Society and Economy Flashcards
Statistics to show population boom
1470 - 1.5 million
1525 - 2.3 million
1550 - 2.5 million
1603 - 4 million
What % of rural and urban poor lived at or below subsistence level?
Over 50%
In terms of inflation, what situation did Liz inherit?
Over the course of the 16th century, inflation was at around 400%
Prices doubled from 1500-1540
Elizabeth announced a scheme to withdraw debased currency early on in her reign
Previous poor law legislation
1531 - impotent beggars allowed to beg with a license (fined otherwise)
1536 - Poor Law encouraged money raised through donations to help impotent poor
1547 - funds collected through Churches used to assist impotent beggars. Somerset’s harsh Vagrancy Act introduced
Timeline of Elizabeth’s Poor Laws
1563 - Statute of Artificers
1572 - Poor Relief Act
1576 - Poor Relief Act (again)
1595-7 - Food riots
1597 - Act for the Relief of the Poor
1601 - Poor Law
Details of Statute of Artificers
1563
Aimed to reduce unemployment by compelling workers to take on a 7-year-long apprenticeship and to fix wages and prices to slow down inflation
Dictated that local people would contribute to poor relief (could be fined or imprisoned for refusal)
Idle poor who refused to work were to be whipped and sent back to parish of origin
Enforced by JPs - effectiveness of act dependent on the local JP
Details of the Poor Relief Act
1572 - first attempt at a national system
Distinction made in law between the idle poor and deserving poor
Compulsory contributions made to poor relief - JP would assess people’s weekly ability to pay, creating a fair system
Overseers of the poor appointed in each parish to help organise poor relief.
Punishments for vagabonds increased - hole bored in ear and whipping for 1st offence, imprisonment for 2nd offence, execution for 3rd offence
Towns and cities in charge of finding work for the able bodied poor
Details of the second Poor Relief Act
1576
Reasserted distinction between deserving and undeserving poor
JPs instructed to provide able bodied poor with raw materials to enable them to work by making things to sell
Those to refused to work were sent to prisons called Houses of Correction
Details of the Act for the Relief of the Poor
1597
Confirmed compulsory poor rate, which everyone in the parish needed to contribute to
Deserving poor to be provided for in alms houses
Every county to have at least one House of Correction
Pauper apprenticeships set up to train men until the age of 24 and women until the age of 21
4 overseers appointed in each parish
Details of the Poor Law
1601 - Amended version of 1597 act
Clear distinction between deserving poor and idle poor
Amalgamated provisions of previous acts (with details added such as that begging was forbidden)
System of poor relief until 1834
What happened in terms of policy towards Ireland in 1560?
Elizabeth declared Supreme Governor of the Church of Ireland
However, she lacked the power to impose Protestantism on a population that was largely Catholic, mostly spoke Gaelic and had a distinct set of customary laws
Why did relations with the Gaelic Irish deteriorate?
Frequent use of martial law
Rebellions broke out in the south against English rule in 1569-73 and 1579-82. Anglo-Irish relations were soured by the brutality of the response of the Lord Deputy of Ireland, Lord Grey of Wilton, to the latter
Details of the 1569-73 rebellion in Ireland
James FitzMaurice and the Earl of Desmond led a rebellion due to hatred of English interference
They attacked Cork and Kilkenny with 4500 men
They were defeated through use of ‘scorched earth’ tactics by the English
Details of the 1579-82 rebellion in Ireland
FitzMaurice launched an invasion of Munster, encouraged by the Pope and supported by 800 Spanish soldiers
Joined by other clans like the Desmonds and the Fitzgeralds
1580 - English army under Lord Pelham destroyed the lands of the Desmonds
Lord Grey was sent to suppress the rebellion, but lost the Battle of Glenmalure (this prompted him to brutally put down the rest of the rebellion - Fitzgerald killed in 1583)
What prompted Tyrone’s rebellion?
Earl of Tyrone rebelled in 1595 looking to exploit the conflict with Spain by including an Irish contingent in the 1596 Armada
When did it become clear that Tyrone’s rebellion was a problem?
August 1598 - 6,000-strong force of Ulster rebels won the Battle of Yellow Ford
This was the only major military defeat inflicted by rebels on a government army in the Tudor period
How did Elizabeth respond to the problems in Ireland?
1599 - sent Essex to Ireland as Lord Lieutenant with a force of 17,000 soldiers. He disobeyed the Queen’s orders by making a truce with Tyrone and returned to court
How was Tyrone’s rebellion put down?
Essex was replaced by a far more competent commander in Lord Mountjoy, who secured a victory over 3,500 Spanish troops in Kinsdale in 1601
This defeat robbed Tyrone of his main support base and in 1603 (after Liz died), he surrendered
Issues with Scottish border administration
Liz had to resort to wardens from the second rate of northern landowners (e.g. Sir John Forster) to administer the border, rather than the traditional Dacre and Percy families.
Border security was an issue in 1569, when rebel leaders were able to escape into Scotland
Murder of Francis Russell in 1585 could have caused tensions, but this was resolved with skilful diplomacy
Did the decline of towns continue into the reign of Elizabeth?
Yes - population rises caused an increase in urban poverty (but govt responded with a system of poor relief)
No - religious wars in France had brought many skilled refugees to England (due to peace brought about by the settlement) who established industries such as glass and paper making, trade routes were extended
Did the growth of London cause other towns to decline?
Yes - by the 1590s, 93% of cloth went through London docks, smaller ports like King’s Lynn suffered from lack of trade, London was 4x bigger than the next biggest town
No - many port cities flourished (e.g. Newcastle, Bristol and Exeter), to compete with London towns had to diversify and specialise in trades and services (e.g. Woolwich became a supplier for the Royal Nay and Nantwich grew as the centre of the salt industry), increased centralisation benefitted northern cities like York, which became the seat of the Council of the North in 1561
Population growth in London
Grew from 120,000 at the start of Liz’s reign to 200,000 in 1600
This was due to an expansion in trade, an increase in the number of government officials and lawyers etc….
Impact of triangular trade
John Hawkins established the transatlantic slave trade in 1562, transporting slaves from Africa to be sold to Spanish colonists
He bought ginger, animal hides, sugar and pearls with the proceeds, making a huge profit and repeating the journey in 1564
Developments in ship design
Galleons (ships that were designed to carry large cargoes) were developed in the 16th century. They allowed for more supplies to be taken on board, essential for long journeys.
Sterns were lowered on galleon ships, making them more stable in rough seas
Developments in navigation
By 1584, the English mathematician Thomas Harriot worked out a simpler way of using the Sun to calculate the true sailing direction of a ship, making voyages safer and more direct
The use of astrolabes and quadrants made voyages more efficient
Examples of trading companies set up
The Eastland Company was set up in 1579 (limited effect)
The Levant Company was set up in 1581 which was successful in its attempts to develop trade with the Ottoman empire
The East India Company was set up in 1600 (had less investment than the Dutch East India Company, so found it difficult to compete)
Development in maps
Improved navigation and records of voyages contributed to more accurate maps
In 1560, the Mercator map was developed, which used parallel and evenly spaced lines of longitude an latitude, giving a far more realistic image of the world than any previous maps
When and why did Drake circumnavigate the world?
1577-1580
Set out with the aim of raiding Spanish colonies on the Pacific
Made great profits from the Americas - some estimates put Drake’s treasure haul at £500,000,000 in today’s money
Consequences of Drake’s exhibition
England established as a respectable sea-faring nation
Gathered a great deal of useful information about the Americas and kept logs of their voyage to be shared with other sailors
Nova Albion claimed by Drake in the name of Elizabeth
Angered Philip II
Why was the colonisation of Virginia significant?
Undermined Spain - provided England with a base from which it could attack Spanish colonies as well as undermining Spain’s monopoly over the New World
Established the roots of the British Empire
Economic benefits - by controlling Virginia, England would not need to rely on other countries like Spain, the Italian States and France for wines, spices and other luxuries. Tobacco and sugar also came from Virginia
Evidence of economic depression
According to David Palliser, 9 of the 44 harvests in Elizabeth’s reign could be described as bad
e.g. Newcastle reported a burial of 25 homeless people, who most likely died of starvation
Details of food riots
London and the South East - 1595
East Anglia - 1596-7
Caused by inflation, poor harvests and high taxation
Evidence of Golden Age in art
Formal portraiture remained important (but Liz did not have an artist as gifted as Holbein)
Portrait miniature became the most important aspect of Elizabethan art (notable artists here would be Nicholas Hilliard and Isaac Oliver
Her courtiers developed architecture through new buildings like Burghley House in Northamptonshire and Wilton House in Wiltshire
Evidence of Golden Age in literature
- Increased educational opportunities of the 16th century led to the emergence of a more educated population.
- Public treated to plays by Shakespeare, Thomas Kyd, Christopher Marlowe.
- Plays appealed to variety of social classes.
- Most infamous sponsoring of a play was Earl of Essex sponsoring Shakespeare’s ‘Richard II’.
- Foxe’s ‘Book of Martyrs’ had a wide readership amongst ‘Godly’ Puritans.
- Two most influential writers of Elizabeth’s reign – Sir Philip Sidney and Edmund Spencer. Both had works highly critical of Elizabethan court.
