The Pilgrimage of Grace was a rising by Roman Catholics in the north of England in 1536, in protest at the conversion of England to Protestantism, and the dissolution of the monasteries. It extended over five counties and found sympathizers all over England. Led by Robert Aske, its stated aim was to halt the "spreading of heretics, suppression of houses of religion and other matters touching the commonwealth".

The movement broke out on 13 October, 1536, immediately following the failure of the Lincolnshire Rising. Aske, a London barrister from a Yorkshire family, and a band of nine thousand followers entered and occupied York. There he arranged for the expelled monks and nuns to return to their houses; the king's tenants were driven out and Catholic observance resumed. The success of the rising was so great that the royal leaders, the Duke of Norfolk and Earl of Shrewsbury, opened negotiations with the insurgents at Doncaster, where Aske had assembled between thirty and forty thousand men.

Henry VIII authorised Norfolk to promise a general pardon and a Parliament to be held at York within a year. Aske then dismissed his followers, trusting in the king's promises. But these promises were not kept, and a new rising took place in Cumberland and Westmoreland (which Aske attempted to prevent), and was spreading to Yorkshire. Upon this, the king arrested Aske and several of the other leaders, who were all convicted of treason and executed. The loss of the leaders enabled Duke of Norfolk to quell the rising, and martial law was imposed upon the rebellious regions, ending the Rebellion.

This article incorporates text from the public domain Catholic Encyclopedia.