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On August 27, 1549, at the Battle of Dussindale, John Dudley Earl of Warwick destroyed Robert Kett's army ending Kett's rebellion in Norfolk, England. An excerpt from the article:
"THE BATTLE
Up to this point there had been civility in the proceedings, and the gates of Norwich had been kept open for all men, including Kett’s, to come and go as they pleased. The Mayor, by the name of Cow, now closed all of the gates and brought the city’s guns into the meadows by the river, aiming their barrels at Mousehold Heath. This was the opening move to a protracted siege that developed over the next five weeks into one of the most incredible periods of military activity ever seen in an English city.
Kett also had a number of cannon and he had already positioned these to cover the city walls and gates below the heath. Throughout the night there were constant exchanges of gunfire between the two batteries of cannon, but there was little damage caused to either side. The next morning some of the peasants attacked the city by swimming the river, while others scaled the walls and other groups attacked the closest gates. It was at Bishop’s Gate where the fighting was most fierce, but eventually the peasants broke in and within a short while were masters of the city. Seeing the situation, the royal herald again tried to intercede, but being ignored once more took his leave of the city. The Mayor and the aldermen were captured and taken to Mount Surrey, technically removing all lawfully constituted authority from Norwich, before being released unharmed and returned to the city.
The news that the royal herald carried back to London brought a swift response from the regency. The Marquess of Northampton, William Parr (brother to Catherine Parr, Henry VIII’s last queen), was sent to Norwich with a small advance force of at least 1,400 men that included mounted gentry and some bill-armed levies, but the majority were Italian mercenaries. Northampton arrived in Norwich unopposed on 30 July, but within twenty-four hours his small expeditionary force was under attack. Northampton’s men managed to drive off the first peasant assault, and rested that night after a day’s hard fighting. But on 2 August a second assault by the peasants led to a vicious struggle on ‘Palace Plain’ north of the cathedral and west of the Bishop’s House. This bloody battle lasted for some hours, but eventually Kett’s men won the fight and, their morale shattered, Northampton and the remnants of his army fled the city. Norwich was once more under peasant control. When Somerset learned of Northampton’s rout, he was furious and by the second week of August, commissions were in place in all the shires around Norfolk for the raising of the levy. Meanwhile, Somerset, who had planned to lead the relief army to Norwich himself, stepped down and allowed the Earl of Warwick to take command. There appears to be no reason available for Somerset’s decision to step aside. One can speculate that at heart he may have had sympathy with the peasants’ cause or, more likely given his role as protector, that he feared to be away from the young king, considering the mood within the country.
Somerset arrived at Norwich on 23 August at the head of an army between 12,000 and 14,000 in number, but his cannon were some hours behind and the 1,200 Landsknechts were a further three days away. Warwick marched into the city and once more a herald was sent to offer pardon to the peasants. They reacted as before with cries of ‘God save King Edward’, but the matter was soured when a young boy, making offensive gestures at the herald, was shot dead by an archer from the herald’s escort. Cries of ‘treason’ rang from the crowd and they urged Kett not to negotiate further and not to desert them now. Kett told the herald that there could be no parley, and that he was retiring to Mousehold Heath to prepare for battle. On hearing the news, Warwick seized sixty men and had them hanged in the market place below the castle, ‘without hearing their cause’, and he sent forth a proclamation that there was a curfew, and any found out of doors would be dealt with in similar fashion. Warwick then discovered something that must have infuriated him even more: Kett’s men had captured all his cannon. In a case of unbelievable stupidity, the drivers of the artillery train had entered the city at Bennett’s Gate in the west, and travelled straight through the city, exiting by Bishop’s Gate in the east and directly into the waiting arms of Kett’s men.
Kett was now vastly superior in cannon to Warwick and set up the new cannon alongside his existing ordnance, trained upon the city below. Although Warwick cleared the city of rebels during the day of 24 August, they returned the same night, setting fire to Conisford Street, which burned for a whole day and would have spread to the entire city if heavy rains had not helped to put the flames out. Sunday 25 August was a black day for Norwich: some of the walls were beaten down, some of the gates were broken, fires raged throughout the city, troops were mustering in the open spaces and all the time the rebels prowled outside the shattered city walls. Monday 26 August brought hope to the city: the German mercenary Landsknechts arrived and on Mousehold Heath a great fire was burning. The rebels had fired their camp and were preparing for battle. The peasants had revived an old traditional song as they sat round their campfires on the heath, and some of its words were these:
The country gnoffees, Hob, Dick and Rick, with clubs and clouted shoon, Shall fill the vale, of Dussindale, with slaughtered bodies soon.
Believing these words as an omen of their certain victory, the peasant army repositioned themselves on the western end of Mousehold Heath ready to attack. Dussindale was at that time a small area of land between Mousehold Heath and Norwich, and is not to be confused with the modern Dussindale Drive, a further 2 miles or so east of the city.
Warwick feared that the English shire levies might find the fight against their kin too bitter to swallow and might even end up rebelling themselves, so he left his English troops in the city with orders to prevent the rebels from entering. He then left Norwich by the north gate of St Martin’s at Oak and marched east around its walls until he arrived at the foot of the heath, where he deployed his force. Before hostilities began, Warwick again offered a pardon to all who would disperse. This was the fourth time that a pardon had been offered, and once more it was rejected; the hangings in the city on Warwick’s first day in Norwich gave the peasants no confidence in the nobleman’s words.
From the army of 15,000 that Warwick now had at his disposal, he took all of his 1,200 Landsknecht foot; with these he would probably have had a further 500 Welsh bowmen and 500 Irish swordsmen to protect their flanks, giving him a total of 2,200 infantry. In addition, he took all of his cavalry with him, which in total, given the size of his army, would have been no less than another 1,500 men. These would have been a mixture of Reiters (heavy cavalry armed with sword and pistols), heavily armed gendarmes with lance and mace, and light cavalry armed with an assortment of spears, javelins and cross-bows. Against this highly trained and disciplined force, Kett had around 20,000 peasants armed with a variety of weapons, many of which would have been gained as a result of their earlier victories. But these peasants were not highly trained; it is unlikely that they were formed into cohesive units all armed with the same weapon. They were brave, fit men who knew how to fight in a guerrilla or ambush style, but not how to tackle a disciplined army in a prepared battle formation.
Kett had two advantages: first he had a vast superiority in numbers, and second he had overwhelming ordnance. Unfortunately, he did not bombard Warwick’s army for long enough before the headlong massed charge of his army began; the peasants were convinced that the song was right and this was their day of destiny. This may have been because the first cannon shot from the rebels is reported to have brought down the royal standard, indicating that it must have come perilously close to killing Warwick himself. Whether the peasants saw this as a sign that the day was to be theirs is pure conjecture, but from a morale point of view it must have made their spirits rise. Warwick, however, had chosen his position well. This area of gentle land was one of the few places where cavalry could manoeuvre. Ignoring the fact that the peasants had chained gentlemen prisoners to act as a human shield in front of them, the Landsknechts absorbed the peasants’ charge and then began to push them back. Warwick then unleashed his cavalry, which would have attacked from their usual positions on both flanks of the infantry. The Landsknechts began their steady advance but, despite losing 3,000 men, the peasants who had survived the initial mêlée regrouped on the slopes of Mousehold Heath to fight again. Cavalry could not charge uphill and Warwick was still heavily outnumbered. Apparently, at this position, Warwick offered a king’s pardon to the rebels for a fifth time, and this time it was accepted, thus preventing any further slaughter. Robert Kett fled the field but was soon captured at the village of Swannington, some eight miles to the north of Norwich, and was hanged from Norwich Castle on 7 December 1549.
There were countless small disturbances in the late 1540s and, to begin with, the Duke of Somerset supported the principles and views of those protesting, including Bishop Latimer. In May 1549 Somerset himself set forth a proclamation denouncing all enclosures, and as late as 14 June 1549 he issued a general pardon to those who had taken the law into their own hands in removing or destroying them. But Kett’s Rebellion was something different: it came only two weeks after a riot at Attleborough, and only four weeks after the start of the Cornish rising, and if word spread of these rebellions, who knew how long it would be before the whole of England was up in arms? Significantly, Kett’s Rebellion had resulted in his gaining power of the then second city in the kingdom in order to administer his own equitable justice, blatantly flaunting his ‘fair’ courts in the faces of the appointed officers of the Crown. Kett was to Edward VI, and the stability of the regency, a very real threat and a danger that could not be tolerated. Somerset therefore had no political choice but to do a complete U-turn in his policy and go against his own convictions for the sake of his position and his future. It is also most likely that he feared putting down the rebellion with just an English army: what if this army were to be as inspired by Kett as the other commoners had been? The risk was too great and the rebellion had to be swiftly crushed. It was surely for this reason that Somerset called for the Landsknechts to be the mainstay of his army for the battle to regain Norwich, and the destruction of Kett’s peasant army. Given Somerset’s actions, Kett’s Rebellion must go down in history as the most successful and the most dangerous peasant uprising the nobility of England ever faced."
"THE BATTLE
Up to this point there had been civility in the proceedings, and the gates of Norwich had been kept open for all men, including Kett’s, to come and go as they pleased. The Mayor, by the name of Cow, now closed all of the gates and brought the city’s guns into the meadows by the river, aiming their barrels at Mousehold Heath. This was the opening move to a protracted siege that developed over the next five weeks into one of the most incredible periods of military activity ever seen in an English city.
Kett also had a number of cannon and he had already positioned these to cover the city walls and gates below the heath. Throughout the night there were constant exchanges of gunfire between the two batteries of cannon, but there was little damage caused to either side. The next morning some of the peasants attacked the city by swimming the river, while others scaled the walls and other groups attacked the closest gates. It was at Bishop’s Gate where the fighting was most fierce, but eventually the peasants broke in and within a short while were masters of the city. Seeing the situation, the royal herald again tried to intercede, but being ignored once more took his leave of the city. The Mayor and the aldermen were captured and taken to Mount Surrey, technically removing all lawfully constituted authority from Norwich, before being released unharmed and returned to the city.
The news that the royal herald carried back to London brought a swift response from the regency. The Marquess of Northampton, William Parr (brother to Catherine Parr, Henry VIII’s last queen), was sent to Norwich with a small advance force of at least 1,400 men that included mounted gentry and some bill-armed levies, but the majority were Italian mercenaries. Northampton arrived in Norwich unopposed on 30 July, but within twenty-four hours his small expeditionary force was under attack. Northampton’s men managed to drive off the first peasant assault, and rested that night after a day’s hard fighting. But on 2 August a second assault by the peasants led to a vicious struggle on ‘Palace Plain’ north of the cathedral and west of the Bishop’s House. This bloody battle lasted for some hours, but eventually Kett’s men won the fight and, their morale shattered, Northampton and the remnants of his army fled the city. Norwich was once more under peasant control. When Somerset learned of Northampton’s rout, he was furious and by the second week of August, commissions were in place in all the shires around Norfolk for the raising of the levy. Meanwhile, Somerset, who had planned to lead the relief army to Norwich himself, stepped down and allowed the Earl of Warwick to take command. There appears to be no reason available for Somerset’s decision to step aside. One can speculate that at heart he may have had sympathy with the peasants’ cause or, more likely given his role as protector, that he feared to be away from the young king, considering the mood within the country.
Somerset arrived at Norwich on 23 August at the head of an army between 12,000 and 14,000 in number, but his cannon were some hours behind and the 1,200 Landsknechts were a further three days away. Warwick marched into the city and once more a herald was sent to offer pardon to the peasants. They reacted as before with cries of ‘God save King Edward’, but the matter was soured when a young boy, making offensive gestures at the herald, was shot dead by an archer from the herald’s escort. Cries of ‘treason’ rang from the crowd and they urged Kett not to negotiate further and not to desert them now. Kett told the herald that there could be no parley, and that he was retiring to Mousehold Heath to prepare for battle. On hearing the news, Warwick seized sixty men and had them hanged in the market place below the castle, ‘without hearing their cause’, and he sent forth a proclamation that there was a curfew, and any found out of doors would be dealt with in similar fashion. Warwick then discovered something that must have infuriated him even more: Kett’s men had captured all his cannon. In a case of unbelievable stupidity, the drivers of the artillery train had entered the city at Bennett’s Gate in the west, and travelled straight through the city, exiting by Bishop’s Gate in the east and directly into the waiting arms of Kett’s men.
Kett was now vastly superior in cannon to Warwick and set up the new cannon alongside his existing ordnance, trained upon the city below. Although Warwick cleared the city of rebels during the day of 24 August, they returned the same night, setting fire to Conisford Street, which burned for a whole day and would have spread to the entire city if heavy rains had not helped to put the flames out. Sunday 25 August was a black day for Norwich: some of the walls were beaten down, some of the gates were broken, fires raged throughout the city, troops were mustering in the open spaces and all the time the rebels prowled outside the shattered city walls. Monday 26 August brought hope to the city: the German mercenary Landsknechts arrived and on Mousehold Heath a great fire was burning. The rebels had fired their camp and were preparing for battle. The peasants had revived an old traditional song as they sat round their campfires on the heath, and some of its words were these:
The country gnoffees, Hob, Dick and Rick, with clubs and clouted shoon, Shall fill the vale, of Dussindale, with slaughtered bodies soon.
Believing these words as an omen of their certain victory, the peasant army repositioned themselves on the western end of Mousehold Heath ready to attack. Dussindale was at that time a small area of land between Mousehold Heath and Norwich, and is not to be confused with the modern Dussindale Drive, a further 2 miles or so east of the city.
Warwick feared that the English shire levies might find the fight against their kin too bitter to swallow and might even end up rebelling themselves, so he left his English troops in the city with orders to prevent the rebels from entering. He then left Norwich by the north gate of St Martin’s at Oak and marched east around its walls until he arrived at the foot of the heath, where he deployed his force. Before hostilities began, Warwick again offered a pardon to all who would disperse. This was the fourth time that a pardon had been offered, and once more it was rejected; the hangings in the city on Warwick’s first day in Norwich gave the peasants no confidence in the nobleman’s words.
From the army of 15,000 that Warwick now had at his disposal, he took all of his 1,200 Landsknecht foot; with these he would probably have had a further 500 Welsh bowmen and 500 Irish swordsmen to protect their flanks, giving him a total of 2,200 infantry. In addition, he took all of his cavalry with him, which in total, given the size of his army, would have been no less than another 1,500 men. These would have been a mixture of Reiters (heavy cavalry armed with sword and pistols), heavily armed gendarmes with lance and mace, and light cavalry armed with an assortment of spears, javelins and cross-bows. Against this highly trained and disciplined force, Kett had around 20,000 peasants armed with a variety of weapons, many of which would have been gained as a result of their earlier victories. But these peasants were not highly trained; it is unlikely that they were formed into cohesive units all armed with the same weapon. They were brave, fit men who knew how to fight in a guerrilla or ambush style, but not how to tackle a disciplined army in a prepared battle formation.
Kett had two advantages: first he had a vast superiority in numbers, and second he had overwhelming ordnance. Unfortunately, he did not bombard Warwick’s army for long enough before the headlong massed charge of his army began; the peasants were convinced that the song was right and this was their day of destiny. This may have been because the first cannon shot from the rebels is reported to have brought down the royal standard, indicating that it must have come perilously close to killing Warwick himself. Whether the peasants saw this as a sign that the day was to be theirs is pure conjecture, but from a morale point of view it must have made their spirits rise. Warwick, however, had chosen his position well. This area of gentle land was one of the few places where cavalry could manoeuvre. Ignoring the fact that the peasants had chained gentlemen prisoners to act as a human shield in front of them, the Landsknechts absorbed the peasants’ charge and then began to push them back. Warwick then unleashed his cavalry, which would have attacked from their usual positions on both flanks of the infantry. The Landsknechts began their steady advance but, despite losing 3,000 men, the peasants who had survived the initial mêlée regrouped on the slopes of Mousehold Heath to fight again. Cavalry could not charge uphill and Warwick was still heavily outnumbered. Apparently, at this position, Warwick offered a king’s pardon to the rebels for a fifth time, and this time it was accepted, thus preventing any further slaughter. Robert Kett fled the field but was soon captured at the village of Swannington, some eight miles to the north of Norwich, and was hanged from Norwich Castle on 7 December 1549.
There were countless small disturbances in the late 1540s and, to begin with, the Duke of Somerset supported the principles and views of those protesting, including Bishop Latimer. In May 1549 Somerset himself set forth a proclamation denouncing all enclosures, and as late as 14 June 1549 he issued a general pardon to those who had taken the law into their own hands in removing or destroying them. But Kett’s Rebellion was something different: it came only two weeks after a riot at Attleborough, and only four weeks after the start of the Cornish rising, and if word spread of these rebellions, who knew how long it would be before the whole of England was up in arms? Significantly, Kett’s Rebellion had resulted in his gaining power of the then second city in the kingdom in order to administer his own equitable justice, blatantly flaunting his ‘fair’ courts in the faces of the appointed officers of the Crown. Kett was to Edward VI, and the stability of the regency, a very real threat and a danger that could not be tolerated. Somerset therefore had no political choice but to do a complete U-turn in his policy and go against his own convictions for the sake of his position and his future. It is also most likely that he feared putting down the rebellion with just an English army: what if this army were to be as inspired by Kett as the other commoners had been? The risk was too great and the rebellion had to be swiftly crushed. It was surely for this reason that Somerset called for the Landsknechts to be the mainstay of his army for the battle to regain Norwich, and the destruction of Kett’s peasant army. Given Somerset’s actions, Kett’s Rebellion must go down in history as the most successful and the most dangerous peasant uprising the nobility of England ever faced."
Kett’s Rebellion
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