Henry Viii 10 : English society

Question 1

elites/nobility?

Answer 1

❗️nine more peers (nobles) by the end of Henry’s reign, most through winning foreign favour
- H promoted two duke titles, Norfolk was promoted due to his father and Suffolk was promoted due to the closeness of his relationship with the King
- Nobles were expected to have great households and offer hospitality to neighbours
- critical to maintaining local influence and the recruitment of royal armies as bastard feudalism had not died completely
BUT
- many nobles fell victim to Henry’s impulsive personality, many were executed for a vague charge of treason such as the Duke of Buckingham

Question 2

gentry?

Answer 2

• 5000 gentry families in 1540
• Knighthoods were gained as a result of royal favour
• ## number increased in H reign, to increase number of JPS

Question 3

commoners?

Answer 3

little change but a rise in inflation led to a drop in income

Question 4

how did Wales cause difficulty for Henry?

Answer 4

• before 1536 it was a separate territory (ever had a unified administration nor a formal political link with England)
• Laws of Wales act:
  
  • Divided Wales into counties
  • Gave Wales representation in the House of Commons
  • Brought Wales into the same legal framework as
    England
    (only separated by language)

Question 5

how did the English palatine cause difficulty for Henry?

Answer 5

• 3 counties (Lancashire, Cheshire and Durham) were effectively separate jurisdictions to the rest of the Kingdom
• its independence was reduced in 1536 by the Act Resuming Liberties

Question 6

how did the anglo-welsh border cause difficulty for Henry?

Answer 6

This came under the jurisdiction of the Council of Wales and the Marches,offering local access to the law

Question 7

how did the Anglo-Scottish Border?

Answer 7

• difficult for police to terrain
• both sides of the border had a reputation for lawlessness
• so the border of Scotland was split into 3 marches each with a warden

Question 8

how did the council in the North?

Answer 8

• this was a governance regime based away from London
• its number of supporters was later shown during the Pilgrimage of Grace
• permanent body established in York
  🔔 proved affected at preventing rebellions

Question 9

what was the amicable grant?

Answer 9

• complaints in Yorkshire about raising taxes for fp in 1513
• in 1525 many refused
• ❗️strongest resistance occurred in north Essex and south Suffolk
  ➡️the dukes handled the matter and the king backed down withdrawing subsidies (Woolsey publically declared a pardon to those involved)
  🔔 It showed that Henry could not control the tax-paying classes, his next foreign policy adventure came from selling monastic lands instead

Question 10

what was the pilgrimage of grace?

Answer 10

❗️ largest rising in Tudor history
- started in east riding of Yorkshire and continued into west riding around Wakefield and pontefract
- a second rising began in ripon and richmond which spread to lancashire and durham

Question 11

what caused the pilgrimage of grace?

Answer 11

• the fundamental changes to religion; the dissolution of the monasteries and removal of certain practices
• secular motives ; economic grievances, the right that Princess Mary should be the heir, the imposement of the Duke of Suffolk into Lincolnshire
  ➡️ the rebels captured pontefract castle,Norfolk was sent with an army to defeat the rebels, but he was dangerously outnumbered and sought to diffuse the rebellion through pardons and restoring the monasteries- Henry later went back on his word, declared martial law and hanged 74 rebels

Question 12

what changes occurred with trade?

Answer 12

volume of trade increased because of ;
- a continual rise in cloth exports ❗️ (woolen cloth exports almost doubled during Henry VIII’s reign)
- significant increases in the exports of hides and tin (Counterbalanced however by an increase in the import of wine, suggesting that the spending power of the more prosperous classes increased)
- there were serious profits made from the cloth industry. Rich and entrepreneurial clothiers acquired wealth and enhanced their social status. Eg: William Stumpe, MP for Malmesbury, high sheriff of the county, wealthy landowner and beneficiary from the dissolution of the monasteries
❗️70% cloth exports were transported by English merchants, much of the trade was in foreign hands before this

Question 13

how did the London trade have a negative impact?

Answer 13

on ports along the south-east of England, as provincial traders seemed to have found it difficult to compete against their London rivals
- however southampton enjoyed a boom, but it was short-lived and over by the middle of the century

Question 14

what did the cloth trade rely on?

Answer 14

the effectiveness of the wool industry
- operated largely on a domestic basis with children carding the wool, woman spinning and men weaving. It was then passed from domestic spheres for more specialist treatmen

Question 15

which area saw the greatest growth in the cloth trade?

Answer 15

• the West Riding of Yorkshire
• east Anglia
• (parts of) The West Country

Question 16

evidence of growth in the mining industry?

Answer 16

• cornish tin was a prize export
• lead mining in the High Pennines
• coal mining in the northeast of England (Newcastle - — —- supplied an important London market)
• blast furnaces produced iron ore in the Weald of Sussex and Kent (26 by the middle of the century)

Question 17

was there an increase in exploration during the reign of Henry VIII?

Answer 17

❌
- H was uninterested in exploration and made no attempt to build on the early achievements of Cabot and the Bristol merchants at the end of the 15th century
✅
- Robert Thorne, a Bristol trader, continued his involvement in Iceland and Newfoundland fishery and other merchants that showed an interest in further exploration couldn’t gain royal support
- Cabot remained in Spain for most of Henry’s reign and it was only after Edward VI took the throne he returned. He was assisted in his map-making by Robert Thorne’s son

Question 18

evidence that Tudor England prosperous or experiencing a depression during the reign of Henry VIII?

Answer 18

• the population grew significantly from 1525, and there was a decline in the rate of mortality
• from 1520’s, agricultural prices rose significantly, increasing farming incomes- some enhanced by the practise of engrossing
• debasement of the coinage created a short term artificial boom in 1544 to 1546, but at a long term cost to living standards

Question 19

evidence that Tudor England was not prosperous or experiencing a depression during the reign of Henry VIII?

Answer 19

• bad harvests led to temporary but significant increases in food prices which doubled across Henry VIII’s reign
• real wages declined for many, worst at end of reign
• assessment for subsidies suggests considerable
• growing unemployment ❗️5000 migrants a year added to the population

Question 20

what was the impact of enclosure?

Answer 20

• little impact
• created a moral problem as people forced out home
• legislation passed against it in 1489 and 1515 but there was no grasp of the problem
• harmful social effects
• enclosure was a regional practice and the bulk of the damage to pasture happened before 1485

Question 21

problems caused by population increase?

Answer 21

• was the main cause of economic distress (put a strain on food supply)
• problems made worse worse by stagnating wages
• wealthier farmers and landowners benefitted
• growing class of substantial farmers who were able to respond effectively to changing market conditions and enjoyed better material conditions as a result
• rich and poor grew