Henry VII - Economy Flashcards
What was the population of England at the beginning of the 15th century?
Around 2.2 million
Where did the majority of people live?
Countryside - 90%
How many towns were there and was was the population?
Only 20 towns
As many as 3000 people
What were the populations of some larger cities?
Norwich - 10,000
Bristol, York, Coventry - 8-10,000
London - 50,000
What were the main urban industries?
Wool and cloth
Also mining, metal working, leather work, shipbuilding, paper making
What changes occurred to the agrarian economy?
Arable farming declined as smaller population from Black Death
Sheep farming increased 1480-90s because increased demand to wool
Population growth and overseas trade developed
What farming was most common in the south east and East Midlands?
Open-field husbandry
What farming was most common in woodlands?
Pastoral farming
What farming was most common in south and east (lowland zone)?
Mixed farming
What change occurred in the south east and midlands and what did this lead to?
Sheep farming more profitable
Peasants lost access to land and common rights, often left destitute
How much of English exports was cloth trade?
90%
How much did cloth trade increase during the reign?
60%
What did earlier trade focus on?
Raw wool through Calais by Merchants of the Staple
What did later trade focus on?
Finished cloth
Development of weaving, dyeing
Agrarian income could be supplemented by domestic industry
What did smaller market towns become?
New manufacturing centres
What happened to historic cities?
Suffered decay
What did Merchant Adventurers establish in the cloth trade?
Commercial axis with Antwerp - English cloth transported all over Europe from Antwerp
What were Merchant Adventurers unable to achieve?
Complete control of cloth trade because of earlier treaty with Hanseatic League because of threat of de la Poles
What other small scale industries were there?
Weaving and brewing
What did mining need?
More capital investment
What was mined in different areas of the country?
Coal in Durham and Northumberland
Tin in Cornwall
Lead in High Pennines
Iron ore in Weald of Sussex and Kent
What was the approach to trade laws and treaties?
Had little consistency but committed to maximising customers revenue
Prepared to sacrifice trade to secure dynasty
What was the biggest issue when it comes to trade laws and treaties?
Embargo on trade with Netherlands
Ended with Intercursus Magnus
Were trade treaties agreed?
Several were agreed by of minor importance
What were the Navigation Acts of 1485 and 1489?
To only allow English ships but was limited
Was there prosperity and depression?
Little evidence
Apart from temporary rise in 1480s, prices and wages stayed the same
Decline in export price of wool and in the price of grain and animal products in the 1490s
Building workers and agricultural labourers were better off during the 1490s than any other time in the Tudor period
When did John Cabot arrive in Bristol and what was happening at this time?
1494 or 1495
Bristol fish merchants were looking for alternative fishing grounds to exploit having been excluded from Icelandic waters by the Hanseatic League
What did Cabot receive authorisation from Henry to do?
‘Search out any isles, countries, regions or provinces of heathens and infidels whomsoever set in any part of the world so ever, which have been before these times unknown to all Christians’
When did Cabot sail and what did his locate?
1497
Located what became known as Newfoundland and reported the existence of extensive fishing grounds
What happened when he set out on a second voyage the following year?
Never returned
What did Cabot establish?
‘A substantial land mass did exist within reasonable sailing from Europe’
And laid the way for the Bristol fishery
What British merchant might have set foot on American mainland and when?
William Weston
1499 or 1509
Who was John Cabot’s son and what did he receive from Henry?
Sebastian
Sponsorship for exploration
What did Sebastian do?
Les unsuccessful attempt to find ‘north-west passage’ to Asia in 1508
