unit 4 - social and economic change (16th century) Flashcards
what was the population of england in 1500 compared to 1603? what does this mean?
1500 - 2 million
1603 - 3.8 million
what percent of london lived belwo the poverty line?
60%
what did the growing population of this period mean?
there was more poverty and unemployment in major cities
how would someone progress through the social hierarchy?
- military service
- joining church
- serving monarch
why was the dissolution of the monasteries an opportunity for the gentry?
- allowed them to own monastic land and progress socially
who is an example of a member of the gentry that progressed socially through the dissolution of the monateries?
- barlows of slebech family bought a church
how did the gentry progress socially?
- became JP’s (acts of union)
- would become clergymen
- went into the mining business
did the gentry rise during the 16th century?
yes, due to mainly monasteries dissolution and acts of union (more law positions), and taking opportunities to progress socially
how were the nobility controlled by the monarch mainly?
bonds and recoginisances - used to control land
why was there public discontent during the 16th century?
enclosures, people mainly blamed the nobility that were repsonsible for these
what are enclosures?
not allowing animals to graze on public land, had to be on a specific piece of land
why did the nobility use enclosures?
they kept the landownership controlled and would evict any non-profitable farmers as to bring in moe money
how many crafts and trades did norwich have in 1525? what did this mean?
800
allowed for more jobs and less unemployment
when was the map of long distance roads published? what did it mean?
1541, meant that he gov was intervening abou the issue of poverty
why were towns more progressive than big cities?
they had their own local laws, which meant that there was better control of poverty
what was londons popualtion in 1500 compared to 1600?
1500 - 50,000
1600 - 200,000
what year did london offer poor relief?
1547
how many people died in london from the plague in 1563?
200,000
what evidence is there that trade was booming during the 16th century?
- elizabeth invested privately into trading companies
- navigation act meant that only english shippers could import
- trading became the most powerful english business
when was the royal exchange set up? what did it mean?
1571 meant that trading stocks in London and people could loan money from england
what evidence is there that trading was not booming? when was the trading ban?
1564 - reduced the amount of luxury imports (e.g. glass)
how did the boom in trading affect wales?
gave wales a wider selection of products to offer aan more business opportunities often from Europe and london etc..
how much did the value of english textile exports raise between the 15th and 17th century?
5x
what evidence shows a boom in the trading of coal/mining? how many furnaces?
3 furnaces in sussex in 1530s
26 furnaces in sussex in 1560s
what did people think of the impotent poor?
more sympathetic to them, people were not afraid
why were the gov worried about vagrants?
they would be more inclined to join a rebellion, outside of the tudor chain of being
what did people think of the able-bodied poor?
people were afraid of themm, should be punished
what were the socio-economic causes of poverty/vagrancy?
- rising population
- fluctuations in job markets
- enclosures
- disease
-bad harvests (e.g.1556) - debasement of the coin
what were the political causes of poverty/vagrancy?
- soldiers returned from war with no job
what were the religious causes of poverty/vagrancy?
- dissolution of monasteries left thousands of monks unemployed and the support they offered were no more, leaving even more unemployed
what act was propsed in 1535? what did it mean? how did it fail?
- progressive bill by cromwell, proposed a scheme to offer more jobs and better infrastructure, this was a change in attitude as it acknowledged that not all able-bodied poor were lazy
rejected by parliament
when was anti-enclosure legisaltion passed in parliament? by who? how did it fail?
cromwell, wolsey - failed because local JP’s did not put it into effect
how did elizabeth deal with the problems of bad harvests?
- grain stores were made complusory and therefore reduced starvation when bad harvests - WORKED
what was done about the unemployment of the monks after the dissolution of the monasteries?
- henry and cromwell acknowledged this, gave pensions to those affected - ACTUALLY WORKED
who looked after the poor before the 16th century?
each parish was responsible for its poor (normally, its impotent poor)
what was outdoor relief?
money given to the poor for rent, buy food
what was indoor relief?
workhouses, often more punitive punishment used more for the able-bodied poor
when did attitudes towards the poor change
people realised the able-bodied poor were unemployed through no fault of their of their own
what was the criminal poor?
people in poverty that switch to crime, often to survive
how did henry vii deal with poverty and vagrancy? when was the act?
1495 - beggars and vagabond acts
what is an example of the criminal poor?
the ruffler - a well-dressed and would threaten shop owners to get money
what were gypsies? why were they seen as a threat?
gypsies were short for Egyptian migrants and were outside the Tudor chain of being, therefore seen as a threat
what did the beggars and vagabond act mean? what is punitive or enlightened?
this was a punitive act, would involve punishing criminals and relocating them
why did the 1495 beggars and vagabond act not work?
it wa snot used and the criminals would lie about where they came from
how did henry viii deal with poverty and vagarancy?
1531 vagabond act
1535 bill
what did henry viii’s vagabond act and bill mean? was it punitive or englightened?
vagabond act - this distinguihsed between the impotent poor and the able-bodied and allowed them to beg, quite enlightened
bill - government would sponser the public schemes and offer more jobs to those in need of them
why did henry viii’s vagabond act and bill not work so effectively?
BILL WAS NOT AN ACT
they were rejected in parliament, which shows that they acknowledged the problems but were limited in its extent by parliament
how did edward deal with poverty and vagrancy?
1552 act
1547 act
what did edwards 1547 and 1552 acts mean?
1547- involved branding and slavery for the able-bodied poor and hanging for vagrants
1552 - local people had to contribute to poor relief and was enforced by the bishops
what was wrong with edwards 1547 and 1552 acts?
1547 act was very harsh, and JP’s did not want to enforce it as there was lots and lots of poor people
how did mary deal with poverty and vagrancy?
1555 act
what did marys 1555 act mean?
this allowed begging in areas of large population densities
rich parishes were told to help the poor
what limited marys 1555 act?
short reign and she had more of a focus on restoring catholicism rather than dealing with the poor
how did elizabeth deal with poverty and vagrancy in the 1560s? what did these mean?
1563 statue of artificers - unemployed males would have to get a job in agriculture, Jp’s decided the minimum wage, meaning people in poverty got paid more
1563 act - made the collection of the poor rate compulsory across wales and england
how did elizabeth deal with poverty and vagrancy in the 1570s? what did these mean?
1572 poor law - refirmed the complulsory poor relief in local councils, encourages the local poor overseers
1569-72 whipping campaign - purge on the poor and would hang the able-bodied poor if 3 offences
how many people were branded under elizabeths whipping campaign in middlesex?
44 in 1575
how did elizabeth deal with poverty and vagrancy in the 1590s? what did these mean?
1598 act for the relief of the poor - defined overseers of the poor, made them have to collect a poor rate
1598 - act of punishment of rogues - defined the ‘professional poor’ should be whipped and sent away
how did elizabeth deal with poverty and vagrancy in ther 1600s? what did these mean?
1601 the poor law act - LONG TERM ACT the developed pensions for ex-soldiers and was only changed in 1834
why was the 1601 poor law act not changed until 1834?
- people got used to the amount of poverty
- the economy could have improved
how did london offer poor relief?
1533 poor rate was implemented into households
these were made compulsory in 1547, not collected effectively
how did ipswitch offer poor relief?
this local town gave some poot license to beg, and implemented a training school for young boys
how did the church offer poor relief?
generally people would have to donate by charity as to go to heaven, this was less so when break from rome
how did merchants offer poor relief?
- merchants gave a lot to the poor:
often concerned with the social rehabilitation aspect for the poor,
would pay for apprenticeships
would pay for hospitals
how did norwich offer poor relief?
completely banned any begging
the poor relief system was kept up effectively, total of £500
this was very progressive for the time and influenced the government to implement its strategies on a wider scale
how did individuals offer poor relief?
landowners - expected to look after their own tenants
clergy - expected to look after the poorer
charity - people would give in richer areas
how much money did lady berkeley leave for her peasants?
gave a feast for over 1000 of her peasents
