Why Was There Poverty Flashcards
What was poverty during Elizabeth’s reign?
Poverty was widespread, characterized by a significant portion of the population struggling to afford basic necessities.
What types of people were considered poor during Elizabeth’s reign?
- Unemployed or ill individuals
- Widows or abandoned women
- The sick and elderly
- Orphaned children
- People on low wages
- Vagrants and vagabonds
Fill in the blank: Studies of parish records suggest that the poor fell into various groupings, including _______.
widows or women abandoned by their husbands
What was one of the main causes of poverty during Elizabeth’s reign?
A bad series of harvests due to poor weather.
What was the worst harvest of the century, and when did it occur?
The worst harvest occurred in 1556, just before Elizabeth became queen.
Fill in the blank: Enclosure led to farmers focusing on _______ instead of growing crops.
sheep farming
What does rack renting refer to?
Landowners charging excessively high rents to farmers.
What was the impact of the decline in the cloth trade during Elizabeth’s reign?
Tens of thousands of people lost their jobs.
True or False: Wages increased significantly during Elizabeth’s reign and kept up with rising prices.
False
What was the impact of the closure of the monasteries in the late 1530s?
Monasteries could no longer provide food and shelter to the unemployed, sick, and homeless.
Fill in the blank: The population of England and Wales increased by more than _______ during Elizabeth’s reign.
a quarter
What were vagrants and vagabonds?
Homeless people who moved from their parishes looking for work.
What was the effect of slow wage increases during Elizabeth’s reign?
Wages did not keep up with the rising cost of basic necessities.
Which industry was the only important one in sixteenth-century England?
The cloth trade
Fill in the blank: The food prices rose due to _______ caused by bad harvests.
increased demand
