25. Elizabeth- social developments

Question 1

explain social developments?

Answer 1

• bad harvests 1556 and influenza 1557 + expensive wars with France and Scotland= financial problems
• labourers were said to be becoming disobedient and demanding higher wages
• parliament introduced bills to tackle this
• 1563: Act of Artificers-compulsory labor during harvest time, and a minimum hire for work men

Question 2

explain economic developments?

Answer 2

• to fully restore stability to the realm debased coinage had to be addressed
• new commission to reduce the value of debased coinage by 25% or more
• government made a profit of £50,000

Question 3

explain the impact of religious developments?

Answer 3

• people who had tried to conceal images in the church, were forced to destroy them publicly
• royal visitations revealed that 1/4 of parishes reported to have complied completely to remove alters and other images

Question 4

explain instability during the mid-tudor crisis?

Answer 4

• the reign of a minor, followed by the brief reign for a woman =instability
• that religious changed they inflicted on their people= periods of turmoil
• people in England witnessed terrible harvests and epidemics= out of government control
• furthermore, position on the continent was weakened after pursuing futile attacks on Scotland and France=loss of Calais

Question 5

explain wealth?

Answer 5

• wealth creation and the increase in social mobility was evident in English towns.
• as wealth of Urban elite increased so did their power
• they controlled parliamentary elections and mainly governed towns
• this turned into integration of the old landed elite and their neighbours

Question 6

explain poverty and vagrancy?

Answer 6

• poverty increased with the population due to pressure to provide work and 60% lived bellow the poverty line
• rise in wages failed to keep pace with the increase in food prices, the landless poor no longer had monasteries to look after them

Question 7

explain the maintenance of public order?

Answer 7

• tudors always feared that disorder and protest may lead to a rebellion
• there was a fear of vagrants as the government had no control over these ‘wanderers’ and their independence undermined the great chain of being
• this fear seen in the Edwardian vagrancy act (1547)= punishment of the poor rather than relief

Question 8

explain Elizabeth’s different outlook on vagrants?

Answer 8

-she saw that punishment was unlikely to solve vagrancy
=statute of affairs (1563), encouraged apprenticeships for men and directed women into public service
-supposed to improve the plight of the poor
-parliamentary acts 1598/1601 that set up a system of poor relief
-the church encouraged charity and philanthropy
-the passing of poor laws encouraged a significant change in attitudes towards poor = understanding causes and responses