Elizabeth I - Local initiatives - RG1

Question 1

What was the common belief regarding wages at the time?

Answer 1

Although we now know that real wages were falling, most thought that wages were too high.

Question 2

What did the Council of the North try to do regarding wages?

Answer 2

The Council of the North tried to get the corporations of York and Hull to enforce a schedule of wage rates which had applied in 1514.

Question 3

How many labourers were charged with unlawfully high wages?

Answer 3

113

Question 4

Which act tried to deal with the problem of high wages?

Answer 4

The Statute of Artificers (1563)

Question 5

Which rules did The Statute of Artificers (1563) establish?

Answer 5

• Compulsory labour, especially at harvest time
• A minimum period of one year for the hire of workmen during which they could not leave their masters or be dismissed without good cause
• A prohibition on anyone following a craft unless they had served a seven-year apprenticeship
• The setting of maximum wage rates by JP’s in every county.

Question 6

What was the issue with The Statute of Artificers (1563)?

Answer 6

The government lacked the powers of enforcement. There was no army of bureaucrats to traverse the country and investigate wage rates in every district.
The JP’s struggled to manage wage rates within their own counties