Mary I

Question 1

What year was the worst harvest of the century?

Answer 1

1556 - caused by heavy rain

Question 2

What happened to grain prices?

Answer 2

The poor harvests led to an increase in grain prices

Question 3

Was taxation high or low?

Answer 3

Taxation was high in order to pay for the war with France

Question 4

What happened to the purchasing power of agricultural workers?

Answer 4

By 1559 the purchasing power of agricultural workers had dropped to 59% of what it had been 50 years earlier - the result of inflation

Question 5

Did trade expand?

Answer 5

New trade routes for English cloth were opened in Africa - especially Morocco - which provided sugar

Question 6

Cabot?

Answer 6

English voyages of exploration begun by Cabot continued under Mary

Question 7

Cloth exports?

Answer 7

The long term increase in cloth exports began to come to an end

Trade passing through London was at a considerably lower level by the end of the 1550s

Question 8

How were the nobility and gentry treated?

Answer 8

The nobility and gentry were allowed to keep their land from the dissolution of the monasteries

Mary did not wish to lose their support as the gentry made up a lot of her government

Question 9

Monastic lands?

Answer 9

Only the monastic lands held by the crown were returned to the church

The nobility and gentry kept theirs