Heraldic shield of the Winslade family in a stained glass window of St Mabyn's church, St Mabyn.
"Winslade of Tregarrick in Pelynt, whose family had been hereditary knights of the White Spur — extinct by the death of the son of John Winslade, who was attainted for rebellion in 1549."
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"The Book of Common Prayer is imposed -
In January of 1549 the Act of Uniformity, a decisive next step in the Reformation, received assent. This required all Church services in the land to use Cranmer's new Book of Common Prayer written in English in place of the Latin Mass. This lead to much dissent in Cornwall where, in addition to the lamenting of the loss of the familiar Catholic rituals, in many parishes English was seldom spoken.
The Act stipulated that the new prayer book must be used from Whit-Sunday 1549 in all places of worship. This was the flash point for the Rebellion to gain momentum. A well-organised and sizeable gathering of defiant Cornishmen was congregating in the town of Bodmin; soon after there was a more spontaneous uprising in the village of Sampford Courtenay in Mid-Devon.
The Cornish rebels assemble near Bodmin -
On June 6th in Bodmin Mayor Bray convened a town meeting at which resolutions were put containing the gist of the rebels eventual demands. Many parish priests attended as did two representatives of the landed gentry, Humphrey Arundell of Helland and
John Winslade of Tregarrick.
Having the backing of the nobility added a certain legitimacy to the rebellion: 'the squires who ruled the countryside in peacetime also led its fighting men in war, and it was taken for granted that military expertise was the prerogative of this class'. However, the gentry of Cornwall were few in number and for the most part relatively poor, lacking substantial armouries. Though some may have sympathised with the rebels, many sought sanctuary with their families in St Michael's Mount in the far west, fearing that the common people might see them as legitimate targets.
Arundell and
Winslade differed in temperament. Arundell was age 36 at the time and had previous military experience; he had fought with distinction while leading a band of foot soldiers at the siege of Boulogne in 1544. There was a dark side to his character: he had been the subject of various lawsuits involving trespass on the lands of others and unpaid expenses, and it was claimed by his younger brothers that he had withheld monies due to them in their mother's will.
Winslade in contrast was well liked, known for his generosity and hospitality.
Arundell was persuaded to act as general of the rebel army - albeit with great reluctance as he alleged later under cross-examination.
Winslade remained for some weeks in Bodmin but avoided the fighting and was eventually pardoned. Arundell directed the men who were arriving in Bodmin on foot in their hundreds to Castle Kynoch, an ancient earthwork outside the town, where they set up camp. Before the army began the march to the Devon border Humphrey dispatched a detachment on horse and foot to secure the rear from loyalists who might have chosen to counter-attack under the command of the gentry holed up in St Michael's Mount.
They crossed to the mount at low tide, occupying the flat ground at the foot. Then, according to Richard Carew who clearly regarded the rebels with contempt, they completed the assault: '[taking] the even ground on the top, by carrying up great trusses of hay before them to blench the defendants' sight and dead their shot. After which, they could make but slender resistance: for no sooner should any one within, peep out his head, over those inflanked walls, but he became an open mark to a shower of arrows. This disadvantage, together with the women's dismay, and decrease of victuals forced a surrender to those rakehells' mercy, who, nothing guilty of that effeminate virtue, spoiled their goods, imprisoned their bodies, and were rather by God's gracious providence than any want of will, purpose or attempt, restrained from murdering the principal persons.'
Their captives were marched back to Bodmin before being incarcerated in Launceston gaol along with Sir Richard Grenville who was lured from his stronghold of Trematon Castle. The rounding up of the gentry encouraged many more wavering peasants, tinners, and fishermen to join the rebel army. Now of fighting strength, the time was ripe them to move to the east. As they crossed the River Tamar into Devon a small force was sent to besiege Plymouth, and the town soon surrendered."
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