English society under Henry VII

Question 1

Which classes had been developed since the feudal system?

Answer 1

he professional and mercantile bourgeoisie

Question 2

Where were the merchant class becoming important?

Answer 2

London, Norwich, and other major provinces.

Question 3

Why were things changing in England

Answer 3

Economic pressure had increased social mobility, allowing more people to gather wealth.

Question 4

Who was alarmed by the change in social mobility?

Answer 4

Conservative upper class members.

Question 5

How did the conservative upper class attempt to restrain change?

Answer 5

By passing sumptuary laws which regulated how a person dressed depending on social status.

Question 6

Which class was underneath the king?

Answer 6

The Nobility

Question 7

What made the Nobility so important?

Answer 7

Dominated land ownership, and were relied on by the King to keep order in the countryside.

Question 8

How many men comprised the nobility?

Answer 8

No more than 50 or 60.

Question 9

What were some consequences of Henry’s distrust of the nobility?

Answer 9

He was reluctant to create new titles
Only trusted, lancastrian, military leaders had influence - this included Lord Daubeney.

Question 10

What was the best way for Henry to control the nobility?

Answer 10

Bonds and recognisances.

Question 11

What was the key to the power of nobles?

Answer 11

Bastard feudalism or retaining.

Question 12

What is retaining?

Answer 12

Wealthy magnates would recruit knights and gentleman to serve them as administrators or accountants, or even military means.

Question 13

Why was retaining such a bad thing?

Answer 13

Magnates could use their retainers to bring influence on others or use them to go against the crown in a matter of ways.

Question 14

How did Henry initially try and limit retaining?

Answer 14

He made peers and MPS take an oath against retaining or being retained

Question 15

When did the oath against retaining occur?

Answer 15

1486

Question 16

When were the two laws against retaining established?

Answer 16

1487 and 1504

Question 17

What was the 1504 act against retaining?

Answer 17

Made it so licences for retaining could be sought out.

Question 18

Who were below the nobility?

Answer 18

The Gentry

Question 19

what were the gentry?

Answer 19

By the 15th century they were another class of landowners.

Question 20

What could members of the Gentry do to confirm their social status?

Answer 20

Seek knighthooods , such as Sir Reginald Bray did

Question 21

How many knights were there by 1490?

Answer 21

About 375

Question 22

What % of land did peers and knights own?

Answer 22

15-20%

Question 23

What was an esquire?

Answer 23

The eldest sons of knights, the younger sons of barns, magistrates and others of wealth.

Question 24

What social status did clergy have?

Answer 24

Varied a lot
At lower parish levels they were modestly rewarded, yet bishops and abbots were important figures who could sit in the house of lords.

Question 25

Who governed the church in England?

Answer 25

Henry

Question 26

How did Henry use his power as governor of the church in England?

Answer 26

Appointed bishops with legal training and who were good at administration.

Question 27

Who were below the clergy?

Answer 27

Commoners

Question 28

How many commoners lived in England and Wales in 1500?

Answer 28

2 million

Question 29

What % of commoners lived below the poverty line?

Answer 29

50%

Question 30

Who were the top commoners?

Answer 30

The middling sort, made up of educated professionals, with the most professional being lawyers.

Question 31

Who were below the middling sort?

Answer 31

Shopkeepers and skilled tradesmen, who dominated the borough corporation and played a key role in guilds.

Question 32

Who were below the shopkeepers?

Answer 32

The yeomen farmers in the countryside.

Question 33

What had enabled the emergence of yeomen farmers?

Answer 33

Decline in population due to the black death leading to a drop in land value.

Question 34

Who were husbandmen?

Answer 34

Kept smaller farms than yeomen and supplemented their income through employment by yeomen or gentry.

Question 35

Where did mixed farming predominated?

Answer 35

In the South and East, especially Norfolk

Question 36

Why did Londoners look down on northerners?

Answer 36

Perceived savagery

Question 37

When was the Yorkshire rebellion?

Answer 37

1489

Question 38

What triggered the Yorkshire rebellion?

Answer 38

Parliament granted him 100,000 to pay for Brittany to be collected through income tax.

Question 39

Where was the 1489 income tax most badly received?

Answer 39

Yorkshire, where they were suffering the affects of a bad harvest.

Question 40

Why else did Yorkshire resent the tax?

Answer 40

The counties north of them were exempt due to their defending from the Scots

Question 41

Who was killed during the rebellion?

Answer 41

Earl of Northumberland

Question 42

What were the circumstances around the Earl of Northumberland’s death?

Answer 42

He was murdered by his tenants, but his retainers also deserted him as punishment of. his desertion of Richard at Bosworth.

Question 43

How did Henry treat the rebels?

Answer 43

He ended up pardoning most of them after they were defeated by the Earl of Surrey.

Question 44

When was the Cornish rebellion?

Answer 44

1497

Question 45

What triggered the cornish rebellion?

Answer 45

In Jan 1947, parliament voted for a heavy tax to finance an expedition to resist expected invasion.

Question 46

Why was the tax so opposed by Cornwall?

Answer 46

They didn’t want to contribute to the defence of a Northern invasion which posed little threat to them.

Question 47

what three factors made the cornish rebellion a great threat to Henry’s security?

Answer 47

involved 15,000 men Rebels marched to London, only being stopped at Blackheath Attempted to be exploited by Perkin Warbeck

Question 48

Why was blackheath such a concern?I

Answer 48

It was concerning that they had been able to make it that far without any attempts to stop, and raised questions about Henry’s security.

Question 49

How did Henry punish rebels. in cornwall?

Answer 49

Rebel leaders were executed and the rest were pardoned.

Question 50

What were the consequences of the Cornish rebellion?

Answer 50

Henry was shocked into ensuring Anglo-Scottish tensions were eased and made him particularly cautious about entering further conflicts.