Economic developments Flashcards
What did the Tudors not have?
A coherent economic policy; they reacted to events as they unfolded
What were governments influenced by?
The need to raise revenue to administer the country and by a desire to prevent disorder and look after their subjects’ welfare
When did governments intervene in economic affairs and what was the objective?
To rectify a problem
A short-term fix, not complete reform
How many statutes were passed to improve trade and industry, and to control labour relations and social welfare?
300
Who was expected to enforce the statutes but what was the case and what did this suggest?
JPs
Few cases were presented to JPs at a local level and fewer prosecutions were brought by the Crown
The Crown was more interested in its own fiscal welfare
Why were JPs reluctant to prosecute?
For fear of exacerbating unemployment and fomenting trouble
What was the government’s response to raising taxes?
To try to justify the need and to avoid making excessive or innovative demands
What did the Amicable Grant demonstrate?
The danger of trying to collect a non-parliamentary tax
What happened in 1536 and 1549?
Farmers expressed concern when rumours circulated that the government was planning to increase indirect taxation
What had medieval rulers been expected to do but what happened by the end of the period?
‘Live of their own’ to meet the costs of running the country and maintaining the royal household
No longer the case
What happened to the costs of the administration?
Doubled
What did Henry VII and his successors do?
Used parliamentary grants to pay for wars
Peacetime subsidies introduced in the 1530s
What did Henry VIII and Edward do?
Debased the coinage
Sold off Crown lands
Negotiated lands from continental bankers
What did Mary and Elizabeth do?
Cut back on expenditure
Made their administrations more efficient
Avoided wars for as long as possible
What did Elizabeth not attempt to do?
Reform the system of self-assessment whereby land, property, and goods were rated for tax and confirmed by JPs at levels below their value
Since 1547 what was the case?
MPs and peers had begun to revise their parliamentary assessments downwards
What was the case by 1558 and what happened in the 1570s?
The assessed landed income of nobles had fallen by 25%
Those rated at £100 or more were taxed at around 10%
What happened to William Cecil?
He had estates and goods rated at £133 a year that were valued at over £4000
What did the collision between landowners, merchants, nobles, and gentry ensure?
While the wealthy did pay taxes occasionally, there was never going to be any serious resistance or opposition
Even during the last decade of Elizabeth’s reign what happened?
When Elizabeth requested large subsidies, MPs approved because national security outweighed any thoughts of complaining
What did Mary of Elizabeth not experience and how?
Tax revolts
By judicious financial management and by avoiding excessive demands
When was the enclosing of land a major issue?
When it occurred illegally or in times of economic hardship, and then only in areas where fertile land was in short supply
What was passed?
Acts in 1489, 1553, 1549-50, 1555, 1563, and 1597 to prevent the conversion of arable land to pasture, the engrossment of farms, and the destruction of common rights
What was periodically held?
Commissions of enquiry in 1488, 1517, 1548, 1549, and 1565-6 to ensure that illegal enclosures had not occurred
What evidence is there to suggest that plaintiffs turned to litigation?
Wolsey charged 264 landlords and corporations
The privy council took action against illegal enclosures in the wake of the POG
What did Northumberland do but what may explain the absence of complaints in the 1550s?
Sided with the landlords and took action to deter protestors
The collapse of the wool trade and a series of good harvests
What happened with enclosures during Elizabeth’s reign?
Became less of an issue and anti-enclosure legislation was repealed in 1593
Repeal coincided with a downturn in the economy but there was no strong call to reverse the law
What enclosure Act was passed during Elizabeth’s reign and what was the impact?
An Act that made protests against enclosures treasonous
Contributed to a spate of enclosure activity
How many harvests failed, how many of the population lived at starvation level, and what is surprising?
One in every four
One-third
The period did not see more grain riots and rebellions
Why was there not more grain riots and rebellions?
Lack of interest shown by nobles and gentry in leading rebellions
Government legislation, the enforcement of statutes and proclamations by JPs, and the initiatives taken by municipal authorities
What was passed in 1534, 1555, 1559, 1563, 1571, and 1583?
Acts to limit the export of grain and encourage imports
What measures were taken in 1527, 1544, 1545, 1550, 1556, and 1562?
Measures to prevent the hoarding of grain
What did towns such as Norwich, London, and Ipswich do?
Bought up cheap corn, stockpiled it, and sold it to the poor at below-market rates in times of dearth
What were JPs ordered to do?
Search houses for grain and forced farmers to sell corn at a fair price
What was issued by the royal council in 1527, 1550, 1556, and 1586?
Books of Orders that gave detailed advice on how to deal with food shortages
What did Orders in the 1590s do?
Required towns to transport surplus corn to the most affected areas
What was the government more willing to do?
Intervene when there were food shortages than in other fields of economic activity
What did JPs do their best to do but what was the case?
Enforce regulations
Towns often looked no further than helping their own citizens and some merchants were interested in profiteering
What was there little sign of in the last twenty years of Elizabeth’s reign?
Disorder
What did the 1520s, 1550s, and 1590s see?
Slumps in the woollen cloth trade which resulted in bursts of government interventionism
What did the Crown have a personal interest in?
Maintaining high levels of cloth production since its customs revenue was directly affected by exports
What became serious?
The problem of large numbers of unemployed fullers, carders, weavers, and dyers
What did Northumberland’s council issue in 1552?
Rules to control the quality of manufacturing different types of cloth in an attempt to raise export sales
What did Mary’s government do in 1555?
Passed laws designed to force weavers to join guilds and maintain a good standard of work
What important legislation came in 1563?
The Statute of Artificers which introduced a range of measures intended to restrict the movement of labour and to ensure that relations between employers and workers were put on a fair basis
What did the 1563 Act declare?
That all unemployed people aged between twelve and 60 were to be found work
Masters were not allowed to dismiss a servant
What did the 1563 statute represent?
A real attempt to control the economy, to find work for unemployed people, and to preserve order
Was the 1563 statute successful?
There were no more revolts or rebellions involving unemployed people
JPs were reluctant to impose regulations strictly, and only in years of severe economic depression were laws enforced
What did JPs usually do?
Side with the masters, employers, and craft guilds
Only fully applied the laws when it was in their interest to do so
