Increasing Literacy in the Yeomen class Flashcards
How was the literacy increased in the yeoman class?
o Growth of humanism in the Renaissance period led to the formation of grammar schools for boys.
o Open to poor and rich, no fees, taught how to read and write, plus English and Latin grammar.
o Those below gentry rank benefitted especially from free education.
o University education also expanded, although there were only two universities, Oxford and Cambridge – at Oxford, no. of students increased from 1150 in 1550 to 2000 by the end of the period, and is estimated that just under half came from sons of the nobility and the rest came from below gentry status!.
o David Cressy has shown that illiteracy rates for men and women were 80 and 98 percent in 1550, but by 1600 they were 72 and 92 percent.
o illiteracy varied among region and social status – in 1530 illiteracy rates among Yeomen were higher in the North than in Midlands, East and South.
o Yeomen became more literate, but still high rates among labourers and poorest in society.
What was the impact of the increased of literacy in the yeomen class?
o Changing role of the social group in government and society.
o Originally yeomen acted as spokesmen in negotiations with the Crown in uprisings, such as the Cornish Risings of 1497 and the 1549 troubles.
o Extension of government into localities enabled prosperous yeomen to take on roles such as administration of the poor law and voting in elections – as they became part of the Tudor political system, they became more inclined to defend it rather than attack it.
o More likely to use the legal system to resolve disputes, than result to uprising.
o After the Revolt of the Northern Earls in 1569, there were no more serious disputes – England was indeed enjoying a period of relative social and economic stability.
o Economic crisis of the 1590s brought no mass uprisings – although there was one attempted uprising in Oxford in 1596, these were led by the poorest in society, not of yeoman rank who were originally the leaders of popular protest but were now part of the system of Elizabethan government.
