Section B Changes to societal structures

Question 1

Thesis

Answer 1

Gentry ‘class’ does grow throughout the period, but it is not linear. They faced a significant ‘dip’ in terms of their land holding during the interregnum, but recovered after 1660.

Question 2

Themes

Answer 2

population growth, economic development, urbanisation.

Question 3

Typical gentry

Answer 3

Gentry tended not to hold titles, but did hold land and property. They were also usually not part of the House of Lords.

Question 4

Emergence of the gentry (Kent and Cheshire & Yorkshire, Leicestershire and Norfolk & Suffolk and Northamptonshire & Essex and Hertfordshire)

Answer 4

The emergence of the gentry is varied: in Kent and Cheshire there appears to be relatively little turnover of gentry families between 1500 and 1640; by contrast 60% of the gentry in Yorkshire, Leicestershire, and Norfolk were newcomers by 1640, 70% of those in Suffolk and Northamptonshire, and 85-90% in Essex and Hertfordshire (London hinterlands).

Question 5

reasons for rise of gentry

Answer 5

This may be due to patterns of economic change in the period (regional farming changed considerable in the areas that saw an increase in numbers of gentry).
They were also central for the governance of England- often held local offices. This is why lots of them resented Cromwell as he took these away from them.

Question 6

rise of education

Answer 6

Throughout the period, the gentry also began to look for better education. The rise in schools in rural areas shows that they were keen on educating their children. This also raised their horizons in terms of social status (by 1640, at least half of Warwickshire’s gentry looked outside the county for marriage).

Question 7

economic standing of the gentry

Answer 7

The economic standing of the gentry shifted markedly throughout the period. They made huge advances in the early part of the 17th century (due to increasing land holding), but faced a dip from c.1640-1660, when they regained control of the institutions of the county, militia and local governance.

Question 8

land: attitude of nobility vs gentry

Answer 8

There was growing tendency for the nobility to see their land as places of leisure and recreation (rather than for farming); this was not the attitude held by the gentry.

Question 9

rise of gentry’s input

Answer 9

From 1660-1702, gentry began to take part in more bureaucratic ideas such as the ‘fiscal-military’ state.