SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC AFFAIRS

• What did Elizabeth's ordinary income consist of?

  Crown lands, customs duties, profits from justice and sources arising from patronage.
• What was Elizabeth's extraordinary income?

  She could also raise money from parliamentary taxation, known as extraordinary income, but this was supposed to in times of emergency and therefore was not a regular source of income. This meant that she needed to ensure her policies were financed from her ordinary income.
• What debt did Elizabeth inherit from Mary I?

  £227,000
• Where was most of England's debt from Mary's reign owed to?

  The Antwerp exchange which was the money market for Northern Europe where merchants and financiers gathered because trade routes met there.
• What was the interest Elizabeth had to pay on England's debt?

  14%
• What Marian financial reforms did Elizabeth inherit?

  Mary had introduced some reforms to make financial administration more efficient; most notably the Book of Rates for customs duties had been revised. Mary also collected about three-quarters of crown revenue into the Exchequer which meant that it had a better idea of the financial situation and it also prevented duplication of officials. Elizabeth also inherited the services of William Paulet, Marquis of Winchester, who was highly experienced as Lord Treasurer.
• What is the exchequer?

  The centre of financial administration. It received money, stored it and paid it out as well as auditing the crown's account.
• What three problems did Sir Thomas Gresham identify with the Elizabethan economy?

  1) Debasement of the coinage, which had started under Henry VIII

  2) The cost of war and the loans that were needed to fund it

  3) The privileges of the Hanseatic League as they carried the wool from England
• What was the Hanseatic league?

  The Hanseatic league or Hanse was a group of Baltic and German trading towns who imported and exported goods in Europe. Their main base was in London and they had been able to gain considerable privileges.
• What did Sir Thomas Gresham advise Elizabeth?

  He argued that Elizabeth needed to maintain an excellent credit rating so loans could be raised easily. He tried to persuade William Cecil to relax the laws on usury so that some interest and more money could be raised in England. In 1571 Cecil finally agreed and 10% interest could be charged on loans.
• How did Elizabeth use court to reduce her expenses?

  As a single woman, the expenses of court were less than if she had a family. She did not embark on major building projects. By spending summers on 'progress' around her realm, staying with courtiers and ministers, she reduced the costs at their expense. Courtiers were also expected to give her expensive gifts which boosted income.
• What's the evidence of Elizabeth's success with money?

  By 1576 Sir Walter Mildmay, Chancellor of the Exchequer, was able to inform the House of Commons that she had removed the Marian debt and by 1584 she had a surplus of £300,000.
• How did Elizabeth use crown lands?

  She was able to increase her revenue from crown lands from £86,000 to £111,000 but this was less of a gain than most nobles made during the same period. Elizabeth did not use short-term leases to increase rents and much crown land was on-long term leases. Elizabeth was reluctant to exploit her tenants.
• What problems did Elizabeth have with customs duties?

  Mary had revised the book of rates which governed the collection of customs of customs duties in 1558. More imports were subject to tax and the amount increased substantially, sometimes by 100%. However this was not maintained and by the 1590s customs wasn't keeping pace with inflarion. The only way to increase income from customs was by increasing trade or by putting up the rates and she couldn't raise them because they'd just been raised. The increase in rates also encouraged smuggling and measures to prevent it were difficult to enforce as there were not enough officials.
• What problems did Elizabeth have with cloth exports?

  Most of the value of exports was from woollen cloth which made up 81% of the exports and this required new markets to be found if the amount was to increase. Elizabeth attempted to encourage the 'finishing' of cloth - the dyeing and dressing - to take place in England, as that was where the greatest value was added to cloth, but this had little success. Most clothiers still exported unfinished cloth.
• What were the two forms of parliamentary taxation under Elizabeth?

  The fifteenths and tenths, which raised £30,000 and the subsidy which brought in £100,000.
• How much money could Elizabeth get from parliament when she asked?

  Parliament usually granted one subsidy and two fifteenths and tenths, bringing in about £130,000. This was less than the reign of Henry VIII.
• What problems did Elizabeth have with assessments?

  Assessments were made by the local gentry and wealthy land owners were usually underassessed. However, Elizabeth was reluctant to change the situation and employ professional collectors or demand that they increase their assessments. With raising inflation, it further decreased the real value of taxation and Elizabeth was therefore failing to fully exploit this source of income.
• What problems did Elizabeth have with corruption?

  In 1571 £44,000 had been borrowed from royal funds by officials. Cecil and Mildmay introduced reforms to prevent it happening but their success was limited. Officials were not well paid and the situation was made worse by inflation, which only encouraged corruption.
• What income did Elizabeth gain from the church?

  The First Fruits and Tenths and grants in parliament. She also kept bishoprics vacant to gain their income. Money was collected from non-attendance at church and after 1581 recusancy fines were increased. None of these sources could be significantly increased.
• What caused inflation in the 1560s?

  Public opinion initially blamed it on the greed of landowners, but by the 1570s many were blaming increased bullion supplies, though this is doubted by historians who question how much Spanish bullion came to England. Other reasons, such as the population rise and war, were probably more significant.
• What impact did inflation have in the 1560s?

  There was a crisis in the war because the supplies needed cost more. It had an impact on wage-earners as real wages did not keep pace with inflation.
• How did Elizabeth attempt to deal with inflation in the 1560s?

  Recoinage- the issuing of new coinage, usually to try to restore confidence after debasement or the reduction of silver content in coins. It had limited success.
• How was inflation made worse in the 1590s?

  There was a series of bad harvests which made the cost of food even greater.
• How did war and unrest in the Netherlands have an impact on English trade?

  It led to restrictions on privileges of merchants, which resulted in the English leaving Antwerp for Emden. English piracy in the Channel and later in the New World also affected trade and therefore revenue from customs.
• Which English attacks on Spanish ships brought in revenue?

  Attacks from 1577-80 and in 1587 when Drake seized £140,000.
• How much did the force that Elizabeth provided the Dutch rebels with in the 1585 Treaty of Nonsuch cost per annum?

  £126,000
• How much did the war in the Netherlands cost?

  £2 million
• How much did support for Henry of Navarre in France cost?

  £500,000
• How much did the Armada campaign of 1588 cost?

  £161,000
• How much did crushing the Tyrone rebellion in Ireland cost?

  £2 million
• How much did Elizabeth get from her ordinary sources of revenue by 1600, meaning warfare forced her to resort to extraordinary finance?

  £300,000
• How did Elizabeth raise money using monopolies?

  She granted exclusive rights to particular trades or manufacturers and rewarded courtiers with them.
• Why did the parliaments of 1567 and 1601 attack the practice of monopolies?

  They prevented competition and led to a rise in prices.
• What concessions to monopolies did Elizabeth make in the 1590s?

  She suspended some grants and revoked those that were harmful. A proclamation soon followed ending monopolies on salt, vinegar and starch, which were everyday necessities.
• What was purveyance?


  The crown's right to buy goods at less than market prices. It was a regular occurrence when supplying the army and the navy.
• What was Elizabeth's reaction to the parliament's 1587 attack on purveyance?


  She promised to reform but any change would increase the cost for the government.
• How did Elizabeth attempt to reduce costs through administration?

  1) Efficiency savings (reducing corruption)

  2) New coinage in 1560 which didn't manage to end inflation

  3) Loans had to be raised in Antwerp, which led to a fall in the value of the pound.

  4) The government also attempted to reduce imports, but this led to trade embargoes.
• What did Elizabeth do to the economy in response to the bad harvests in 1580?

  Elizabeth introduced a Book of Orders in 1586, which instructed Justices of the Peace (JPs) that there was to be no hoarding of grain. Corn was to be available in small amounts so the poor could afford it.
• What economic legislation did Elizabeth introduce when conditions worsened in the 1590s?

  JPs were to fix wage rates, manufacturing was further regulated and Acts were passed to help the poor.