Economy

• trade- wool and cloth

  • woolen industry grew, operating largely on domestic scale with children carding, women spinning and men weaving
  • then passed to specialist treatment like fulling and dyeing in industries: the west riding of yorkshire, east anglia and the west country. the work wasnt secure and lead to poverty
  • there was an increase in cheaper fabric like kersey (coarse cloth, lighter than traditional broadcloth)
  • the volume of trade increased during the first half of 16th century, cloth exports doubling over the reign
  • 70% of cloth exports were transported by english merchants
• trade- other


  • some growth in mining, cornish tin remained a prize export, lead in high pennines, coal in the northeast was growing. blast funaces produced increasing iron ore in the west of sussex and kent but the big upsurge in iron ore would come later
  • export of hides and tin increased as well as the import of wine suggesting spending power increased in the prosperous
  • the main export route remained from london to antwerp where it was sent to central europeans and the boltic. london grew so other ports like briston hull and boston declined.
• exploration


  • 8 was uninterested in exploration, making no attempt to build on acheivments like cabot's and bristol merchants under 7.
  • although, robert thorn, a bristol trader, continued involvements with iceland and newfoundland fishing
  • others showed interest in further exploration but were unable to garner royal support
• prosperity


  • john guy argued england was economically healthier under the tudors than any time since the roman occupation
  • theres some truth to that- the population began to grow significantly allowing for a decline in mortality rate
  • from the 1530s agricultural prices rose, leading to an increase in farming income, aided by engrossing (amalgamation of farms for efficiency)
  • debasement of the coinage created a short term artificial boom in 1544 at the cost of long term living standards
• and depression


  • bad harevsts/ dearth in 1520s led to temporary increase in food prices, which almost doubled over the entire reign
  • real wages began to decline, especially at the end of the reign as the effects of debasement became apparent
  • urban poverty- half the population of coventry had no personal wealth
  • growing unemployment amongst rural labourers, wavers and miners moved to the cities resulting in over 5000 migrants a year in london
  • engrossing made some homeless although its extent and effects are difficult to determine
• impact of enclosure


  • fencing off land from open fields, ending common rights over it, had existed under 7 but had relatively little impact. it was perceived as a moral problem as it led to homelessness
  • legislation was passed in 1489 and 1515 but there was no real grasp of its extent.
  • it social effects were highlighted by more in his Utopia published in 1516. to which, wolsey responded with his commission in 1517 to ascertain the scale and his legal battle against illegal enclosure.
  • more legislation passed in 1534 to limit sheep ownership and engrossing but had limited results
• population


  • the main underlying cause of economic distress, put strain on food supply with farmers struggling to meet rising demand
  • worsened by wages stagnating with the plentiful supply of cheap labourers, wealthy farm and landowners benefited from this, agricultural profit rising
  • a growing class of substantial farmers began
  • society became more polarised, rich richer and poor poorer, the rich assumed the poor were idle and this led to much sterner measures against vagrancy and begging in the long term. (uh oh classism)