• Transition to Capitalism was occuring to a degree

• William Harrison in 1587 spoke of four degrees of people - Gentlemen and Citizens, Burgesses, Yeomen of the Countryside, Labourers.

• Thomas Wilson in 1600 divided society into nobility, citizens, yeomen, artisans, countrymen.

• Power
  

  • Held land, property, titles that had been in their family for generations.
    

  • Heads of family were often members of the house of lords
    

• Statistics
  

  • 2% of the Population was wealth and gentry.
    

  • Held 15% of wealth and property
    

Change→Lost money due to inflation. But individuals such as Earl of Worcester donated £700,000 to the royalist cause in 1642.

• Political→Many key political members of the gentry rose significantly in power (Pym, Cromwell). Only really a few select individuals

• During the Civil war→gentry divided by loyalties

• Numbers of gentry increased→by 300% from early tudor to middle of 17th cent.

• Statistics
  

  • total number was around 15,000, made up of 3000 higher and 12,000 lesser gentry
    

  • Controlled half of all wealth by gentry
    

• Domination in Politics
  

  • Wentworth - became earl of strafford - held positions due to service to the crown.
    

• Variation
  

  • Wealth varied - some held property in a single parish, other owned numbers
    

  • Some controlled the whole politics of the country - differing levels of social and political control
    

• Participation in politics - reason for rise↓
  

  • Became normal for second or thirds songs of gentry to enter a career in law - prerequisite for being a member of privy council or parliament.
    

  • As parliament became more important in build up to civil war - role of gentry enhanced
    

  • Most MPs were members of gentry and after personal rule Charles had no choice but to turn to them to help fight the Scots
    

  • Many officers who fought for parliament became high profile figures in the Republic - especially with abolishing the house of lords in 1649.
    

  • Peaked in the Interregnum as Cromwell run the government
    

• Reasons for Growth
  

  • Growth of major towns
    

  • Increased urbanisation
    

  • Liverpool and bristol grew
    

  • London - consumer boom after 1650 led to improved trading conditions.
    

• Position in society
  

  • Merchants often maintained connections with the gentry but were looked down upon by the landed elites.
    

  • Never able to have same respect and prestige as landed elite 
    

  • Could not pursue education as had little leisure time.
    

• Statistics
  

  • In 1688 - 64,000 trading merchants had grown by 30,000 since 1580
    

Wealth→possible to accumulate as much wealth as members of the gentry - and hold equal positions of power in town

• Social Movement↓
  

  • Gentry would take part in trade - sons would start business careers with the help of their inheritance
    

  • Some Merchants could afford to buy land and enter public office as aldermen or become mayor.
    

  • Some owners of larger trading companies purchased earldoms to ensure their family's future in the aristocracy
    

  • Many received knighthoods for commercial success and public service rather than their family background.
    

• Expansion→many merchants would try to retire and set up home on a country estate as soon as possible - high turnover. Keen to leave due to disease and unstable nature of commerce.
  

• Growth from the Navigation Act 1651 and 1660→restricted use of Dutch ships in trade out of England and second listed commodities that could only be shipped in English vessels

• Change→Rose considerably during the period as direct result of rising living standard of the gentry and nobility.

• Service industry→Quality of life called for doctors, legal services etc.

• Inns of Courts→Gray's Inn increased from 120 barristers in 1574 to 200 in 1619

• Gentry→Although 90% of the 1700 students to one inns of courts were the sons of nobility and gentry from 1600 to 1640

• Civil war
  

  • allowed women take mens jobs 
    

  • e.g. Brilliana Harley directed forces to defend her family's estate in Herefordshire
    

  • Lucy Hutchinson managed her husbands estate
    

  • Normal life resumed after Civil War and the changes reverse.
    

• Rights→Women had very few rights - under control of Husbands/Fathers.

• Witchcraft→Unmarried women viewed with suspicion - Witchcraft

• Progress→Progress was non-existent until the Civil War

• Role of women→was to bring up children and run the household. Women had very little education and if they were educated it was for their children's benefit.

• Attitude→was not misogyny but men believed that chastising and beating their wives was for their own good.

• Intellectual view→Not all women desire or believe in greater equality. Intellectuals such as Lucy Hutchinson believe that women are inferior.

• Legal view→Women is always legally wrong as they have been for centuries.

• Opportunities→For example women can practice medicine but not profit from it. Cannot be MPs even if she is a dutchess in her own right.

• Puritan advocation
  

  • For widspread education 
    

  • Grassroot school became influenced by Puritan morals and values
    

• Puritan Values
  

  • Advocated for religious structure where family was at the heart of worship - therefore women had to be able to read
    

• Quakers→advocated for women education but still founded only four schools before 1671

• Political and Social campaigns→women found themself important in this during the civil war e.g. crowd of 6000 women protested for parliament peace in Aug 1643

• Imprisonment of John Lilburne→Leveller leader - imprisoned and his wife organised petition for release - signed by 10,000 women presented to parliament arguing that women were created in the image of God and should have as much freedom as men - it failed.

• Middle of the century
  

  • Had the best chances for women to advocate their social position
    

  • Diggers advocated for male and female suffrage but levellers never pushed for women to have the vote
    

• The impact of legal changes
  

  • Quakers→believed that God's light was in every person and owmen could preach and give opinion - over 1% of the population were Quakers in 1680 and could flourish after the legal changes brought about by the Toleration Act - which would be restricted by the Quaker Act and then removed.
    

  • Plays→women could perform in plays lifted after the restoration
    

  • The Marriage Act→Passed by the Barebones parliament in 1653 allowed civil marriages although it was largely ignored.
    

  • The Adultery Act→both sexes could be sentenced to death under the Adultery Act of 1650 although mans were considered a lesser crime e.g. in Middlesex 24 women and 12 men were tried for adultly in the 1650s.