Politics: Politics ................................................................ 86 Chapter 3: External Influences on Local Politics: Religion ............................................................ 120 Chapter 4: Resistance and Rebellion .............................................................................................. 154 Chapter 5: Perceptions and Representations ................................................................................... 209 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................................... 253 Appendix A ..................................................................................................................................... 260 Appendix B ..................................................................................................................................... 261 Appendix C ..................................................................................................................................... 262 Bibliography ................................................................................................................................... 263 3 Acknowledgements This thesis would not have been possible without the support and guidance that I received from many people. First, I would like to say a massive thank you to my supervisor Dr David Grummitt for his patience, support and humour, for encouraging me to go for it in the first place, and for putting up with me for so long. Without your help and feedback it would not have been achievable. I also want to thank my second supervisor Professor Catherine Richardson for all her advice, as well as Dr Stuart Palmer, who after very kindly proofreading the whole thing deserves a medal, but will have to settle for my eternal gratitude. Sincere thanks also go to my examiners, Professor Andy Wood and Dr Amy Blakeway for their immensely helpful comments on this thesis. I appreciate the time other scholars have given me over the course of this project, particularly Dr Sheila Sweetinburgh and Dr Gillian Draper. I am very grateful to the University of Kent History Department for funding the first three years of my PhD, and I particularly want to thank Claire Taylor for her help throughout the last few years – with her cheerfulness and uncanny ability to help out in almost any situation she has made everything far less stressful than it could have been. Additionally, the staff of the National Archives, Kent History and Library Centre and Canterbury Cathedral Archives have proved invaluable to the completion of this thesis. I particularly want to thank Amanda Bevan of the National Archives for saving me months of time with her help with documents on concealed lands and STAC 5. Completing this project would have been impossible without the constant support and friendship of colleagues at UKC and CCCU. First, thanks must go to Daniella Gonzalez, who has helped me out in a variety of different ways from the beginning. I am also very grateful to Peter Keeling, Dr Sara Wolfson, Dr Aske Brocke, Evana Downes, Philippa Mesiano, Anne Le Baigue, Hannah Lilly, Celia Mill – your company, stimulating conversations and endless cups of tea made it possible to write without going mad. Special thanks go to my family. My parents, Claire and Julian, have supported me throughout it all, and my siblings Becca, Molly and Tom might be hooligans but are generally alright. I want to also thank Molly for reading through some of these chapters. Thanks also go to close friends outside of academia, Laura and Emmanuel McLaughlin, Victoria Overton, Claire Wynn and Luke Meyer- Bejdl, for constantly being there, and generally making sure I survived to submit. To all those I haven’t mentioned but who have been so understanding and supportive over the last few years, thank you. 4 Abbreviations APC Acts of the Privy Council of England, ed. J. R. Dasent, 32 vols (London, 1890-1907) Arch. Cant. Archeologia Cantiana CCA Canterbury Cathedral Library and Archives Clark, Society Peter Clark, English Provincial Society from the Reformation to the Revolution (Hassocks, 1977) ESRO East Sussex Record Office, Brighton HMC, Twelfth Twelfth Report of the Royal Commission on Historical Manuscripts, Appendix, Part IV, The Manuscripts of his Grace and the Duke of Rutland, GCB, Preserved at Belvoir Castle, vol. I, ed. H. C. Maxwell Lyte (London, 1888) KHLC Kent History and Library Centre, Maidstone SHC Surrey History Centre, Woking TNA The National Archives, Kew Author’s Note Quotations are given in the original spelling, but standard contractions are silently