1500-1700 Early Modern England

Question 1

Why was population growth an issue?

Answer 1

It meant it was harder for people to find work

Question 2

What change happened in Henry the 8th reign?

Answer 2

• He changed the country to Protestant
• Both sides accused the other of being in league with the devil
• This increased public belief in superstition

Question 3

When did heresy first become a crime?

Answer 3

1382

Question 4

In the GPP who were the group of plotters led by?

Answer 4

Robert Catesby

Question 5

Why did the plotters want to blow up parliament?

Answer 5

James I also did not allow Catholics to practice their faiths. The plotters wanted to make James’s daughter Elizabeth, Queen

Question 6

When did the plotters plan on blowing up parliament?

Answer 6

5th November 1605

Question 7

How many plotters were there altogether?

Answer 7

13

Question 8

What was Guy Fawkes in charge of?

Answer 8

Putting gunpowder under parliament (came from Essex)

Question 9

Who received the anonymous letter (GPP) and what did they do?

Answer 9

• Lord Montesgle received the
• He want to Robert Cecil (the king’s chief minister)
• RC then goes to the king who then realises Parliament= blown up

Question 10

What does Cecil do after seeing the letter?

Answer 10

He orders a search of the parliament and Fawkes was discovered

Question 11

How long was Fawkes tortured for?

Answer 11

3 days, then he revealed the names of the other conspirators

Question 12

When were the plotters hanged,drawn + quartered?

Answer 12

January 1606

Question 13

Why was there a harsh and public punishment for treason? (In GPP)

Answer 13

• Thought to be the only way of deterring crime (no police then)
• A harsh message to deter Catholics

Question 14

What is a vagabond / vagrant?

Answer 14

An unemployed homeless person

Question 15

Where were the greatest number of vagabonds found?

Answer 15

In London

Question 16

What factors caused the number of vagabonds to rise?

Answer 16

• Population = unemployment
• War
• Bad harvests = inflation
• Enclosures
• Closing down monasteries
• Travel = Decline in exports so no income

Question 17

Give 2 examples of vagabonds described by Thomas Harman?

Answer 17

• Abraham Man = pretended to be mad

- Clapper Dudgeon = Used arsenic on their skin to make it bleed, to attract sympathy whilst begging

Question 18

Why were Vagabonds seen as a problem in Elizabethan times?

Answer 18

• They were idle and lazy = Devils had made them
• They spread disease by wandering from place to place
• Burden of looking after the poor was increasing= poor rates were rising

Question 19

What is a poor rate?

Answer 19

A tax raised in each parish to pay for the relief of the poor

Question 20

What did the 1601 poor laws state?

Answer 20

‘Deserving poor’ (anyone unable to work) were given poor relief, whilst the ‘undeserving’ were whipped and branded

Question 21

Who was known as the ‘Witchfinder General’?

Answer 21

Matthew Hopkins

Question 22

How long was Mathew Hopkins witch-hunt?

Answer 22

1645-1647

Question 23

When was the english civil war?

Answer 23

1642-1651

Question 24

Why did Matthew Hopkins become a witch Hunter?

Answer 24

• He was an unsuccessful lawyer
• He had the ability to spot witches
• He overheard women discussing their meeting with the devil
• Mainly operating in East Anglia

Question 25

Reasons for the intensity of witch hunts in 1645-1647

Answer 25

• James I promoted witch hunting through his book Demonology
• War left many women widowed
• Civil War+ Poor harvests caused economic problems= people looked for scapegoats
• Religious changes = Puritans + Royalists

Question 26

Give examples of Witchcraft?

Answer 26

• Unusual marks / ‘devil marks’
• Witness accounts
• Accused floated in water
• Confession through torture
• A ‘familiar’

Question 27

How were witches punished?

Answer 27

Public executions to deter the public + increase tensions in villages and towns

Question 28

Who made witchcraft punishable by death?

Answer 28

Henry VIII in 1542

Question 29

What policing methods stayed the same in 1500-1700?

Answer 29

• Hue and Cry
• Parish Constables
• Justices of peace

Question 30

What were town watchmen and sergeants used for?

Answer 30

• Employed in larger towns
• Poorly paid
• Expected to arrest drunks and vagrants

Question 31

Who were thief takers?

Answer 31

• They were private individuals hired to capture criminals

Question 32

How did the Role of the church change in this period?

Answer 32

• Henry stopped sanctuary abroad
• James I abolished sanctuary altogether
• Benefit of the clergy = people were branded to show that they earned the privilege

Question 33

What are some crimes in this period?

Answer 33

• Witchcraft
• Poaching on enclosed land
• Smuggling

Question 34

How were courts used for trialing the accused?

Answer 34

• Relied on the local jury
• Manor courts still dealt with minor crimes
• JP’s would meet each other 4x a year (Quarter sessions) to judge more serious cases

Question 35

What did the Habeas Corpus Act in 1679 do?

Answer 35

Prevented authorities from locking people up without charging them with a crime

Question 36

What are some examples of punishments in this period?

Answer 36

• Pillory= for shame and humiliation
• Fines = Most common
• Whipping = Usually in front of a crowd
• Prisons = Used for those awaiting trial
• Ducking stool = Women who didn’t listen to their husbands
• Hanging
• Burning= only used for heresy

Question 37

What was the bloody code?

Answer 37

• The period 1688 to 1825
• More crimes became punishable by death
• Aim was to frighten people

Question 38

Who introduced transportation to North America

Answer 38

James I (1603-1625)

Question 39

What was transportation used for?

Answer 39

• Free manual labour
• Opportunities for children to start a new life
• On release, prisoners rarely returned home coz they had no money to make the journey