Socio-economic problems Flashcards
What was enclosure
Practice of landlords putting a fence around land that was previously common land in order to make it private land
What was
Practice of landlords putting a fence around land that was previously common land in order to make it private land?
Enclosure
what was the use of common land historically?
Provided a useful source of wood and food
Where was enclosure common?
Areas where sheep farming was popular
What was happening in areas where sheep farming was common?
Enclosure was popular in these areas
What did Somerset do regarding the issue of enclosure
Established commissions under John Hales to investigate enclosure
When did Enclosure get really bad
1548-49
What happened between 1548-49
Enclosure got really bad
What was the role of John Hales?
Run commissions which was set up by Protector Somerset
Who refused to cooperate with Hales?
Landowners
How did landowners react to Hales
Refused to cooperate
What did Somerset issue to stop enclosure
Order several proclamations
From Hales report what did Somerset do?
Issued several proclamations
How much did Somerset spend on continuing Henrys wars
£1,356,000
Did Somerset spend £1,356,000 on
Continuing Henry’s wars
How much crown lands did Somerset sell?
£800,000
How did Somerset make £800,000
Selling crown lands
How much did Somerset make £50,000 a year?
Borrowing
How much did maintaining the royal household cost
£50,000
What did Somerset neeed £50,000 for
Maintaining the Royal household
Why was the financial crisis not Somerset fault
Financial crisis started from Henry
When did inflation start?
1500
When did inflation accelerate?
1540s
What was the inflation at 1546?
Prices were 150% higher than they had been in 1508
What year was the inflation rate 150% since 1508?
1546
What caused inflation?
Debasement of the coinage in order to fund wars with Scotland and France by Henry and Somerset
What was the impact of debasing the coinage
Inflation
What did the population increase mean
Increased demand for the same quantity of food
What increased demand for food
Increased population
What happened to the price of grain?
Increased faster than other commodities because large landowners found it more profitable to produce wool for European market rather than food for domestic consumption
What was the size of the population in 1525
2.3 million
What was the size of the population in 1551
3 million
What was the population increase between 1525 to 1551
0.7 million
How did the structure of the population change
More younger children were born
What did the population having more children mean?
People who could not contribute to the production of food
What did the rapid population growth and inflation lead to?
Increasing poverty as wages failed to keep up with the prices throughout the period
How many failed harvests were there between 1547-58?
6
Between which period were there 6 failed harvests?
1547-58
Why did the dissolution of monasteries cause problems for the poor?
Previously provided relief to poor families for starving families
What did a depression in the cloth trade lead to
Further unemployment
What did landlords do to exacerbate the hard times
Passed on the effects of the economic hard times to the peasantry by rapidly increasing rents (rack renting)
When did the vagrancy act happen
1547
What did the rise in poverty cause
Increase in crime which made the government worry about public order
What did the poor law of 1536 recognise
Able-bodied poor people are genuinely finding it hard to get a job
What law recognised That it was actually hard to find a job
Poor law of 1536
What did the Vagarancy Act of1547 paint the poor as?
Turned them into criminals
What law turned the poor into criminals?
Vagrancy Act 1547
What did the vagrancy Act state for unemployed people?
Any able-bodied person out of work for more than three days was to be branded with a V and sold into slavery for two years
What did the Vagrancy act say for the children of the unemployed?
They could be taken away from their parents and sent to work as apprentices in useful occupations
What was the reaction to the vagrancy act of 1547?
Very unpopular and many authorities refused to impose it
What did the vagrancy act of 1547 propose for the disabled
Housing and collections
When were the public order proclamations
1548
What did the public order proclamations of 1548 show about the government?
They cared more for maintaining law and order rather than solving economic issues
What was released in 1548
Public order proclamation
Under the public proclamations of 1548, what became illegal?
Spread rumours
Under what laws it made forbidden to spread rumours
Public order proclamations 1548
What happened to people found guilty of any offences in the public order proclamations of 1548
They were sent to work rowing on galleys
What did the public order proclamations of 1548 show about the population
Repressive laws show that government realised things were getting out of hand
