Henry VIII's Economic developments

• What was the volume of trade in the first half of the 1500s?

  Increased
• How did different industries do with exportation?

  Rise in cloth, hides and tin (which was counterbalance by wine imports).

  Decline in raw wool.
• What was the leading route for exports?

  London to Antwerp
• What was the impact of increased cloth exportation through London?

  Negative impact on other ports e.g Hull and Bristol. Though Southampton enjoyed a ST boom.
• What was the biggest change in the cloth industry?

  Increase in cheaper fabrics such as kersey.
• How beneficial was the Cloth industry to English trade?

  70% of cloth exports were transported by England from 1550s. But profits didn't always reach English pockets.
• What impact did the Cloth industry have on the Woollen?

  Had to grow to keep pace with increasing demands for cloth.
• What was the relationship between the Cloth and Woolen industry?

  The cloth industry depended on the effectiveness of the woolen to supply markets
• How did the Cloth industry operate?

  Domestically before being passed on to specialist small-scale industries.
• Which areas saw the greatest growth in their Cloth industry?

  West Riding of Yorkshire, East Anglia and parts of the West Country
• What was a limitation of the cloth industry?

  The work wasn't always secure and this could lead to poverty.
• What was a strength of the cloth industry?

  There were serious profits to be made especially by rich and entrepreneurial clothiers who could acquire wealth and an increased social status
• What other industry saw some growth?

  Mining industries such as Cornish tin, Lead mining and Coal mining (supplying the increasingly important London market by sea)
• What was Henry VIII's attitude towards exploration?

  Uninterested and made no attempts to develop early achievements of Cabot.
• Who was the exception to Henry's lack of interest in exploration?

  Robert Thorne, a Bristol trader continued his involvement in Iceland and Newfoundland fishery.
• What were the signs of prosperity in England?

  Increase in population from 1525

  From 1520s increased agricultural prices through engrossing

  Debasement of the coinage create a ST boom 1544-1546
• What were the signs of Depression in England?

  Bad harvests led to increased food prices

  Gradual decline of Real wages

  Subsidies created urban poverty

  Growing rural unemployment

  Some homelessness due to engrossing
• What did the enclosure of common fields create?

  Moral problems that led to the poor being forced to leave their homes.
• When were there attempts of stifling enclosure?

  1489 and 1515
• What was Wolsey's response to More's Utopia of 1516 which outlined the social impacts of enclosure?


  Launched an enclosure commission to find out the scale of the problem
• When was the most damage of enclosure caused?

  Conversion of land from tillage to pasture which was before 1485
• When was there legislation to stifle engrossing and limit sheep ownership?

  1534
• Why was the increased population a problem?

  Caused economic distress, put a strain on the food supply which was exacerbated by stagnating wages meaning cheaper labour.
• Who benefitted from the increased population?

  Wealthy farmers and landowners.
• Why was the increasing population causing class distress?

  Agrarian incomes increased with food prices nurturing the class of substantial farmers which increased social polarity. Poor became poorer and rich became richer.