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Abstract
Rebellion in Elizabethan Ireland triggered the publication of a series of early news pamphlets in England that have been labeled as tedious military narratives celebrating English victories over native insurgents. Careful scrutiny of these pamphlets, specifically those titles that relayed news of the Second Desmond rebellion (1579–1583), suggests otherwise. Therein, it was not news of events in Ireland that was stressed, nor indeed was it the Catholicism of the Old English who had entered into rebellion. Instead, these works prioritized political obedience to queen and commonwealth above all else and employed this revolt to remind readers of the essential obligations of fidelity and virtue. As agents of persuasion rather than purveyors of news, the authors echoed official thinking by the state in cultivating the importance attached to obedience amid strains in both kingdoms that attended the Counter-Reformation.
Acknowledgements
I am appreciative of Michael Perceval-Maxwell, and the anonymous readers of Media History, for their comments on earlier versions of this work.
Notes
1. Shabber, Forerunners of the Newspaper, 130–1.
2. Clarke, Old English in Ireland, 15–19.
3. The best accounts for this period can be found in Brady, Chief Governors; Canny, Making Ireland British; and Crawford, Anglicizing the Government of Ireland.
4. A disciple of the Counter-Reformation, Fitzmaurice, who had been captain general of the Earl of Desmond's forces, spearheaded an earlier insurrection—the First Desmond rebellion—against the Crown in 1569 shortly after Desmond had been incarcerated in London for conducting a private war against his arch rival in the province, Thomas Butler, the 10th Earl of Ormond. The rebellion was soon quelled and Fitzmaurice was pardoned, but he departed Ireland for the continent in 1575, impoverished, disgruntled, and determined to prepare the ground for a second uprising. McCormack, Earldom of Desmond, 109–25.
5. Desmond's decision to enter into rebellion was not a foregone conclusion. Factional politics within the province, as well as the appointment of Sir Nicholas Malby as lord president of Munster following the death of his predecessor, Sir William Drury, in September 1579 (with whom the earl had enjoyed amicable relations) made it difficult for Desmond to remain free from rebellion. Brady, “Desmond Rebellion,” 289–312; McCormack, Earldom of Desmond, 158–67.
6. Ten titles (five of which remain extant) that touched on the Second Desmond rebellion were registered with the Stationers' Company of London. Shabber, Forerunners of the Newspaper, 130–1.
7. McKeown, English Mercuries, 63–82.
8. Lyne, “Churchyard,” ODNB.
9. Geimer, “Life and Works of Thomas Churchyard,” 20.
10. Lyne, “Churchyard,” ODNB; Geimer, “Life and Works of Thomas Churchyard,” 5, 20, 66.
11. Hamilton, Anthony Munday, 11–12.
12. Churchyard, James Fitz Morrice Death, A7r.
13. Palmer, “An Headless Ladie,” 25–57.
14. Bagwell, Ireland under the Tudors, 23–24.
15. Churchyard, James Fitz Morrice Death, A7v.
16. Churchyard, James Fitz Morrice Death, A3r.
17. Churchyard, James Fitz Morrice Death, A5r–A5v.
18. Bagwell, Ireland under the Tudors, 13–16.
19. Clarke, Old English in Ireland, 18–19; Canny, Making Ireland British, 54, 64, 172–3.
20. Churchyard, James Fitz Morrice Death, A5r.
21. Churchyard, James Fitz Morrice Death, A4r.
22. Cooper, Propaganda and the Tudor State, 212–3.
23. Greaves, “Political Obedience in Late Tudor England,” 23–24.
24. For a comprehensive account on this rebellion, see Kesselring, Northern Rebellion.
25. Bond, ed., Homily against Disobedience, 209.
26. Bond, ed., Homily against Disobedience, 210.
27. Bond, ed., Homily against Disobedience, 224.
28. Bond, ed., Homily against Disobedience, 224.
29. Bond, ed., Homily against Disobedience, 224.
30. Cooper, Propaganda and the Tudor State, 238; Kesselring, Northern Rebellion, 147–64.
31. Bond, ed., Homily against Disobedience, 211, 214, 224, 235.
32. It was claimed that out of 523 papal troops who surrendered, only twenty had their lives spared. Munday, Prosperous Successe, A3v.
33. It was claimed that out of 523 papal troops who surrendered, only twenty had their lives spared. Munday, Prosperous Successe, A2v.
34. It was claimed that out of 523 papal troops who surrendered, only twenty had their lives spared. Munday, Prosperous Successe, A2v.
35. Carey, “Atrocity and History,” 79.
36. Hamilton, Anthony Munday and the Catholics, 21–22.
37. Bergeron, “Munday,” ODNB.
38. Hamilton, Anthony Munday and the Catholics, xvi–xx; Bergeron, “Munday,” ODNB.
39. Cited in Neale, Queen Elizabeth I, 258.
40. Hamilton, Anthony Munday and the Catholics, 31, 46.
41. Nelson, “Vere, Edward de,” ODNB; Hamilton, Anthony Munday and the Catholics, 23.
42. Hamilton, Anthony Munday and the Catholics, 63–66.
43. Bergeron, “Munday,” ODNB.
44. Hamilton, Anthony Munday and the Catholics, xvii.
45. Munday, Prosperous Successe, A2v.
46. Carey, “Atrocity and History,” 90–93.
47. Munday, Prosperous Successe, A2r.
48. Carey, “Atrocity and History,” 90–91.
49. Munday, Prosperous Successe, A4r.
50. Munday, Prosperous Successe, A2r.
51. Munday, Prosperous Successe, A4r.
52. Munday, Prosperous Successe, A3v, A4r.
53. Hamilton, Anthony Munday and the Catholics, 23, 31.
54. Churchyard, Scourge for Rebels, A2r.
55. Churchyard, Scourge for Rebels, B2r.
56. Competing claims to lands and custom duties lay at the heart of the Ormond–Desmond conflict, a conflict often characterized by raids and retaliatory strikes against their respective tenants. Matters escalated in February 1565 when the earls led their private armies in battle at Affane, an engagement that resulted in victory for Ormond. Outraged by these actions, the queen summoned both men to London. After being placed under house arrest, they each pledged to cease their feuding and entered into a recognizance for twenty thousand pounds. McCormack, Earldom of Desmond, 88–108.
57. Churchyard, Scourge for Rebels, A4r, B1r, B1v.
58. Churchyard, Scourge for Rebels, B1v, B2r.
59. Churchyard, Scourge for Rebels, A4r.
60. Edwards, Ormond Lordship, 92, 98–103, 180–228.
61. Churchyard, Scourge for Rebels, B2r.
62. Edwards, Ormond Lordship, 230–4.
63. Churchyard, Scourge for Rebels, B3r–B3v.
64. Churchyard, Scourge for Rebels, B3r.
65. Churchyard, Scourge for Rebels, C1r–C2v.
66. Bagwell, Ireland under the Tudors, 113–4.
67. Churchyard, Scourge for Rebels, C2v–C3r.
68. MacCarthy-Morrogh, Munster Plantation, 24–29.
69. MacCarthy-Morrogh, Munster Plantation, 5–7.
70. MacCarthy-Morrogh, Munster Plantation, 17.
71. Canny, Making Ireland British, 129; MacCarthy-Morrogh, Munster Plantation, 292.
72. MacCaffrey, “Hatton,” ODNB.
73. MacCarthy-Morrogh, Munster Plantation, 38–40, 291.
74. Shagan, “Constructing Discord,” 4–34.