Robert Kett
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—Robert Kett (or Ket) (d. December 7, 1549) was an English rebel of the Tudor period.
He is thought to have been a tanner, but he certainly held the manor of Wymondham in Norfolk. With his brother William he led the men of Wymondham in their quarrel with a certain Flowerden, and having thus come into prominence, he headed the men of Norfolk when they rose in rebellion in 1549 owing to the hardships inflicted by the extensive enclosures of common lands and by the general policy of Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset, then Lord Protector. A feast held at Wymondham in July 1549 developed into a riot and gave the signal for the outbreak. Leading his followers to Norwich, Kett formed a camp on Mousehold Heath, where he is said to have commanded 16,000 men, introduced a regular system of discipline, administered justice and blockaded the city.
He refused the royal offer of an amnesty on the grounds that innocent and just men had no need of pardon, and on August 1, 1549 attacked and took possession of Norwich. John Dudley, Earl of Warwick, marched against the rebels, and after his offer of pardon had been rejected he forced his way into the city, driving its defenders before him. Then, strengthened by the arrival of some foreign mercenaries, he attacked the main body of the rebels at Dussindale on August 27. Kett's men were easily routed by the trained soldiery, and Robert and William Kett were seized and taken to London, where they were condemned to death for treason. On the 7th of December 1549 Robert was executed at Norwich, and his body was hanged on the top of the castle, while that of William was hanged on the church tower at Wymondham.
Ketts has lent his name to both the local road; Ketts hill, as well as a popular local beer, Kett's Rebellion produced by Woodfords Brewery at Woodbastwick.
This brief and rather inconsequential moment in Norwich's history, is taught exhaustively by Andy Wood at UEA. Although he does get exceedingly excited about the subject, it is not one which gives his poor students much chance of staying awake through seminars.
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- This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
- See FW Russell, Kett's Rebellion (1859), and JA Froude, History of England, vol. iv (London, 1898).
