Elizabeth Rebellions

• Northern Rebellion in 1569 and the Oxfordshire Uprising in 1596.
• • The uprising in Oxfordshire was largely motivated by socioeconomic grievances. These included:
  • Enclosure.
  • Poor harvests.
  • Disease.
  • Falling wages.
• • A planned uprising against enclosures aimed to seize the home of the county’s Lord Lieutenant. They would seize weapons and march on London.
• in the oxfordshire rising, only the four leaders turned up.
• • There was a strong reaction by the government. The four men were tortured before being executed for treason.
• • The Oxfordshire Uprising is an indication of the seriousness of the circumstances being faced by so many of the population in the mid-1590s.
• • The Northern Rebellion had political causes. But there were also socioeconomic elements which led ordinary commoners to join the rebellion.
• • The Northern Rebellion had political causes. But there were also socioeconomic elements which led ordinary commoners to join the rebellion.
• • Feudal loyalties led commoners to follow the Earls of Northumberland and Westmorland. This means that the relationship between landlord and tenant was a reason to join a rebellion.
• • Over the course of Elizabeth I's reign, the English population increased from three million to four million.
• • More people meant there was greater demand for food, causing food prices to rise.
• • More people led to increased competition for land, causing rent to increase.
• • More people also meant more people could work, causing wages to fall.
• • Despite the changes that England experienced, the social structure remained intact.