Tudor Economy: Domestic and Foreign Trade

Question 1

Why was the wool trade and cloth industry significant?

Answer 1

Villages and towns producing cloth became wealthier and economically important to English trade like Kent, Norfolk, Gloucestershire and West Riding of Yorkshire. Under Elizabeth it made £750,000 a year.

Question 2

Who could they sell it too?

Answer 2

Foreign merchants or the Merchant Adventures based in London.

Question 3

Evidence of growth in trade.

Answer 3

1450s- average of 55,000 cloths exported to Europe.
1550s- 130,000 cloths.
ALMOSTED DOUBLED.

Question 4

What was it dependent on?

Answer 4

Antwerp market to sell- Dutch Revolt in 1560s disrupted this and value of sterling (debasement/inflation) affect how cheap/expensive cloth was to buy.

Question 5

How did the arrival of Dutch migrant cloth weavers begin to change the English Cloth Trade (basically explain the cloth)?

Answer 5

New cloth making skills.
New lighter weight fabrics that involved mixing wool and worsted yarn with silk.
Cheaper and more colorful.
Sold well in Mediterranean markets in South Europe.
Increased market.
Opened up new markets as Antwerp fell.
Didn’t last as long- new draperies needed so more employment (big issue).

Question 6

When and how did the migrant cloth workers arrive in England?

Answer 6

1560s via ports in London, Southampton, Bristol.

Question 7

What was the English attitude to the migrant workers?

Answer 7

They were seen as aliens, suspicious and disliked, closely controlled and monitored their activities. However, the reception of Dutch Workers was unusual- actively welcomed by government.

Question 8

How skilled were they? (Migrant workers)

Answer 8

Highly-skilled.

Question 9

How did the government feel about towns in relation to migrant workers?

Answer 9

Gov went out of way to encourage them to settle in towns across the South and East of the country.

Question 10

Where were communities established in relation to migrant workers?

Answer 10

Maidstone, Canterbury, and Sandwich- Kent, Norfolk, Essex.

Question 11

What did the town council of Maidstone do?

Answer 11

Asked for 60 families with skills in making ‘mockadoes’ and ‘says’ to move there but Gov only allowed them 30.

Question 12

What did towns have to do?

Answer 12

Activities of the textile workers were carefully regulated.

Only allowed to employ English apprentices and unskilled workers.

Question 13

What did the Dutch migrants do in Maidstone?

Answer 13

Created a whole new industry- making of linen thread which encouraged the growing of flax in region around Maidstone in order to make the linen.

Question 14

What happened gradually in relation to clothing?

Answer 14

Linen industry grew as ordinary people started to wear linen clothes rather than woolen ones.

Question 15

What happened in Norwich (Norfolk) (Dutch Migrants)?

Answer 15

They helped to revive the worsted cloth industry there and by mid-1580s there were 4,600 ‘aliens’ living there.

Question 16

Did the foreign textile workers impact all of England?

Answer 16

No only in the regions and communities where they settled- the South and East. In other places there was really no real change to the cloth industry.

Question 17

What was a growing market for goods and trade?

Answer 17

London.

Question 18

Population growth stimulated trade in local regions. Give evidence for the change from 1547-1600

Answer 18

1547- 60,000 people
1600- nearly 200,000 people.
Meant that the agricultural industries in the regions around London- East Anglia and Kent produces was sold in the large London Markets.

Question 19

Prestige from Monarch’s residence and nobility in the capital.

Answer 19

Houses like Russel House and Somerset House (in London) (Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset) meant there was a presence of wealthy elitle and the monarch (London- Palace of Whitehall and Hampton Court- Middlesex) stimulated the demand for exotic and luxury goods from abroad e.g. velvets, silks, furs.

Question 20

Trading ports for exports/imports with Europe and the importance of the Thames as a trading port.

Answer 20

Importance grew rapidly and the Thames was a place where a wide variety of goods could be bought and sold.

Improvements to navigation of it in the 1540s meant London began to overtake ports like Bristol ‘outports’. This included domestic and foreign traders.

Question 21

Centre for manufacturer- Medieval GUILDS (trades) controlled manufacture and sale of goods.

Answer 21

London was a centre for manufacture. The main trades were organized into 12 major GUILDS or ‘livery companies’ which controlled both the manufacture and sale of the goods. The Grocers, Mercers, Fishmongers, Merchant Taylors.

Question 22

What is the definition for GUILDS?

Answer 22

a medieval association of craftsmen or merchants, often having considerable power.

Question 23

What is the definition for livery companies?

Answer 23

any of a number of Companies of the City of London descended from the medieval trade guilds. Powerful merchants with economic and social power- wealthy middle-class of their time.

Question 24

Growth of ‘Liveries’- powerful merchants with economic and social power.

Answer 24

The guilds of Grocers, Mercers, Fishmongers and Merchant Taylors- the wealthiest merchants in each of the guilds organized themselves into ‘liveries’ a governing body in London. The men dominated their trade and political and social life of London- creating links and interesting trade and efficiency.

Question 25

Decline of German Hanseatic League and Growth of Joint-Stock companies to trade in Northern Europe (made up of different groups of merchants and vital HL in Northern Europe.

Answer 25

Hanse- had special trading privileges, exempt from taxation and specialized in import timber and grain from Northern Germany and the Baltic states. Came under general suspicion like all foreigners and criticized for making profits from imported grain at times of bad harvests.
In the 1550s the Hanse’s privileges were eroded with Gov legislation which meant that the new joint-stock companies could seize the initiative in creating new links with the Baltic states.

Question 26

Did all London benefit?

Answer 26

No despite the monopolization of the cloth trade and the increasing use of London as a port, the wealth generated only benefited those who controlled the London companies and the clothiers. Beyond this, London remained a city which poverty was high.

Question 27

What is the definition of Joint-Stock Companies

Answer 27

Unlike regulated companies these allowed investors to share both that rick and profit among themselves. They were open to anyone with the money to invest and thus attracted a wider membership including members of the English Nobility.

Question 28

What were the consequences fir English Trade?

Answer 28

Opened up trade routes to new lands.
Claim ownership of new lands- meant power and prestige.
Claim prestige for the ruler.
Improved navigation of the globe

Question 29

Did trade and exploration have much to do with understanding new cultures/races?

Answer 29

No, it was primarily economic and territorial.

Question 30

What were the major exploration routes?

Answer 30

Sea routes to Asia.
Routes to Russia.
The African Coast (origins of the transatlantic salve trade).
Trade and discovery in the New World- North American Coast line.
English exploration and ‘privateers’- especially under Elizabeth.

Question 31

What is the definition of a monopoly?

Answer 31

Granted control by the monarch for one person or a group to have control of a trade or industry which meant there was no competition in the market.

Question 32

What is the definition of a privateer?

Answer 32

A pirate who was sponsored by the English State (PC hired). The state (M+PC) would take a share of any treasure captured.