The Cloth Trade

• How much did Jack Lander estimate the volume of English cloth had increased under Henry VII?

  60%
• Cloth was responsible for how much of the value of English exports?

  90%
• Give two examples of towns that were prosperous because of the cloth trade

  Lavenhem and Lewes
• How did the cloth trade benefit employment?

  The increase in finished cloth led to the development of weaving which was done by domestic processes such as fuelling and dyeing. This provided rural employment.
• What affect did the growth of the cloth industry have on historic cities? Give examples of these cities.

  Winchester and Lincoln suffered serious decay as the cloth industry tended to move from older corporate boroughs to newer manufacturing centres to smaller market towns
• What benefit did the cloth trade have on London under Henry VII?

  cloth was exported through London by the Merchant Adventurers - reinforced London's commercial dominance
• Who were the Merchant Adventurers

  A trading organisation founded in 1407, was dominated by members of the Mercer's Company. Had a positive relationship with the Crown, e.g. they advise Henry VII on the Intercursus Mangus and Malus.
• Why could the Merchant Adventures not achieve complete domination of trade?

  They were unable to overcome the trading privileges enjoyed by the Hanseatic League which had been reasserted by the treaty in 1474 and 1504 because Henry VII wanted to ensure they would offer no support to the Earl of Suffolk.
• What were the downfalls of trade under Henry VII?

  England was reliant on the cloth industry - 90% of all it's exports. It was also reliant on Antwerp where the majority of English cloth was exported from. This was risky.
• By 1500, what percentage of the population did the cloth trade employ?

  1.3%