role of the monarchy, nobility and gentry

Question 1

tudor hierarchy

Answer 1

• God
• monarch
• nobility (dukes, earls,viscounts,barons and lords)
• gentry (Knights ad esquires)
• Yeomen and artisans
• Peasants
• Vagrants and beggars
• possible to rise through ranks through service to the king,marriage and inheritance
• possible to lose rank through political miscalculatio0n and econpmic hardship

Question 2

Nobility

Answer 2

• helped to govern
• a group of men who held the highest titles below the King
• about 40/60 men who held these titles
• numbers fluctuated due to royal policy and families dying out
• pop grew from just over 2 mill in the early 16th century to just over 4 million by 1600 - nobility was a small proportion of this
• nobles saw themsevles as the natural friends, advisers and military leaders of the monarch
• relied on the monarch to protect their lands and property and in turn carried out government locally for the monarch -

Question 3

gentry

Answer 3

• 5000 gentry families below the nobles
• 1490 - 375 knights
• 1603 - 550 knights
• originally had a military role like the nobility but were too increasingly involved in local govt
• landowners
• ## less extensive estates than nobility

Question 4

yeomen and artisans

Answer 4

Y- prosperous famers who owned land
Y- John Guy - 60,000 of these men by 1600
Y- financially secure because they were landowners - less affecrted by price rises and rent increases
A- skilled craftsmen who lived in towns or larger villages
A- became particular prosperous in the wool or cloth industry which was the main english export througjhout the tudor period
- before 1549 - mrmbrtd of both communities provided leadership and shaped the demands of popular rebellion - better edecuated often and werre the natural leaders of their communities
- second half of tudor period meant this group was less involved in rebellion because they were more involved in central government as an attempt to intertwine the localities and central governmetn

Question 5

peasants

Answer 5

• majority of population still lived and worked in rural communities - England’s economy remained based on agriculture
• worked on the land for local landlord wages
• reliant for the production of food for their own survival
• most vulnerable to socio-economic chanes - poor harvests,epidemics and price and rent increaseas
• approx 2/5 of populraion were living on the margins of subsistence - socio-economic crises would be likley to push this group into real hardship anger and rebellion - tumultious atmopshere od tudor period meant this group was a big threat

Question 6

vagrants/beggars

Answer 6

• no master
• roamed the countryside
• feared for threateing the hierarchy - were not under the control of their superiors
• threat to social order - movement around england could encourage the spread of dangerous ideas

Question 7

monarchy and government

Answer 7

• monarch made imporatnat decisions on religious matters as well as foreign policy - sensible monarch wouod be seen to take advice
• essential ruler should be adult,competent and male (ew)
• monarchs duty to protect their country from invasion, protect rights and privileges of their subjects - could not exactly rule as they pleased (powers curbed by Magna Carta in 1215 as well as other branches of govt - parliament and royal council
• monarchs who ignored constraints put on them were labelled as tyrants and overthrown
• 1485 - complex systems had developed to help and hinder the monarch in their rule
• included informal bodies (royal court and the privy chamber) as well as formal insitutitions e.g the council and financial and judicial systems - central and remained in London

Question 8

royal court

Answer 8

• derved the monarch - wherever they were the court would follow (royal progresses)
• important for display and entertainment and was an informal source of power
• attracted those in seek of patronage - those who succeeded remained dependent to the court in order to secure this
• important for display - important for monarchs to emphasise their power and wealth to important visitors - court allowed them to do this through elaobrate edisplays sch as tournaments and plays

Question 9

royal household

Answer 9

• resposnsible for domestic needs
• could grow or shrink depending on monarch’s personal needs
• criticised when became large and costly
• attempts to reform - Eltham ORdinances 1526 by Wolsey - nsuccessful because Wolsey did not have enough control over appointments and the desires and wishes of the King himself

Question 10

Privy chamber

Answer 10

• served by the household
• series of rooms where the King and his family lived
• monarch;s living arrangments strucutred in a way to ensure maximum privacy
• Great Hall - feasts and formal events
• Guard room - Watching chamber - all visitors had to pass through
• Presence Chamber - throne room and wehre monarch woul;d dine - where news and gossip would flow
• privy chamber was beyond all this