Culture Late Years

Question 1

When did the price of wheat double and by how much?

Answer 1

1593-1594 and 1596-97 19.90 shillings to 50.7

Question 2

Agricultural prices were higher in what year than ever before?

Answer 2

1594-98

Question 3

What happened to wages and what was the impact?

Answer 3

Little or no income struggled to buy basic foods and value of real wages was falling- lowest from 1260-1950 (Phelps-Brown Index).

Question 4

What happened when people couldn’t afford wheat? What did it mean?

Answer 4

Those who couldn’t began to buy other cheaper less edible grains e.g. barley, oats, beans- higher demand meant higher prices but able to adapt and migrate problem.

Question 5

Where was food shortages and death rates the most severe? Why?

Answer 5

In towns- situation made worse by migration from the countryside- rural poor moved for job and food. Mainly smaller towns (records scarce but probably).

Question 6

In London what % of people living in poverty rose in late 1590s?

Answer 6

5% to 9%

Question 7

How many poor were in Ipswich 1597

Answer 7

13% pop were impotent or-able bodied.

Question 8

Geographically where was the impact worse?

Answer 8

N, SW and smaller towns/

Question 9

When was there real starvation and even with what measures?

Answer 9

1596-1597 despite gov efforts e.g. ban grain exports and feeding of peas to cattle. FURTHER READING?

Question 10

Cumbria and Newcastle on Tyne where where food shortages were worse explain the death rates.

Answer 10

More deaths 1596-7
21% above national average

1597-8
26% above.

Question 11

How did the plague made the situation worse and what measures were put in place?

Answer 11

Weakened people- malnourishment.

London 1593-94 theatres closed (smaller probably worse- cramped and unsanitary).

Question 12

What happened in 1598?

Answer 12

Whole families seeking poor relief not individuals- immense strain to system.

Question 13

Why did social tension rise in the 1590s?

Answer 13

Hunger, high prices, rising death rates.

Question 14

When did crime rates rise and how do we know? FURTHER READING?

Answer 14

1590s- more prosecutions in the law courts.

Question 15

When did the rate of theft rise and why?

Answer 15

1596-98- social/economic hardship- need for food and clothes-impulse crimes.

Question 16

What did pamphlets in the 1590s do? Which in a sense tried to prevent crime?

Answer 16

Depicted lurid descriptions of crimes committed by wandering bands of beggars.

Question 17

What happened in London? A riot? How many? June 1595

Answer 17

1,800 apprentices, soldiers and unemployed men were involved in 2 riots against fishmines, butter sellers and foreign merchants.

Question 18

What was the riot in London’s aims, what happened and why was it significant?

Answer 18

Assaulted same London officials and planned to steal armour and cut off mayor of London’s head. It was put down.

The pure malicious aggression shows that the public, esp. working class were really struggling and were to go to great lengths to be heard so it could be sorted.

Question 19

What happened in Oxfordshire Nov 1596? What was it over?

Answer 19

The Oxfordshire rising.

Protest over enclosures and food prices in the region.

Question 20

What happened in the Oxfordshire rising?

Answer 20

Planned-attack house of Oxfordshire, LL Norris (inspired by Apprentice’s riots), seize his weapons, and march to London. Others- unmarried servants and artisans.
Only 4 turned up, waited 2 hours, disbanded and arrested.😊😊

Kill 7 local landowners.

Leader- Bartholomew Steer.

Question 21

What happened to the 4 men and why is this significant?

Answer 21

Authorities acted swiftly and violently. Pc reacted very strongly and ordered troublemakers-brought to London, examined under torture by council itself- councillors terrified that there was gentry involvement in the unrest- not uncovered.

Executed for treason-waged war against monarch (despite rising not violent)- clear message to other rebels.

Shows council’s paranoia and how dire the situation- people banding together against gov.

Question 22

What did Nov 1596 lead to?

Answer 22

Special change made in local assizes (law courts) against perpetrators of enclosure and trigger for Poor Laws 1597-1601.

Question 23

What was a limitation to the uprisings?

Answer 23

Unlike in 1549 to 1590s the wealthier husbandmen (framers with small landholding) who might have once sided with the rebels had become more prosperous and better educated and now tended to participate with local gov rather than protest against it due to social shift- better than the rebels more so socially. Intellectual and political change than brute force.

This meant less numbers and resources.

Question 24

What was Nov 1596 about- society section wise?

Answer 24

Were the result of discontent among the v poorest of society- not joined by those of higher rank who had more money and influence as they were okay.

Question 25

What did the riots lack?

Answer 25

Leadership and easily supressed (lack of money and resources); though they certainly frightened the gov into taking action- more paranoia than real threat.

Question 26

Was the harvest failures geographically widespread?

Answer 26

Not as much was what they might have been.

Question 27

How did London escape the very worse of the food shortages?

Answer 27

Had access to grain imports from the Baltic that were not affected by the European dearth.

Question 28

What could larger towns do?

Answer 28

More easily stockpile food then could be given to those most in need.

Question 29

Where were much less affected by starvation and where was affected?

Answer 29

N and SW were.

Central midlands and parishes of E and SE were much less affected.

Question 30

What was the 1597 Vagrancy Act?

Answer 30

Ordered vagrants to be arrested, whipped and returned to their parishes where they were forced to work if they were able-bodied or sent to almshouses if they were impotent.

Persistent vagrants were to be sent to houses of correction or even to work on the English galley ships- Final punishment was to be executed for felony.

Question 31

When were there successive bad harvests?

Answer 31

1594-97

Question 32

Between 1597-98 how many bills were passed to deal with poverty?

Answer 32

11/17

Question 33

What was the poor law (1597) and 1601 aim?

Answer 33

To not introduce any new ideas but bring together in one Act the various aspects of poor relief over the last 30 years.

Question 34

What was the 1601 Poor Law Act, who was appointed?

Answer 34

Long lasting into 19c, minor corrections and the Overseer of the Poor (1572) was more clearly defined and 2 unpair overseers were to be elected every year for each parish.

Question 35

In the 1601 Act was did the Overseers do?

Answer 35

Work supervised by JPs and had power to put those without money or jobs to work. Asses how much money was needed to support the poor and collecting and distributing poor relief. The supervised the poor house and provisions for parishes that might struggle to get enough funds to avoid corruption. Ordered to meet monthly and submit accounts to JPs annually.

Question 36

Extra

Answer 36

dd FINISH

Question 37

1597 Tillage Act.

Answer 37

Attempted to reverse the effect of enclosure by forcing pasture land that had been enclosed since 1588 to be restored to arable farming . Debates formed again and the effect on arable and food supplies.

Question 38

What was the 1597 Parliament concerned with?

Answer 38

Level of concern about possibility of social and economic breakdown.