english society at the end of the fifteenth century

Question 1

Who owns the land?

Answer 1

The church.

Question 2

What were Archbishops?

Answer 2

Very powerful roles within the government.

Question 3

Who were the Nobility?

Answer 3

They owned land.
People such as Dukes, Earls, and Barons.
Part of the government.

Question 4

Who were the Gentry?

Answer 4

Gentlemen who live in large houses in the country, providing armies for war

Question 5

Who were Yeomen?

Answer 5

They were farmers who owned land in the country or rented it.

Question 6

Who were Labourers?

Answer 6

They work for citizens, yeomen or shopkeepers.

Question 7

Who were Citizens?

Answer 7

Rich merchants and craftsmen in the towns.

Question 8

What was the structure of English society?

Answer 8

It was not as rigid as the hierarchy of France and Spain, but was still very stratified.
Great landowners and senior churchmen were below the monarch, and below them were those who laboured on their behalf.

Question 9

How many men did the peerage (nobility) compromise of?

Answer 9

No more than about 50 or 60.

Question 10

What happened when a peerage family would die out?

Answer 10

They’d be replaced by others who had acquired or bought the King’s favour.

Question 11

Why did the Crown rely on peerage families?

Answer 11

These families maintained order within the countryside.

Question 12

What was the difference in use of peerage between Henry VII and Edward IV?

Answer 12

Henry VII was much more reluctant to create new peerage as he was deeply distrustful of the nobility as a whole.

Question 13

Who were the few to have political influence under Henry?

Answer 13

His trusted Lancastrian military commanders such as the Earl of Oxford or Lord Daubeney.

Question 14

What was Henry’s most important method of controlling the nobility?

Answer 14

Through bonds and recognisances.

Question 15

What was the key to the nobles’ power?

Answer 15

The system labelled bastard feudalism, also known as retaining.

Question 16

What was bastard feudalism?

Answer 16

This was when wealthy magnates recruited knights and gentlemen to serve them as administrators or sometimes for military purposes.

Question 17

What was the problem with bastard feudalism and what did Henry do to fix this?

Answer 17

The noblemen could potentially use their retained men to bring unlawful influence on others in a court case or even threaten the Crown.
Henry sought to limit the military power through legislation on retaining, but remained conscious that loyal retainers were essential to national security.

Question 18

What reciprocal relationship did the bastard feudalism system have?

Answer 18

In return for loyal service, military or necessary, a retainer might receive rewards such as local office or grants of land as well as direct payment.

Question 19

What limits were applied on retaining during Henry’s reign?

Answer 19

• In 1486 peers and MPs were required to take an oath against illegal retaining or being illegally retained. However, what constituted illegality in this context remained conveniently undefined
• In 1487 a law against retaining was established
• The 1487 law was reinforced by an Act passed in 1504, under which licenses could be sought

Question 20

What did the 1504 Act on retainers state?

Answer 20

That only the king could grant licenses. This only lasted for the duration of Henry’s lifetime.

Question 21

What did the most important members of the gentry seek?

Answer 21

Knighthoods as confirmation of their social status.

Question 22

How many knights were there in 1490?

Answer 22

Around 500.

Question 23

What had knighthood status originally imposed?

Answer 23

Military obligations.

Question 24

What were Esquires?

Answer 24

The eldest sons of knights, the younger sons of barons.

Question 25

Why was the Church important?

Answer 25

For its spiritual role and as a great landowner.

Question 26

Who were at the lower parish level?

Answer 26

Curates and chantry priests who were modestly rewarded for dealing with the spiritual needs of ordinary folks

Question 27

Who were more important figures of the Church?

Answer 27

Bishops and the abbots of larger religious house who were entitled to sit in the House of Lords and had political roles to undertake.

Question 28

Who were the two most important clergymen of Henry’s reign?

Answer 28

John Morton and Richard Fox

Question 29

Why was the higher clergy becoming less socially exclusive?

Answer 29

Henry was reluctant to appoint men whose social background was aristocratic.

Question 30

What were the top level of the commoner group called?

Answer 30

The ‘middling sort’, these were the rich merchants and craftsmen.

Question 31

Who exercised the the most influence in towns and cities?

Answer 31

The relatively small number of educated professionals, the most influential being the lawyers.

Question 32

Who were just beneath the ‘middling sort’ but still relatively respected?

Answer 32

Shopkeepers and skilled tradesmen, they dominated the borough corporations (town councils).
They played a key role in organisations such as guilds and lay confraternities

Question 33

What did the middling sort compromise of in the countryside?

Answer 33

Yeomen farmers who farmed substantial properties for a sophisticated market economy

Question 34

How had the Yeomen group developed?

Answer 34

The Black Death had decreased population and so demand for land was a lot lower, and so ‘Yeomen’ could afford to buy it as value had decreased.

Question 35

Who came below Yeomen and what were their roles?

Answer 35

Husbandmen who kept smaller farms.

Question 36

What term do Yeomen and Husbandmen come under?

Answer 36

Peasants.

Question 37

How could Peasants generate irregular income?

Answer 37

By planting vegetables or exercising grazing rights.

Question 38

Where did mixed farming take place?

Answer 38

In more densely populated counties such as Norfolk, Suffolk and Kent.

Question 39

What was pastoral farming and where did it dominate?

Answer 39

It was the rearing of sheep, cattle and horses.
It dominated in the more sparsely populated areas in the North and West.
There were exceptions such as in the Fens and in the wood pastures of Kent and Sussex.

Question 40

Where was there grain farming and fruit growing?

Answer 40

In Herefordshire and the Welsh border counties.

Question 41

Why did Londoners look down upon Northerners?

Answer 41

Due to their perceived savagery.

Question 42

Why were Northerners envious of Londoners?

Answer 42

Due to the southern riches.

Question 43

How was regional division reinforced by government structures?

Answer 43

Justice was administered at a county level but areas of magnate influence cut across county boundaries.

Question 44

How had living conditions of the poor increased during the second half of the 15th century?

Answer 44

Real wages had increased, but it was evident that pressure of inflation was developing by the end of the 15th century.

Question 45

What crisis had England seemed to have managed to avoid?

Answer 45

Subsistence crises that seemed to affect other countries every so often.

Question 46

What two rebellions took place in Henry VII’s reign and what was the main catalyst?

Answer 46

Yorkshire (1489) and Cornwall (1497).
Both were brought on by taxation.

Question 47

Why had the Yorkshire Rebellion sparked off?

Answer 47

Due to resentment of the taxation granted by Parliament in 1489 in order to finance English forces in the campaign in Brittany.

Question 48

Why was the Yorkshire rebellion particularly memorable?

Answer 48

The rebels had murdered the Earl of Northumberland in the North Riding of Yorkshire in April 1489.

Question 49

How had Northumberland’s murder been allowed to happen?

Answer 49

His retainers had deserted him in his time of need, punishing him for when he abandoned Richard III at Bosworth.

Question 50

Why had the Cornish Rebellion in 1497 sparked off?

Answer 50

It was triggered by the need for revenue to finance England’s campaign against Scotland.

Question 51

Why had the Cornish posed a much greater threat than the Yorkshire Rebellion?

Answer 51

They had huge numbers of people, around 15,000 involved.

Question 52

Who had attempted to exploit the Cornish Rebellion?

Answer 52

Perkin Warbeck.

Question 53

Where did the rebels manage to march and why was this alarming?

Answer 53

On London and had only been halted at Blackheath.
This was a shock due to their immense distance travelled without anybody trying to stop them.

Question 54

What did Henry need to do in order to effectively suppress the Cornish?

Answer 54

He had to withdraw Lord Daubeney and his troops from the Scottish border.

Question 55

How did Henry deal with the aftermath of the Cornish Rebellion?

Answer 55

He executed the leaders, but only the leaders were punished. The others involved were treated with leniency.