Agrarian discontent: Kett's Rebellion Flashcards
Who was Kett’s rebellion against?
The power and influence of the landed elite
What was enclosure blamed for?
Growth in poverty and vagrancy
What did many leave behind for sheep farming?
Arable farming
Why did many turn to sheep farming? (2)
- Cloth trade brought high revenue
- Under pressure from rising prices, which meant that they needed to increase their income
How many sheep did Sir William Fermour of Norfolk own?
17,000
Reasons for enclosures: (2)
- Profit - Sheep farming due to the great demand for wool
- A response to Depopulation Where tenants had left or died and had not been replaced
Why was the common land important to those who did not own land? (2)
- Common grazing provided manure for the village crops; without this it became harder to grow enough food to survive
- Graze animals for subsistence farming
Why were copyhold tenants vulnerable to being forced out of their homes and into poverty?
Their leases were open to challenge so easily forced off their land
How did the landless suffer from enclosure
They were reliant on the common land for survival
1553 Sheep and Farms Act:
- Tried to restrict the number of sheep kept per farmer to 2400
- Engrossing was allowed, but only to a maximum of two farms
What was introduced from March to November 1549? And why? (2)
A tax on sheep was introduced in an attempt
- To restrict the size of flocks
- Discourage landlords from turning to sheep farming
What did Protector Somerset introduce, inspired by the thinking of commonwealth-men?
Introduce commissions of enquiry into illegal enclosures
What was the population of England in 1525 and 1551
- 1525 - 2.3 million
- 1551 - 3 million
Why were the poorest in society badly affected by the rise in population and greater demand for food? (4)
- Greater demand for food led to rapid food price rises
- Led to pressure on land to grow more crops
- Which led to pressure on the amount of land in each village available for tillage
- Price rises led landlords to turn to enclosure, which made the lives of the rural poor even harder
Why did the growing population cause unemployment?
More competition for jobs
What kind of help was available for the poor?
Charity, or limited poor relief from the government
1547 Vagrancy Act:
First offence - Vagrant branded with a ‘v’ and forced to work as a slave for 2 years for the person who’d informed against them
What happened in 1545 and 1549 which exacerbated the problem of food shortages, rising prices and growing bagrancy?
Poor harvests
Why did enclosure increase unemployment?
Sheep farming required less labour than arable farming
What is debasement?
Gold and silver in the coinage was melted down and mixed with less expensive metals, used to make an increased number of coins
How did debasement cause price to rise further in the later 1540s?
Reduced confidence in the currency, led to merchants putting up their prices, which added to the problem of inflation
Why was debasement used?
To meet the costs of war with France and Scotland in the 1540s
Why was the Duke of Somerset attracted to the idea of creating a Christian commonwealth?
He was a committed Protestant
What did Somerset appoint John Hales to do?
Hales was appointed to oversee government reform of social and economic problems
Why did Hales’ first series of bills, encouraging social and economic reform, all fail to pass?
Parliament tended to represent the interests of the landed elites, who profited most from enclosure and sheep farming
What did Hales manage to successfully introduce in 1549?
A tax on sheep
What was Hales’ and Somerset’s commissions set up to do?
To inquire into illegal enclosures and report evidence back to the government
What did the commissions not have the power to do? (2)
- Order illegal enclosures to be taken down
- Punish those found to be in breach of the law
