Chapter 4 - Society

Question 1

How had society changed and remained the same from the feudal system?

Answer 1

Changed:
Growth of the professional and mercantile bourgeoise who became very important in London and other provincial cities like Bristol and Norwich

The same:
- Apex of the system under the monarch still comprised of great landowners and senior churchmen and the base of the system was the labourers who worked for them
- law, social relationships and attitudes

Question 2

What was social mobility?

Answer 2

• The difference of a person’s socio-economic situation to that of their parents or throughout their lifetime (for better or for worse)
• Conservative members of the upper classes were unhappy about it –> tried in vain to uphold traditional values by passing sumptuary laws

Question 3

Why had social mobility increased?

Answer 3

• Increased by economic pressures
• The plague known as the Black Death reached England in 1438 and fluctuated with multiple outbreaks until 1378 –> halved the size of the English population causing a shortage of land usage and food

Question 4

How large was the peerage and who was it made up of?

Was it a closed group?

Answer 4

• No more than about 50 or 60 men
• Consisted of the 5 ranks of aristocrats (duke, marquis, earl, viscount, baron)

No, when peerage families died they were often replaced by other families who had bought or earned the King’s favour

Question 5

Who are some of the members of the nobility who were trusted by Henry?
Which members weren’t?

Answer 5

• The Earl of Oxford and Lord Daubney
• The Earl of Northumberland - controlled the northeast of England on behalf of the crown. He had helped Henry win Bosworth by turning on Richard III

Question 6

What was bastard feudalism?
Why was it a problem?

Answer 6

• When wealthy magnates recruited knights and gentlemen (aka retainers) to serve them as administrators, accountants or sometimes military purposes. Retainers may sometimes receive rewards e.g. payments or grants of land.
• risk of the noblemen potentially using their retained men to bring unlawful influence on others in a court case or use them against the Crown.

Question 7

What did Henry VII do to try and control the nobility?

Answer 7

• limited military power by passing act against retaining
• knew that loyal retainers were crucial to helping protect the crowns security so couldn’t clamp down too harshly
• Parliamentary Acts were passed in 1487 (law against retaining established) and 1504 (allowed magnates to seek retaining licences)

Question 8

Where did the gentry fit into the societal hierarchy?
What defined a member of the gentry?
What was an esquire?

Answer 8

• Immediately below the peerage E.g. Sir Reginald Bray
• someone in possession of a knighthood, a coat of arms authenticated by the College of Arms, considerable income and an imposing country residence or courtly connections
• The eldest son of a knight, the younger sons of a baron, men ‘invested esquire’, magistrates and other wealthy people

Question 9

What title did members of the gentry seek?
What % do knights and peers make up together and what do they have in common?

Answer 9

• most sought knighthoods (there were 375 knights in 1490) –> originally imposed military obligations which began to die out (although still expected to help with administration).
• About 15-20% of the country’s land. They shared a similar elite with a common outlook (interests as land owners)

Question 10

What defined a churchman within the societal hierarchy?

Answer 10

• At the lower parish level
• curates and chantry priests dealt with the spiritual needs of ordinary folk
• Bishops and abbots of larger religious houses were seen as being of more importance and
• often had political roles –> were entitled to sit in the house of Lords

Question 11

What kind of churchmen did Henry appoint as bishops?
Who were the most important?

Answer 11

• those with administrative competence and legal training (valued more than their actual spirituality)
• John Morton and Richard Fox (most important clergymen of the reign)

Question 12

What were the five different groups that made up the commoners and what were their roles?

Answer 12

• The bourgeoisie - educated professionals. E.g. Lawyers (most influential) and wealthier merchants.
• Shopkeepers and skilled Tradesmen - dominated borough corporations (town councils), guilds and lay confraternities.
• Yeomen - farmed substantial properties for the market economy. (peasants)
• Husbandmen - Kept smaller farms than yeomen and were employed by yeomen and gentry. (peasants)
• Labourers - financially dependant on sale of their labour, very insecure position.