Robert Aske (1500 - 1537)

Born 1500 in Aughton, Yorkshire, England

Ancestors

Died 12 Jul 1537 at about age 37 in Clifford's Tower, York, Yorkshire, England

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Biography

Robert Aske was the younger son of Sir Robert Aske of Aughton near Selby, a scion of an old Yorkshire family. The family was well connected: one of Aske's cousins was Henry Clifford, 2nd Earl of Cumberland, his first cousin once removed, for his mother Elizabeth Clifford was the daughter of John Clifford, 9th Baron de Clifford, and Margaret Bromflete; Queen Jane Seymour was also his third cousin through the same line. ^[1]

"Robert Aske, the barrister who had come to the fore of the Pilgrimage movement and had personally negotiated terms with Henry, was among about 200 to suffer death for their part in the affair. In Aske’s case, it was against the will of Jane Seymour, Henry’s demure third queen and also a Catholic-inclined traditionalist; she made an uncharacteristic foray into state policy by ask(e)ing for Aske’s life, summarily vetoed by the king’s reminding her the fate of her politically-minded predecessor." ^[2]

On July 12, 1537, at York Castle, Robert was hung for leading a mass uprising, known as the "Pilgrimage of Grace."

Sources

1. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Aske_(political_leader)
2. ↑ http://www.executedtoday.com/2009/07/12/1537-robert-aske-pilgrimage-of-grace/