NORTHERN REBELLION
The Revolt of the Northern Earls in 1569
In 1569, Brancepeth Castle saw the start of an uprising that was to become the greatest domestic challenge to the rule of Elizabeth I, but one that is little known today.
Brancepeth Castle was one of the homes of Charles Neville, 6th Earl of Westmorland, which amid religious upheaval became the centre of meetings of discontented Catholics and gentry, and the starting point for a march south of thousands of men.
The Northern Rebellion led to increased oppression of Catholics and greater government control in the north.
Elizabeth quickly put Mary, Queen of Scots, under house arrest and sent her to Coventry to secure her imprisonment.
There were more than 450 executions of Catholics who had been involved in the revolt, including the Earl of Northumberland in 1572.
Elizabeth passed treason laws that made any further Catholic threat to the monarch punishable by death.
The “Darnley Portrait” of Elizabeth I of England
Mary, Queen of Scots by François Clouet
