Society under Edward

Question 1

What was the economy like under Somerset?

Answer 1

• inflation, enclosure and taxation all brought about discontent
• continued debasement of coinage added to social distress caused by a poor harvest in 1548
• this raised £537,000 but increased inflation
• agreed to set up a commission to investigate the problem of enclosure

Question 2

What was the result of the commission established to deal with enclosure under Somerset?

Answer 2

• commission was influenced by writer John Hales who argued that enclosure was the root of the country’s social and economic problems
• issued a proclamation against enclosure, however little achieved apart from raising the poor’s expectations and annoying landowners
• to counteract the enclosure problem, a sheep tax was introduced
• main result of this was an increased pressure on small farmers who relied on sheep for subsistence

Question 3

What economic developments occurred under Northumberland?

Answer 3

• achieved a measure of stability to national finances by ending the wars against Scotland and France
• brought in £133,333 as a payment for the return of Boulogne
• only debased the coinage once more, then abandoned the practice
• increased the Crown income through the melting down of church plate

Question 4

What were the causes and results of the Western rebellion?

Answer 4

• nicknamed the ‘prayer book rebellion’ as rebels wanted to reverse religious reforms
• however also provoked by distrust between rural labourers and landowners, and grievances over taxation (e.g. sheep tax)
• two uprisings in Devon and Cornwall - defeated by armed forces (3000 killed)
• government increased hostility, beginning to act illegally by executing without trials and confiscating property

Question 5

What were the causes and results of the Kett’s rebellion?

Answer 5

• discontent with the government, particularly the ‘sheep tax’, and a sense of class antagonism
• MacCulloch emphasised a number of grievances: hatred of local officials, abuse of landowners, pent up frustration and maladministration of the Howards
• defeated by armed forces

Question 6

How do historians view the 1549 rebellions?

Answer 6

• Guy: “the closest thing Tudor England came to a class war”
• Caraman (Western): “the most formidable opposition to the Reformation that England ever saw”
• MacCulloch (Kett’s): events indicated a “breakdown of trust between the governing classes and the ordinary people”