How far do the sources suggest that there was considerable resistance to the Amicable Grant in 1525?
Explain your answer, using the evidence shown in Sources 1,2 and 3.
I believe that sources 1 and 3 both do strongly support the statement that there was considerable resistance to the Amicable Grant in 1525. Whereas, source 2 both supports and does not support the statement. All of the sources do suggest that there was unrest towards the grant and that the duke was very worried about the consequences that may occur.
Firstly, source one agrees with the statement that there was considerable resistance to the Amicable Grant in 1525 because firstly, in source one it suggests ‘show the dissatisfaction prevailing’ which shows us the dissatisfaction that some people felt because of grant, mainly due to the amount of money they had to pay. This source relates well to source three because in source three the first line says ‘The people plead their poverty’ which shows us that like in source one there is resistance too many other taxes to pay so creating this one has caused an unwanted outburst from the people because of the amount that they have to pay. Also source supports source one because it reads in source three ‘arose up in arms against the commissioner’ this shows us that there was considerable resistance against the Amicable Grant as stated also in source one with the quote ‘other parliamentary grants are still to be paid’. Source one was written by the Archbishop of Canterbury and the reason that you are able to tell that it is the truth that was written is because Warham (the Archbishop) was the commissioner for the Amicable Grant so normally he should be supporting the Grant however, he knows that the people of the country are not happy with it so he is informing Wolsey about some of the dangers to do with the people. The reason that the provenance adds weight to the argument is because it was written by Henry VIII to the commission, and it says that the Amicable Grant was an attempt by the crown to raise money so it’s clear to see that the Grant would have benefited Henry. However, in source three he says that there was a threat to the King in the quote ‘the quarrel shall be only against him’ however, Henry also attempts to blame Wolsey and use him as a scapegoat this could be classed as making the source unreliable because he is trying to transfer the blame for the threat onto Wolsey rather than himself, he is attempting to make himself look good. The provenance in source three also adds weight to the argument because it tells us that Henry VIII wrote it to his commisioners which shows us that it was written by the King of England about the grant, however it only adds little weight to the argument because the provenance is of no great length or detail.
However, source two does not support sources one and three with the statement that there was considerable resistance to the Amicable Grant in 1525 because it says in source three that ‘Through all Suffolk, except Ipswich, the people now conform to the King’s request’ this shows us that they have all began to accept the grant and only people in Ipswich are resisting the Grant so they have gained considerable support from everyone in Suffolk, whereas in source one it says ‘dissatisfaction prevailing’ and in source three it says ‘people arose up in arms’ which both show us that there was resistance against the Grant and a lot of people were not happy with it which goes against what was said in source two. However, you could also say that source two does support sources one and three because in source two it says ‘except Ipswich’ which I can infer is the biggest town in the whole of Suffolk so if they do not pay the tax then it may catalyse an outburst from other places around the country to not pay the Amicable Grant tax and also it will have a bigger population than any other place in Suffolk and will have a bigger influence due to its size, this is similar with sources one and three because they both talk about the considerable resistance throughout the country towards the Amicable Grant. It also does support sources one and three because it says ‘they do not yet see the clergy being made to pay, while the lay people are required to pay.’ This suggests that the people of the country may refuse to pay the Grant which is a considerable resistance unless the clergy start to pay the tax. After reviewing the provenance of source two I have come to the conclusion that it does slightly add weight to the argument because it was written by the Duke of Suffolk in 1525 about his own area which shows us that he would of had good knowledge of what the Amicable Grant was doing to people in his area. However, this provenance does not add a huge amount of weight to the argument because it says that 'The Duke supported Henry over the Amicable Grant' so he may show more support towards Henry and the Grant rather than the people, however he shows through the source that himself and Henry VIII was afraid of the mass outburst from people of the country.
Sources one and three strongly support the statement that there was considerable resistance to do with the Amicable Grant and that source two slightly support the statement but also does not support the statement. It is made apparent that source one is supported by source three and slightly by source two. This is because both sources by the Archbishop of Canterbury and Henry VIII included the fact that they felt fear within the country from the people, this is also apparent in source two which was written by the Duke of Suffolk. Source two however, also claims that some people now 'conform to the King's request' which completely differs from what is said in sources one and three.