Editing Kett's Rebellion (section)

==Rebel base on Mousehold Heath==
[[Image:Mousehold Heath, Norwich, by John Crome.jpg|thumb|[[John Crome]], ''Mousehold Heath, Norwich'' ({{circa|1818-1820}}), [[Tate Britain]]]]
On Friday 12 July, the rebels reached Mousehold, where they had a vantage point overlooking Norwich, and set up the camp that was their base for the next six and a half weeks.{{sfn|Land|1977|pp=42{{ndash}}47}} The camp was the largest of several rebel camps that had appeared in East Anglia that summer. The rebels were known at the time as the "camp men" and the rebellion as the "camping tyme" or "commotion tyme".<ref>Wood 2002, 62–63</ref>

Kett set up his headquarters in St Michael's Chapel, the ruins of which have since been known as Kett's Castle.<ref>Groves 1947, 31</ref> Mount Surrey, a house built by the [[Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey|Earl of Surrey]] on the site of the despoiled St Leonard's Priory, had lain empty since the Earl's execution in 1547 and was used to hold Kett's prisoners. Kett's council, which consisted of representatives from the [[Hundreds of Norfolk]] and one representative from Suffolk met under the Oak of Reformation to administer the camp, issuing warrants to obtain provisions and arms and arrest members of the gentry.<ref>Wood 2002, 64</ref> The camp was joined by workers and artisans from Norwich, and by people from the surrounding towns and villages, until it was larger than Norwich, at that time the second-largest city in England with a population of about 12,000. The city authorities, having sent messengers to London, remained in negotiation with the rebels and Mayor Thomas Codd, former Mayor Thomas Aldrich, and preacher Robert Watson accepted the rebels' invitation to take part in their council.<ref>Groves 1947, 34</ref>

Once the camp was established at Mousehold the rebels drew up a list of 29 grievances,{{sfn|Russell|1859|pp=48{{ndash}}56}} signed by Kett, Codd, Aldrich, and the representatives of the Hundreds, and sent it to [[Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset|Protector Somerset]].<ref>{{cite web|last1=Dunning|first1=Andrew|title='Kett's Demands Being in Rebellion'|url=http://blogs.bl.uk/digitisedmanuscripts/2016/11/ketts-demands-being-in-rebellion-1549.html|website=Medieval Manuscripts Blog|publisher=The British Library|access-date=20 November 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Crowther |first1=David |title=Robert Kett’s Petition, 1549 |url=https://thehistoryofengland.co.uk/resource/robert-ketts-petition-1549/ |website=The History of England |date=16 September 2018}}</ref> The grievances have been described by one historian as a shopping-list of demands but which nevertheless have a strong logic underlying them, articulating "a desire to limit the power of the gentry, exclude them from the world of the village, constrain rapid economic change, prevent the overexploitation of communal resources, and remodel the values of the clergy".<ref>Wood 2002, 66</ref> 

Although the rebels were all the while tearing down hedges and filling in ditches, only one of the 29 articles mentioned enclosure: 'We pray your grace that where it is enacted for enclosing, that it be not hurtful to such as have enclosed saffren grounds, for they be greatly chargeable to them, and that from henceforth no man shall enclose any more.' The exemption for 'saffren grounds' has puzzled historians; one has suggested that it may have been a scribal error for 'sovereign grounds', grounds that were the exclusive freehold property of their owners,<ref>MacCulloch 1979</ref> while others have commented on the importance of saffron to local industry.{{sfn|Land|1977|p=68}} 

The rebels also asked 'that all bondmen may be made free, for God made all free, with his precious blood shedding.' The rebels may have been articulating a grievance against the [[Vagabonds Act 1547|1547 ''Act for the Punishment of Vagabonds'']], which made it legal to enslave a discharged servant who did not find a new master within three days, though they may also have been calling for the manumission of the thousands of Englishmen and women who were [[Serf|serfs]].{{sfn|MacCulloch|1988}} (In 1549, an ''Act Touching on the Punishment of Vagabonds and Other Idle Persons'' avoided the word "slave" but retained many of the harshest provisions of the 1547 ''Act''.{{sfn|Davies|1966}})

The list of demands also included calls for a reduction in rents, the punishment of corrupt officials and the replacement of counsellors to the king (both clerical and [[Laity|lay]]) who enriched themselves at the expense of the state—a direct reference to Protector Somerset’s [[Edward VI#Council of regency|regency council]].{{sfn|Meyer|2011|p=68}} The rebels used the [[Book of Common Prayer (1549)|new prayer book]] for their open air services, and urged that parish priests who failed to "set forth the word of God" to their parishioners should be replaced.{{sfn|Lockyer|2014|p=116}}