Henry VIII Economy Flashcards
Biggest Industry
Cloth
Woollen cloth exports nearly doubled in Henry’s reign
Increased export of
hides and tin, these exports were counterbalanced by the increased import of wine
what does the increased import of wine suggest
the spending power of the prosperous classes increased
Leading cloth trade routes
London to Antwerp
South Hampton to Venice
What did the hyperfocus on London trading routes mean
Negative impact on other ports like Bristol, Hull and Boston
Provincial traders also found it difficult to compete with the London traders
Profits of the cloth trade
70% of cloth exports were transported by English merchants but not all the money went to the English
What other industry grew due to the increase in cloth manufacturing
Woollen industry
Decreased wool trading but increased wool demand
Wool work was mostly local then sent out to cloth factories, the work was not always secure and could lead to poverty
Where benefited from the wool/cloth trade
West Ridings of Yorkshire, East Anglia and parts of the West country like Devon
Mining Industry in Henry VIII’s reign
Some growth
Cornish tin remained a prize export
Lead mining in the Pennines and coal mining in the North grew in importance with Newcastle supplying the, increasingly important, London market by sea
Blast furnaces increased the amount of iron ore in Sussex and Kent
Exploration in Henry’s reign
Henry was more focused on internal and European matters so he had little interest in exploring
built up England’s fleet though
Some tried to capitalise on the exploration of Cabot in the Bristol merchants but they found it difficult to get royal financial aid in such matters
Why was more land enclosed
due to the increase in the wool and cloth industry more money would be made off enclosing land for sheep farming
to prevent peasants from grazing their animals alongside the landowners
Impacts of Enclouser
less wheat was farmed- less food for a growing population
less workers needed for pastoral farming- more unemployment and vagrancy
rent increased for the land because there was less workers living there- more poverty
How did English economy change and with what effects?
increase in cloth trading and a decrease in wool trading were the main changes
this caused an instability in the workforce
due to the wars and debasement of coinage there was increased inflation
