Agarian Discontent: Keywords

Question 1

Common land

Answer 1

Land which was available for all villagers to graze their livestock or collect firewood

Question 2

Commonwealth man (3)

Answer 2

• A group of 16th century thinkers who had a coherent set of ideas and policies about social and economic problems
• Crowley, Hales and Latimer, - had influence over the Duke of Somerset

Question 3

Copyhold tenants

Answer 3

Land technically continued to be owned by the lord of the manor, but the copyhold tenant was able to ‘lease’ the land from the lord

Question 4

Enclosure (2)

Answer 4

• Incorporating smaller holdings of land into a larger farm with the area being ‘enclosed’ with fences or hedges
• This larger area was then often used for profitable sheep farming.

Question 5

Engrossing (2)

Answer 5

• The practice of amalgamating two or more farms together
• The buildings on these farms might either be left to decay, while their former occupants were forced to move elsewhere.

Question 6

Entry fines (3)

Answer 6

• This was paid to the landlord when a tenant died and was succeeded by an heir
• Entry fines were a way in which landlords could raise their profits, especially in a period of rising prices.
• Increasing entry fines placed an increasing burden on tenant farmers who were unable or unwilling to pay

Question 7

Foldcourse (2)

Answer 7

• This tradition allowed landlords to use their tenants’ lands and the common land to graze sheep.
• This led to tenants enclosing their arable lands to protect them from the landlord’s sheep.

Question 8

Godly commonwealth

Answer 8

• The commonwealth represented the common good in England.
• Committed Protestants believed the wealthy had a duty, given to them by God, to look after the poor, and that the practice of enclosure led directly to increased poverty and hardship, unemployment and vagrancy
• They argued that if the wealthy took responsibility for looking after the poor and needy, this would create a more Christian society in which the common good was upheld

Question 9

Medieval open-field system

Answer 9

Land was divided among the inhabitants of the village and used for subsistence
farming of crops and animals

Question 10

Rack-renting

Answer 10

• The practice by landlords of rapidly increasing rents so that the tenants who were unable pay could be evicted
• It also helped landlords to increase their profits

Question 11

Sheep-corn localities

Answer 11

Where sheep farming was dominant

Question 12

Subsistence farming

Answer 12

• Self-sufficiency farming, where farmers grow enough to feed themselves and their
  families
• Output is for local requirements with little to no surplus for trade.

Question 13

Tillage

Answer 13

Ploughing the land, preparing it for growing crops

Question 14

Vagrancy

Answer 14

Referred to a person who was homeless with no visible means of support and who travelled around without working

Question 15

Wood-pasture regions

Answer 15

More densely wooded region with heavier soils, typical in Central Suffolk and South
East Norfolk