Northumberland's Econ/Soc Policy Flashcards
How much had Somerset spent on war?
£1,356,000
What was the state of England’s economy when Northumberland rose to power?
Bankrupt
What were Northumberland’s aims in financial policy?
End debasement
Reduce expenditure
King to live off his own income
How did Northumberland tackle debasement?
Proclamation issued to reduce the value of the coinage in 1550
Decision to end debasement made in April 1551, with one last debasement in May 1551
Encouraged people to lower their prices to stop inflation, because he didn’t dare to call in all of the coins and replace them with the correct amount of silver
How much money did Northumberland make from the last debasement?
£114,000
How did Northumberland reduce expenditure?
Sold Boulogne back to the French
Recalled garrisons in Scotland (but continued to fortify defenses on the border)
Established a commission to look into methods of financial government under Paulet
How much was Boulogne sold back for?
£133,333 (400,000 crowns) - less than Henry VIII had wanted but a prudent decision
Where did Northumberland keep defenses after recalling garrisons in Scotland?
Berwick and Carlisle
What change did Paulet, Marquis of Winchester (Lord Treasurer) make to reduce expenditure?
Established an emergency household coffer, encouraging the king to live off of his own income
How and why did the nature of overseas trade change?
Expansion was encouraged due to rocky European trade (Antwerp going into decline)
How was trade expanded in 1553?
Trade established with the Gold Coast in West Africa
Why was overseas expansion limited?
English ships in this period weren’t strong enough to reach places like China or India
What was set up by Sebastian Cabot in 1552?
North-East Passage Company
How did Hugh Willoughby attempt to expand trade?
Made diplomatic links with the Tsar of Muscovy
Subsequently, the Muscovy Company was set up (but this failed to encourage trade)
By how much did Northumberland reduce debt?
Went from £300k in 1550 to £180k in 1553
How did Northumberland reduce the debt?
Sold crown and chantry lands
Raised taxes
Debasements
Called in crown debts
How much did NL make from selling off crown and chantry lands?
£210k - good in the short term but not good in the long term
How much did NL make from raising taxes?
£336k
How much did NL make from calling in crown debts?
£16k
What did Gresham do?
Manipulated the stock market in Antwerp, managing to improve the value of the pound and negotiated loans at a lower interest rate of 12% (lower than Charles V got)
What did NL do with Somerset’s anti-enclosure policy?
Did not continue it as he thought it had caused Kett’s rebellion
What did NL do in terms of social policy in 1550?
Unpopular sheep tax repealed
Vagrancy act repealed, but kept the parts about welfare provisions for the disabled and other ‘deserving poor’
Introduced a new treason law to restore censorship
What did NL do in terms of social policy in 1551?
His government took control of stocks of grain in case of famine
What did NL do in terms of social policy in 1552?
Acts passed to protect arable farming
New poor law to help the ‘deserving poor’
Act passed to stop excessive charging of interest on debts
How can we tell that NL’s soc/econ policy worked?
Despite the fact that there are radical Protestant changes, there are no rebellions!
