Chapter 4: English society at end of 15th Century Flashcards
What was the social structure like ?
social statues dominated society
1. King (top of pyramid)
2. Nobility, gentry and higher clergy
3. Merchants, burgesses, artisans and lower clergy
4. Vast majority of pop./ commoners: servants, labouring poor, those w/o work eg.vagabonds (bottom of pyramid)
What was the theory of the ‘Great Chain of Being’ ?
- the natural order of society: each class had the duty to serve those above + higher classes obliged to look after those below (according to the church)
Changes/continuity socially ?
Changes:
- growth in the middle class (professional and mercantile bourgeoisie) in town and cities- important to big cities
- after black death social mobility increasing- alarmed raised amongst middle class who wanted to uphold traditional values
Continuity:
- Feudal System still apparent in law, social relations and attitudes: medieval system by which society was structured depending on relationships in which land was held in return for some form of service. At the top end of the structure, land was held by the monarch in return for military service and at the bottom of the structure; people were required to give labour services to their lords in return for the lord’s protection.
What was the Gentry like during HVII’s reign ?
- ‘great land owners’- owned 15-20% of land
- 1490 around 500 knights
- most important members of gentry sought knighthood as a conformation of social status eg. Sir Reginald Bray
- greater gentry: established by: possessions of land, coat of arms, considerable income, imposing country residence or courtly connections (social prestige eg. dominated local offices)
- meer gentry + esquires (oldest sons of knights ect) much more numerous
- lesser gentry: lived far more modest- social horizons much more local
What was the Nobility like during HVII’s reign ?
- nobility + gentry most privileged class
- only 55 nobles in1500 (owned land- increased wealth)
- king relied on them to govern his kingdom, keep peace + pay majority of taxes
- H controlled nobility through bonds and recognition + the system of ‘retaining’, carrot & stick?
- H used legislation against retaining to limit nobles military power - could not use against the crown (1487) but aware he needed loyal retainers so ensure royal security
- peerage families died out but soon replaced by others who gained H’s favour- crown relied on these families to maintain order in the countryside
- H reluctant to create new titles (distrust in the nobility) becoming too powerful + some had better claims to the throne then he did - only trusted Earl of Oxford and Lord Daubery (who had much political influence)
What was the Churchmen like during HVII’s reign ?
- church hugely important
- bishops were important figures- entitled to sit in the House of Lords, often had political roles - appointed by H for administrative and legal roles
- John Morton and Richard fox two most important clergymen
- H reluctant to appoint men w/aristocratic backgrounds- clergy becoming less exclusive
What was the Commoners like during HVII’s reign ?
- top/’middle sort’: rich merchants + craftsmen
- shopkeepers & skilled tradesmen still respectable
- very few educated professionals - lawyers more influential
What were the causes of regional divisions ?
some regional variations, although relatively small and& politically unified
- Agriculture: mixed farming in more densely populated counties eg. Norfolk, Kent. More sparsely pop. areas of North + West pastoral farming (sheep, cattle, horses), grain farming + fruit growing dominated in Hertfordshire + Welsh border counties.
- Contemporaries were aware of regional differences- Londoners looked down on Northerners envious of southern cities
- Regional identity: enforced by local govt. structures, justice & saints’ cults/centres of pilgrimage eg. Durham
Keene argued medieval England ‘ was a country where ideas of language & nationhood conferred a stranger sense of a single identity than ever before’
What were the regional/local issues for why people rebelled ?
regional/local issues:
- regional economic problems: eg. Yorkshire had suffered from bad harvest
- taxation: believed taxation was unfair + had nothing to do w/them eg. Yorkshire resentful of tax for Brittany
- local issues/grievances: eg. murder of Earl of Northumberland (legitimate Percy line) vs. Sir John Egremont (illegitimate member)
- support for Yorkist cause: regions where Yorkist kings had traditional power bases
What were the direst challenges for why people rebelled ?
direct challenges:
- Stafford/Lovell & Simnel & Warbeck were direct challenges to H’s authority & position
- Cornish rebellion (culminated in an armed march to London)
- a direct challenge to Henrys authority/dynastic claims
What were the regional problems for why people rebelled ?
regional problems:
- decline in agriculture profit/higher prices
-effectiveness of JPs to maintain law 7 order in localities can be questioned- did not always result in rebellions but required a political impetus
Social discontent + rebellions during tudor times ?
- during 2nd half of 15th century: living conditions increases, real wages seemed to increase but inflationary pressure becoming more evident toward end of 15th C
- avoid subsistence crisis (harvest failure raisers food prices resulting in starvation)
- two rebellions took place yorkshire (1489) & cornish rebellion (1497)- taxation main catalyst
‘Tudor Englands greatest success was its ability to feed itself’ - John Guy
What caused the Yorkshire rebellion 1489 ?
- resentment of the taxation granted to finance English troops involvement in Brittany
- Yorkshire had been hit by bad harvest= believed taxation was too much
(Parliament voted for £100,000- only £27,00 raised)
What happened during the Y rebellion ?
- Led by John Egremont
- Earl of Northumberland pleaded to H regarding taxation but when returned w/ no success he was murdered
- Henry Percy also murdered
- Rebels were easily put down by the Earl of Surrey + Egremont fled to Flanders
How did tenants manage to murder the Earl of Northumberland ?
- Northumberland murdered by his tenants
- able to as his retainers deserted him in his hour of need (just as he did to Richard III at Bosworth)
