economic development Flashcards
What was the population of England at the beginning of the fifteenth century?
Around 2.2 million.
Where did the majority of people in England live during the fifteenth century?
In the countryside, relying on farming for a living.
What percentage of the population were urban dwellers?
10 percent.
What was the population of London during the fifteenth century?
Probably exceeded 50,000.
How many towns in England had populations of at least 3,000?
Probably no more than 20 towns.
Which provincial town had a population exceeding 10,000?
Norwich.
What were the populations of Bristol, York, and Coventry?
In the range of 8,000 to 10,000.
What were the main industries in urban areas during the fifteenth century?
Wool and cloth.
What other industries existed in urban areas?
Mining tin, lead, and coal; metal working; leatherwork; shipbuilding; and papermaking.
What was Henry VII’s approach to economic policy?
He had no specific economic policy as a modern leader would.
What influenced the Acts of Parliament related to economic matters?
The private lobbying of merchants with vested interests.
How did the Black Death affect income from land?
Income from land had declined in the aftermath.
Was there a recovery in land income during the 1480s and 1490s?
Yes, as the population began to increase again.
What farming trend was observed in the 1480s and 1490s?
A greater move towards sheep farming.
What caused the shift towards sheep farming?
The depressed profitability of arable farming and increased demand for wool.
What is mixed farming?
A system of farming which involves the growing of crops as well as the raising of animals as livestock.
What is pastoral farming?
Farming involving the rearing of animals - either for animal by-products such as milk, eggs or wool, or for meat.
What are common rights?
The legal right of tenants to use common land, for example for keeping animals; the exact nature of these rights varied from place to place.
How was England divided in terms of agriculture?
Into a lowland zone to the south and east and a highland zone to the north and west.
What type of farming predominated in the lowland zone?
Mixed farming was the most common form of farming found in the lowland zone.
What type of farming predominated in woodland areas?
Pastoral farming predominated in woodland areas.
What was the traditional manorial system of open-field husbandry?
A form of landholding which predominated in most of lowland England, where tenants farmed strips of land in open fields and enjoyed common rights.
What pressure did the manorial system face in the sixteenth century?
It came under increasing pressure by enclosure in some parts of the country.
What was the impact of the wool and cloth trades on sheep farming?
The wool and cloth trades made sheep farming relatively more profitable, but peasants lost access to land and common rights, often becoming destitute.
When did significant changes in English agriculture begin to occur?
Significant changes began in the first half of the sixteenth century, creating moral outcry and political pressures.
What percentage of English exports was accounted for by the cloth trade?
The cloth trade was responsible for about 90 percent of the value of English exports.
What was the trend in cloth exports during Henry VII’s reign?
There was an estimated increase of over 60 percent in the volume of cloth exports.
What comprised the bulk of exports in the earlier part of the sixteenth century?
The bulk of exports comprised raw wool, shipped mainly from east-coast ports.
What led to the development of weaving and commercial enterprises in the cloth industry?
The shift from raw wool to finished cloth dominated the trade, leading to domestic weaving and commercial fulling and dyeing.
Which towns were extremely prosperous due to the cloth industry?
Cloth towns such as Lavenham in Suffolk and Lewes in Sussex were extremely prosperous.
What happened to historic cities like Winchester and Lincoln during this period?
Historic cities suffered significant decay as the cloth industry moved to newer manufacturing centers.
How did London’s role change in the cloth trade?
An increasing proportion of finished cloth was exported from London through the Merchant Adventurers, reinforcing its commercial dominance.
What was Antwerp’s significance during this period?
Antwerp was the commercial metropolis of Europe and its main money market, where English cloth was transported all over Europe.
What were the Merchants of the Staple?
The Merchants of the Staple were incorporated by royal charter in 1319 and controlled the export of wool, based at Calais from 1363.
What is fulling in the context of cloth making?
Fulling is a step in woollen cloth making that cleanses cloth to eliminate oils, dirt, and impurities, making it thicker.
What is the Hanseatic League?
A group of free cities originating in the thirteenth century, which came together to form a commercial union with the intention of controlling trade in the Baltic Sea; the league dominated commercial activity in northern Europe from the thirteenth to the fifteenth century.
What is metallurgy?
The scientific study of the extraction, refining, alloying and fabrication of metals, and of their structure and properties.
When was the Merchant Adventurers founded?
Founded in 1407 and dominated by members of the Mercers’ Company, the wealthiest and most influential company of the City of London.
What was the role of the Merchant Adventurers?
A trading organization which increasingly dominated London’s cloth trade with Antwerp.
How did the Merchant Adventurers relate to the Crown?
Their positive relationship with the Crown was immensely important; they acted as the voice of the industry and provided expertise in negotiating trade treaties.
What treaties did the Merchant Adventurers help negotiate?
The Intercursus Magnus and the Intercursus Malus.
Why could the Merchant Adventurers not achieve complete domination of trade?
They could not overcome the trading privileges enjoyed by the Hanseatic League, which had been reasserted by treaty in 1474 and again in 1504.
What was England’s dependency in trading terms?
England remained dependent on the cloth industry, especially as other industries remained small and failed to compete effectively with their continental competitors.
Which countries were superior in mining and metallurgy?
Germany and Bohemia were superior in mining and metallurgy.
What was the scale of most industrial activities in England?
Most industrial activities, such as weaving or brewing, were small-scale craft operations which required little capital investment.
What did most small-scale operations supply?
They supplied the basic necessities of life, food and shelter.
What was the capital investment requirement for mining?
Mining required more capital investment but remained fairly small scale.
Where was tin mined in England?
Tin was mined in Cornwall.
Where was lead mined in England?
Lead was mined in upland areas such as the high Pennines and the Mendips.
Where was coal mined in England?
Coal was mined in Durham and Northumberland.
Where was iron ore mined and smelted?
Iron ore was mined and smelted in the Weald of Sussex and Kent.
When was a blast furnace first recorded in Sussex and Kent?
A blast furnace was recorded as early as 1496.
What was the main destination for coal shipped from Newcastle?
Much of the coal from the northeast was shipped to London.
What was the small export trade for coal?
There was a small export trade to Germany and the Netherlands.
What technology enabled greater production in mining?
The development of basic pumping technology enabled greater production.
When was basic pumping technology first recorded?
Basic pumping technology was first recorded at Finchale in County Durham in 1486.
What was the Crown’s approach to trade during Henry VII’s reign?
The Crown’s approach had little consistency and was focused on maximizing customs revenue.
What was the embargo imposed by Henry VII?
Henry VII imposed an embargo on trade with the Netherlands in 1493.
What prompted the embargo on the Netherlands?
The embargo was prompted by fear of Margaret of Burgundy’s support for Perkin Warbeck.
What was required of merchants due to the embargo?
Merchants were required to direct their trade through Calais.
What treaty ended the embargo on trade with the Netherlands?
The embargo ended with the treaty known as the Intercursus Magnus.
What did the Intercursus Magnus allow for English merchants?
It allowed English merchants to export to any part of the Duke of Burgundy’s lands apart from Flanders.
What was the Intercursus Malus?
Intercursus Malus was a treaty extorted from Philip of Burgundy in 1506 but never fully operative.
What was the outcome of Henry VII’s panic in 1503?
He attempted to reimpose the embargo but later negotiated the Intercursus Malus.
What was the significance of the Treaty of Etaples in 1492?
It encouraged Anglo-French commercial relations.
What was a major failure in Henry VII’s trading policy?
The attempt to make a significant breakthrough in Mediterranean trade proved a dismal failure.
What limited the development of English trading interests in the Baltic?
The Hanseatic League was largely successful in limiting development.
Who was John Cabot?
John Cabot (c1451-98) was a native of Genoa and a merchant involved in the Venetian spice trade before moving to Spain.
What was John Cabot’s navigational belief?
Cabot believed that a more northerly course across the Atlantic would reach land more quickly.
What were the Navigation Acts of 1485 and 1489?
The Navigation Acts aimed to encourage English shipping by requiring certain products to be transported on English ships.
What was the impact of the Navigation Acts?
The acts had limited usefulness as foreign vessels continued to transport a substantial proportion of English exports.
What characterized the fifteenth century in terms of exploration?
The fifteenth century was a great era of European exploration, with Spanish and Portuguese explorers opening up much of the world.
How did English exploration compare to Spanish and Portuguese exploration?
English sailors were slower to engage in exploration, although Bristol merchants were interested in transatlantic discovery.
What authorization did Cabot receive from Henry VII?
Cabot was authorized to search for unknown isles, countries, regions, or provinces inhabited by heathens and infidels.
What did Cabot discover during his 1497 voyage?
Cabot located what became known as Newfoundland and reported extensive fishing grounds.
What happened to Cabot on his second voyage?
Cabot set off on a second voyage in 1498 but never returned and was presumed lost at sea.
What did David Quinn say about Cabot’s discoveries?
Quinn stated that Cabot established that ‘a substantial land mass did exist within reasonable sailing from Europe.’
Did Cabot ever set foot on the American mainland?
It is almost certain that Cabot never set foot on the American mainland.
Who was William Weston?
William Weston was a Bristol merchant who might have been the first Englishman to lead an expedition to the New World in 1499 or 1500.
What did Sebastian Cabot attempt in 1508?
Sebastian Cabot, John Cabot’s son, led an unsuccessful attempt to find the ‘north-west passage’ to Asia.
What happened to English exploration after Henry VIII’s accession?
English exploration of the north Atlantic tailed off with Henry VIII, who had little appetite for supporting such enterprises.
Who dominated the newly discovered fishing grounds after Cabot’s time?
The fishing grounds became the preserve of seamen from Portugal and the Basque region of northern Spain.
What was the evidence regarding prosperity and depression in the final years of the fifteenth century?
There is relatively little evidence to estimate the extent of prosperity and depression during this time.
What happened to prices in the 1480s?
There was a temporary rise in prices in the 1480s.
What does the evidence suggest about wages in the final years of the fifteenth century?
Wages seem to have remained steady.
What trend was observed in the export price of wool and the price of grain and animal products in the 1490s?
There was a decline in the export price of wool and in the price of grain and animal products.
What might the decline in farming profitability in the 1490s imply?
It might imply a reduction in farming profitability but also rising real incomes for domestic consumers.
How were building workers and agricultural labourers affected during the 1490s?
They were, on the whole, better off during the 1490s than at any other time during the Tudor period.
