Economic developments

• Explain change in agriculture

  • greater move towards sheep farming in 1480s and 1490s- improved profitability of sheep farming- demand for wool as population grew and trade overseas developed
  • agricultural society divided: lowland zone (line draw from Tees estuary to Weymouth) and highland zone (roughly north and west of line)
  • Mixed farming most common type of farming in lowland
  • Open field husbandry common in grain growing areas of southeast and East Midlands
  • decline of open field farming and an increase in enclosures- led to depopulation in rural areas as fewer peasants needed where enclosures took place
• Explain why enclosures weren't as bad as people thought

  • Enclosures were never as widespread as people thought
  • most common in Midlands- but only 3% of land was ever enclosed in Henrys reign
  • numbers of families evicted had probably been exaggerated as many farms turned to pasture farming after the Black Death
• What did Parliament do about enclosures

  • introduced two laws in 1489- anti-enclosure
  • First law specifically for Isle of Wight- to attempt to stop depopulation of what was seen as a vital strategic area
  • Second law addressed belief that enclosure might result in a breakdown of law and order. However the act didn't include the word 'enclosure' in it so difficult to enforce
• Explain the importance of the cloth trade

  • responsible for 90% of the value of English exports
  • between 1485-1509 60% increase in cloth exports
  • led to the development of weaving, fulling and dyeing, offered opportunities for rural employment to supplement agrarian incomes
  • Cloth towns prosperous: Lavenham in Suffolk, Lewes in Sussex
  • increasing propitiation of finished cloth exported from London through Merchant adventures- reinforced London's commercial axis with Antwerp (exported all over Europe)
• Why did Merchant Adventures not achieve dominance in cloth trade

  • proved unable to overcome treading privileges enjoyed by Hanseatic League- which had been reasserted with treaties in 1474 and 1504
  • Henry agreed to treaties to ensure Hanseatic league would not offer support to Yorkist claimant Earl of Suffolk
• Explain other industries

  • Tin mined in Cornwall, Lead mined in Pennines, Coal mined in Northumberland and Durham
  • Little coal was exported, 1509- 20% of Newcastles exports was in coal, most to London- small export trade to Germany and Netherlands
• Explain trade during henrys reign

  • had little consistency-henry interested in maximising custom revenues, clear that he was prepared to sacrifice revenue and trade to protect dynasty
  • ban on trade with Netherlands 1493- result of fear and insecurity from Margaret of Burgundy supporting Perkin Warbeck
  • Merchants had to direct their trade through Calais- invited retaliation from Netherlands- ended with Treaty of Intercursus Magnus 1496- free trade with Burgundy (except Flanders)
  • 1506 Intercursus Malus- allowed English cloth to be exported without duty, but seen too lenient and reversed 1507 (made as a result of panic in 1503 that Earl of Suffolk being taken seriously in Burgundy)
• What issues came from Trade

  • several treaties had been concluded - but were minor importance and showed Henry rated foreign policy and dynastic interests as greater priorities then interests of English merchants
  • Hanseatic League was successful in limiting development of English trading interstices in Baltic
  • Navigation Act 1485 and 1489 passed to encourage English ships should carry certain products to and from English ports- limited usefulness as foreign vessels continued to transport a substantial proportion of English exports
• Explain early English exportation

  • Spanish and Portuguese explorers opened up much of the world + Portuguese had benefited from domination of spice trade- English sailors slower to engage in activities
  • John Cabot- Italian sailor, arrived in England 1495 to seek support of Henry for a voyage across the Atlantic- believed he could shorten the distance to far east- king offered £50 in first instance but would give more if voyage proved successful- after disastrous first journey he finally reached land 1497- but died on return journey
  • Sebastian Cabot- received sponsorship from the kind and led an un-successful attempt find the 'north west passage' to Asia- but with accession of Henry VIII didn't help as he had little appetite for supporting the enterprise
• Explain Prosperity and depression during Henrys VII reign

  • Peace at home brought greater stability, population growing, trade in particular cloth trade stimulating the economy- prices remained fairly steady
  • Peasants and urban workers probably better off then any other time during Tudor period
  • decline in export price of wool and in price of grain and animal products 1490s- implies reduction in farming profitability but also a rise in incomes for domestic consumers