News that Sir Peter Carew was spreading dissent at Exeter in Devon, by saying publicly that a Spanish king would bring the Spanish Inquisition, reached the Court in January 1554. Carew attempted to raise support for the uprising in Devon, but the Protestant nobles there proved unwilling to commit treason, and the county's peasant inhabitants were largely Catholic. Also, he had played a large part in crushing the earlier Prayer Book Rebellion there. A warrant was issued for Carew's arrest, but, forewarned, he escaped across the Channel to Normandy, but was arrested soon after. By this time, the French ships found themselves unable to maintain their position and returned to France.