Please enable JavaScript.
Coggle requires JavaScript to display documents.
Society and Economy under Elizabeth I, 1563- - Coggle Diagram
Society and Economy under Elizabeth I, 1563-
changes in society
mainly aristocratic domination with ducal titles carrying inherent dangers as Somerset, Northumberland, Suffolk and Norfolk from 1547-72 met bloody ends so there were no more
nobility were more peaceable, with peerage seeking to enhance their prestige in big building projects to accommodate the queen on progresses e.g. Burghley house
below peerage was gentry; ranging from influential knights, county gentlemen and esquires (dominated local govt as JPs) and modest local landowners
size of gentry increased during reign, and proportion of wealthy went up
gap between rich and poor widened and beginnings of consumerist society emerged as landed incomes increased after 1570 while real wages for poor declined
-
bulk of 4 million people at end lived in countryside with London largest city at 150,000
1576 Poor Law Act attempted to create national poor relief financed and admined locally and towns had to make provisions for employment of deserving poor
1601 Elizabethan Poor Law made parishes designated institution for poor relief, with each appointing an overseer that relieved impotent poor and setting able-bodied to work
treatment of undeserving poor remained harsh with very repressive act against vagrants in 1547 saying they should be whipped and branding added in 1572 Act
regional problems
generally more peaceable than other nations, with gentry comfortable enough in social order and the State protection to abandon castles for more comfortable but undefensible
problems in Ireland
Elizabeth proclaimed Supreme Governor of the Church of Ireland in 1560 but lacked power to impose Protestantism on the largely Catholic population
frequent use of martial law led to bad relations, further soured by brutality of response to second rebellion in 1579-82 (first 1569-73) by Lord Deputy of Ireland
3rd rebellion was difficult and expensive to suppress, with clan chief Hugh O'Neill (Earl of Tyrone) rising up in 1595 and Spanish attempting to include Irish contingent in the Armada of 1596
-
Tyrone was now in control of Ireland 'beyond the Pale', looking to establish an independent and Catholic Ireland so Elizabeth sent Essex as Lord Lieutenant in 1599
Essex disobeyed orders to confront Tyrone, instead making a truce that meant when expired, he moved south, camped on the coast and hopped to link up with a Spanish army
3000 Spanish troops landed in Kindle in Sept 1601, saving Tyrone from the new Lord Lieutenent, Mountjoy until xmas eve 1601 when the English triumphed
Tyrone retreated to Ulster and made peace with Mountjoy in March 1603 but Elizabeth had died to Mountjoy returned to King James I and he returned the rule to local nobility, including Tyrone
problems in Wales
-
-
poverty remained endemic, despite prospering gentry, with many Welsh involved in Essex rebellion suggesting discontent
-
rebellions
social stability held up in 1590s despite harvest failure, rising prices and plague creating desperation
food riots in London, Kent, Hampshire and Norfolk resulted in the 'Oxfordshire rising' of 1596
not a rising but an ill-thought-out scheme by 4 men in poverty to seize armaments and march on London but heavy-handed response of authorities showed fear of social dislocation
Northern Rebellion, 1569-70
-
headed by earls of Northumberland and Westmorland, motivated by both religious fervour and them being displaced from aristocratic role controlling north govt
also conspiracy proposing Westmorland's brother-in-law, Duke of Norfolk, to marry Mary Queen of Scots to restore her Scottish throne
rebels marched on Durham 9th Nov, seizing it 14th and having a mass in the cathedral
they marched on York, only the west and with no effort to capture it or pressurise the govt, instead retreating to the Crown's stronghold in Durham, Barnard Castle, captured on 14th dec
-
in January Northemberland's cousin restarted the rebellion in Cumberland but was heavily defeated by royal force at Naworth
the rebels had hopeless disorganisation, poor leadership, lack of foreign support and lack of support from conservative nobility of other parts of the north with little enthusiasm for ridding Elizabeth
revealed London govt's lack of comprehension of differences between north and south, problems managing localities and raising forces
-
trade and exploration
pattern of trade
internal trade was more valuable than foreign trade, being expanded by shipping coal from Tyne to Thames for London market, with some exported to France
-
cloth trade with Netherlands declined as Antwerp cloth market declined in 1550s but alternative market developed in Amsterdam
-
attempts to expand trade
Guinea (centre of African trade) was Hawkins' base to move into Americas in 3 expeditions from 1562 acquiring slaves in Africa and selling them in South America
1st 2 expeditions was successful, but his fleet was blockaded in the 3rd in port of San Juan de Ulua and all antagonised Spanish
English wool markets moved from south to north Netherlands and Ottoman trade increased but England failed to exploit trading opportunities
trading companies were set up to widen interests e.g. Levant Company in 1581 was successful in Ottoman trade but East India Company in 1600 and Muscovy Company in 1555 in Russia failed to compete with Dutch companies
-
-