Please enable JavaScript.
Coggle requires JavaScript to display documents.
Topic 22- Economic Development in Elizabethan England - Coggle Diagram
Topic 22- Economic Development in Elizabethan England
A. Trade:
Patterns of trade:
4 main patterns in trade:
internal trade was of significantly more value to the economy than foreign trade
the biggest single development in internal trade was the growth of shipping coal from the tyne to the thames in order to meet growing demands of the London markets
An increased number of luxury goods were important under the reign of E1- suggesting that the population either had higher income or the goods were simply becoming more affordable
Although cloth trade with the netherlands remained important it was by this point in decline and had been since 1550
W.Cecil feared dependence on a single market for political reasons. He feared that war with Spain (in control of netherlands) was likely, and he was proved correct. Instead he sought an alternate trade route with the port of Eden situated in the North Coast of germany
most significant move for the cloth trade came from the shift away from the Spanish controlled port of Antwerp in the netherlands to Amsterdam which was controlled by the protestant rebels
there were attempts to establish new overseas trade routes, especially with Russia but these were economically marginal. Most significant new trade was the establishment of the English slave trade under John Hawkins
Attempts to expand trade
attempts under John Hawkins to increase trade through three voyages
1st voyage 1562-1563: financially successful but antagonised the Spanish
2nd Voyage 1564-1565: financially successful and gained support from Leicester and the queen who supplied ships
3rd voyage 1567-1569: blockaded San Juan de Ulua- did get some gold back to england but failed overall
set up the English slave trade, by transporting enslaved people from West coast of Africa to the Spanish colonies of Santo Domino and Venezuela
his success at this encouraged other merchants to do the same, and provided an alternative to the less stable and less profitable cloth trade
Various trading companies were also set up during E1's reign:
1555: The Muscovy Company- traded in Northern Europe and russia, but couldn't compete effectively with the dutch
1579: Eastland Company (Join stock company- allowed ordinary people to invest)- traded In baltics but had limited effect
1581: Turkish company (later levant company)- traded with the Ottoman Empire and did enjoy success by establishing trade with the ottomans
1600- East India Company- traded in Asia but had less investment than its rival the Dutch east India company, so suffered
statistics on medieval trade are notoriously unreliable and so opinions and examples do vary
B. English attempts at colonisation and exploration:
1580- return of Sir Francis Drake from his three year circumnavigation of the world that highlighted the potential of exploration- total value of items on board was £160,000 (almost half a billion), E1 share alone was more than Englands annual national debt
1584- 'A discourse of western planting' by Richard Hakluyt argued for the potential of North America- charter was granted to Walter Raleigh to establish English control of NA
Raleigh presented a copy of 'discourse' to Elizabeth snd was granted permission to lead the first expedition, he established a colony named virginia
1585- Raleigh secured significant investment from Walsingham and returned, but failed to establish a settlement
1587- the first settlement established on Roanoke Island
1590- a ship returned to Roanoke to find the settlement deserted, still a mystery what happened to inhabitants
with ongoing pressure of war with Spain, no further attempts at colonisation or exploration are attempted until James I
C. Prosperity and Depression:
Land Ownership:
landowners benefitted under E1, with increases in landed income
cheap land as a result of reformation under HVIII and EVI led to a building boom, with the building of imposing country houses
farmers benefitted from agricultural prices
'Description of England' published 1577 noted the improved standards of living enjoyed by farmers
inventories taken after individuals deaths often confirmed the same pattern of improvement
Trade:
uncertainty around relationship between prosperity and trade- lacked hard evidence
historians at beginning of 20th C argued that trade was buoyant- evidenced through increased shipbuilding
Historians in second half of the century argued that there was a desperate search for new markets to compensate for the decline in the cloth trade
English finances less sophisticated than netherlands or Germany
urban prosperity
impossible to generalise as specific places did well and others did not
old towns like York and Norwich continued to do well, new towns like Manchester and Plymouth developed
those that did well had a range of industry or were unincorporated where there was less regulation
London was draining possible growth from smaller towns- however Newcastle benefitted from trade with London
rural depression:
not all shared prosperity
real wages fell. 1596- real wages had collapsed, caused a subsistence crisis 1596-1597
mainly felt in the North
Harvest failures- 9 out of 44 harvests considered poor
from 1594-1597 there was 4 successive poor harvests- catastrophic
Impact on the regions:
tax records show the wealthiest regions were south-east, followed by Norfolk and Suffolk, somerset, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire
income levels show that the poorest were in the North and the West Midlands