England in the 1500s

Question 1

Start of the 1500s

Answer 1

• England recovering from 30 years of civi war between the houses of Lancaster and York
• War of the Roses
• 1455-1485 (Bosworth)
• Crown had changed hands 6 times in this period from Henry VI’s mental breakdown in 1453

Question 2

Population

Answer 2

• 2.5 million people living in England by 1500
• still recovering from the Black Death of 1348-9
• Largest city was London
• Other towns inc. Norwich, Bristol, Exeter, Coventry and York but none had population exceeding 12000

Question 3

Society

Answer 3

• Agrarian society

- 90% of population in countryside

Question 4

Economy

Answer 4

• Main exports were wool and cloth
• Population increasein 16th C. lead to increased demand for cereal grains therefore growing agricultural prices
• Pressure on land, unemployment, food shortages, inflation

Question 5

Governemt

Answer 5

• Parliment: House of Lords and the House of Commons
• Lords: secular peers/ecclesiastical leaders
• Commons: Representatives of county communities
• King could summon and dismiss Parliament at will
• Function of Parliament was to grant taxation and ratify/give consent to legislation
• Little hand in policy making, which was done by the King as advised by his Privy Council

Question 6

Law and Order

Answer 6

• Upheld by regional magnates
• Justices of the Peace ensure royal will was carried out. Unpaid and not always effective
• Lawless areas of border between Scotland and Wales

Question 7

Religion

Answer 7

• Complete loyalty to Catholic church

- Sacraments/Christian faith were central to peoples lives

Question 8

Culture

Answer 8

• Two universities: Oxford and Cambridge
• Humanism arrived late: Study of the classical world, renaissance humanists revived classical culture and Greek/Latin were related to modern life