Not Just the Tudors Ireland Under the Brutal Tudors
Jan 29, 2026
Dr David Edwards, historian of early modern Ireland at University College Cork, outlines how Tudor martial law reshaped daily life. He explains the wide powers of commissions, who wielded them, and why they persisted. He also discusses the human cost: raids, scorched earth tactics, famine and lasting legal and social legacies.
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Martial Law Filled Legal Vacuums
- Common-law courts could not operate in many Gaelic territories, so martial law filled the governance gap.
- For many Irish people the first face of English justice was a martial law commissioner, not judges.
Self-Financing Incentives Drove Abuse
- Martial law was financially attractive because it was self-financing and cheap for the Crown.
- Commissioners could keep a third of movable goods from those they killed, creating strong incentives to seize wealth locally.
Commissioners Who Stayed And 'Went Native'
- Many martial law commissioners were English army officers or followers of a new viceroy who augmented low pay through seizures.
- Some settled locally, married Irish women, and even adopted Catholicism over time.