Section B Agricultural Change

Question 1

Thesis

Answer 1

agricultural change was significant in the period and led to an increase in economic activity; however, it also had negative effects for the rural population, and some changes were not new.

Question 2

Themes

Answer 2

economic development, urbanisation, migration, population change.

Question 3

type of society

Answer 3

Throughout the period, England remained a largely rural society (95% of the population lived outside of large urban centres in 1520 and 79% in 1750)

Question 4

most important way of investing & storing wealth

Answer 4

In the era before formal banking, land was the most important way of investing and storing wealth.
Generally, all land was used and owned, but usually by more than one person (feudal system)

Question 5

land in the sixteenth century

Answer 5

In the sixteenth century, land was ‘mixed farmed’, albeit with a fallow field (this meant that farmers would grow a range of crops or livestock).

Question 6

format of most of England’s land

Answer 6

Much of England was ‘open field’ which required lots of cooperation between tenants.
Throughout the seventeenth century, this changed.

Question 7

result of the increase in enclosures

Answer 7

The increase in enclosures broke the ‘open field’ system (Leicestershire, c. 1500, 8.4% of land was enclosed; by 1674 it was 33.7%). Enclosures allowed for better farming techniques to be developed.

Question 8

result of the rise of sub-letting farms

Answer 8

The rise of sub-letting farms meant that farming became more specialised.

Question 9

result of regional farming

Answer 9

Regional farming forced domestic trade routes to develop (if a region specialised in one type of crop it had to be pretty confident that it could find other crops elsewhere!).

Question 10

increased investment in farms

Answer 10

Gentry and Aristocracy began to invest much more in farms and, as estates grew, they also had a much greater vested interest in ensuring that farms succeeded.