Economy Flashcards
What was the population in the early 15th century?
2.2 million
Where were majority of people living? What did they rely on?
Countryside. Relied on some form of farming for a living.
What was population in London ,Norwich, Bristol and York?
London 50,000+
Norwich 30,000
Bristol + York 8000-10,000
What were the main industries? Other industries?
Wool and cloth.
Shipbuilding, mining tin, lead and coal.
Did Henry have an economic policy?
No actual economic policy.
He wanted to build his personal wealth.
Who influenced the act of parliament for economic matters?
Private lobbying of merchants.
Why did income for land decrease?
Black death
What did people move to in 1480s-1490s?
Sheep farming
Why did people move to sheep farming?
Depressed profitability to arable (crop) farming.
Increasing demand for wool meant more profitable sheep farming.
Where was the highland and lowland zone?
north west - highland
south east - lowland
What is mixed farming and which zone was it in?
both the growing of crops and raising animals as livestock. It was in the lowland zone.
What is pastoral farming and where did it dominate?
rearing of animals for products like milk, eggs. Dominated the woodland areas
What were the specialisms in pastoral farming?
Horse breeding in the Fenlands.
What is open field husbandry?
Tenants practised their common raise to raise animals on strips of land
What industries lead to change in the agricultural regions? Why?
Wool, cloth and sheep farming became profitable because of efficiency gains and improved production
Who suffered the most? What did this lead to?
Peasents. They lost access to their common rights and land and left empty. This lead to a moral outcry and political pressures which were difficult to contain.
Overall did English agricultural society undergo major changes?
No - not towards the end of the 15th century an beginning of 16th century.
What % was the cloth trade responsible for?
90% of the value of English exports
What is the estimate increase in the cloth trade exports?
60% increase in Henrys reign
What did the exports compromise of? Where was it shipped from? To Where?
Raw wool. Shipped from Yarmouth, Lynn and Boston. Shipped to Calais by The Merchants of Staple.
What had dominated trade?
Finished cloth.
What had finished wool lead to the development of?
Weaving which was usually a domestic process and fulling. And fulling. They were commercial enterprises (bought and sold) which made profit.
What was a positive of the growth of finished cloth dominating trade?
Employment of rural areas.
Which cloth towns had been prosperous?
Lavenham, Suffolk and Lewes Sussex.
Which cities didn’t benefit? Why?
Lincoln and Winchester they suffered significant decay because cloth industry moved from older corporate boroughs to newer manufacturing centres in smaller market towns and villages in East Anglia , west riding of Yorkshire and the west country.
What did London export? By who? What did it show?
Finished cloth by the Merchant Adventurers. Showed London’s commercial dominance in England.
What did Antwerp and London make?
Commercial axis (trade)
After Antwerp English cloth was transported all over Europe.
Why couldn’t the merchant adventurers get the complete domination of trade?
The Hanestic league had trading privileges which were reasserted by henry in 1487 and 1504 because he didnt want them to supported Yorkist claimant Earl of Suffolk.
What trade was England dependent on and why?
The cloth trade because other trades were too small and failed to compete effectively with contential competitors.
What was Germany superior in?
Mining and metallurgy
What was The Portuguese, Dutch and Spanish superior in?
shipbuilding
What were the industrial activities? What did they provide?
Weaving and brewing were small scale craft operations and didn’t capital investment. They supplied the basic necessitates in life such as food and shelter
What had required lots of capital investment? Was it small scale or large scale?
Mining. Small scale
Where was tin mined?
Cornwall
Where (location/ upland or lowland) was lead mined?
upland areas such as High Pennies and Mendips
Where was coal mined?
Northumberland and Durham
Where was Iron Ore mined and smelted?
Weald of Sussex and Kent.
Where was coal shipped from and to who?
Most of the coal from the north east was shipped from Newcastle to meet growing demand of domestic and industrial fuel in London.
Where was the small export of trade of coal to?
Germany and Netherlands
What had lead to an increased production discovered in 1486?
Development of pumping technology in Finchale county Durham in 1486
What was the crowns approach to trade?
Little consistency
What was it clear that henry had an interest in?
maximising customs revenue
What was it clear Henry was ready to sacrifice and what for?
Revenue and trade for security of the dynasty
What was Henry happy for Parliament to favour?
Sectional interests (interests of particular community or country)
What created the biggest problem for Henry in trade?
The trade embargo with the Netherlands.
Why did Henry impose the embargo?
He feared Margret of Burgundy’s support to Perkin Warbeck.
Where did he have to move his trade to.
Instead of directly trading with Netherland merchants he moved trade directly through Calais.
Was this a good idea for Henry (trade embargo)
No the Netherlands had retaliated causing the embargo to end
Which treaty and year ended the embargo?
Intercurus Magnus.
What were the 2 terms of Intercurus Magnus?
English merchants could export everywhere in Burgundy except Flanders .
Merchants would be granted fair justice and that effective arrangements and effective arrangement for the resolution of disputes.
Why did Henry panic in 1503? What did Henry try to do about this?
Claim for Earl of Suffolk had been taken more seriously in Burgundy. Henry had tried to impose the embargo again
What did the several trade treaties concluded to show about Henry?
He rated foreign policy and dynastic interests over English merchants.
What from Edwards reign did henry removed? Did they ever comeback or was it permanently gone?
Trading restrictions were removed in 1486
Bought back the following year in support for Brittany
Removed slightly with Treaty of Etaples
All restrictions removed in 1497
What were the weaknesses in trading policy shown?
The attempt to breakthrough in Mediterranean trade was a failure. The Hanestic league were largely successful in limiting the development of English trading interests in the Baltic
When did Henry pass the Navigation Acts and why?
1485 and 1489 to encourage English shipping by trying to ensure English ships could only carry certain products to and from English ports
Were the Navigation Acts a success?
No because there were foreign merchants who still transported a substantial proportion of English exports.
What was the century that had lots of exploration? Who had opened up much of the world?
15th century.
Spanish and Portugal.
What had Portugal benefited from in exploration?
Dominated spice trade
What were Bristol merchants and seamen interested in? Where the English quick to engage in exploration?
They were interested in the possibilities of Atlantic discovery.
No
When did John Cabot arrive in Bristol? Why was it a good time for him to come?
1494 or 1495.
The Bristol merchants were looking for alternative fishing grounds to exploit.
What permission did Henry grant Cabot?
To search any regions and provinces which hadn’t been discovered.
Where did he sail to when? What did he find?
What was going to be know as Newfoundland in 1497. He found fishing grounds.
How did John Cabot’s second voyage go?
It wasn’t successful he didn’t return he was presumed lost at sea.
What 2 things was John Cabot successful at achieving?
Showing there was a substantial land mass within a reasonable sailing from Europe. Laid the way for Bristol fishery.
Did John Cabot enter mainland America?
No it was William Weston in 1499 or 1500. He was the first Englishman to lead an expedition to the New World.
What did John Cabot’s son receive? What was he unsuccessful at doing?
Sebastian received a sponsorship from Henry VII and led an unsuccessful attempt to find the north west passage to Asia in 1508.
When was English exploration to North Atlantic called off?
When Henry VIII came to the throne he had shown little interest in supporting these enterprises.
What happened to the fishing grounds that were discovered?
They became the preserves of Portuguese seamen.
