English society at end of 15th century

• In some ways society was still structured in a feudal arrangement with the monarch at the top, the great noble landowners and senior churchmen, followed by the 'gentry' below the monarch, and the labouring classes of peasants and craftsmen at the base. However there was some social mobility developing.
• Nobility

  • Dominated landownership
  • Comprised around 50-60 nobs who were entitled to sit in the House of Lords. As noble families died they were replaced with others who had acquired the Kings favour, however Henry VII was reluctant to create new peers.
  • Henry controlled nobility through bonds and recognisances. He also sought in a law of 1487, to limit their power. This restricted the practice by which wealthy magnates recruited knights ad gentlemen known as 'retainers' to serve them as administrators for military purposes.
• Churchmen

  • Church= owned land
  • Archbishops= senior churchmen, very powerful and part of government
  • Bishops and Abbots of large monastic houses= Important, bishops were regional leaders of the church some held government office
  • Parish priests and curates
• Churchmen

  • the church was important fir its spiritual role and as a great landowner.
  • England was a catholic country and churchmen had a dual allegiance- to the pope and the king.
  • Pope elected by cardinals, who became archbishops, in England there were 2 archbishops; Canterbury and York.
  • Archbishops ,bishops and abbots of large monastic houses were very important that they were in the House of Lords and sometimes undertook political roles and sometimes the king intervened in their appointments.
• churchmen

  • Henry ensured that he had men of administrative ability as archbishops and bishop and preferred men with legal training e.g. Morton and fox.
  • At the parish level curates and priests dealt with the spiritual needs of ordinary people, living modestly. However the church influence was all pervasive and the church even had its own courts. All clergy were tried in these as were those convicted of 'religious crimes' such as adultery.
• Gentry

  • Around 500 knights, 800 esquires and 5000 gentlemen in 1500
  • The greater gentry- often great landowners in their own right, some sought knighthood to confirm their social status
  • Esquires and 'mete gentry'- Far more numerous and had far less social prestige than the greater gentry. They were landowners too and both groups might be office holders.
  • The nobility and gentry combined made up around 1% of the population at the time.
• Commoners

  • Beneath nobility and gentry, little more than 2 million commoners
  • Towns and cities= at the top was educated professionals and merchants, followed by shopkeepers and skilled tradesmen and lastly the unskilled urban workers, apprentices, beggars, prostitutes and 'drop outs'
  • Countryside= at the top was yeomen farmers, followed by husbandmen/ richer peasantry who had brought or rented their own farms and lastly was labouring peasants without land, vagrants and beggars.
• Regional divisions

  • Demographic differences= sparsely populated rural areas to the north west of an imaginary line from the Tees estuary to Weymouth contained a quarter of the population while 3/4 lived in more densely populated counties to the south east of the line.
  • Differences in agriculture between the 2 areas either side of the line
  • Social attitudes, Londoners might see northerners as less refined and northerners may envy southerners wealth.
• Regional divisions

  • Government structures= separate councils for the north of England, Wales and Ireland and the welsh marches, nobles also had a considerable influence across other boundaries some areas, such as the county palatines if Chester and durham enjoyed considerable independence.
  • Church influence= varied by area and equally cut across other boundaries
  • Linguistic and cultural differences within kingdom particularly in Wales, Cornwall and Ireland
  • Age of limited travel, so regional loyalties were strong and officials appointed by or sent form London could be resented as 'outsiders'.
• Social discontent and rebellions

  In the late 1400s there wads relatively little explicit sign of discontent probably as living conditions for the poor were improving. However in 1489 and 1497 there were 2 rebellions triggered by taxation.
• Social discontent and rebellions

  The Yorkshire rebellion 1489

  • Sparked by resentment of taxation granted by parliament in 1489 in order to finance an army for the Brittany campaign.
  • Earl of Northumberland murdered by tenants when is retainers deserted him.
• Social discontent and rebellions

  The Cornish Rebellion 1497

  • Rose from need to finance campaign against Scotland
  • A mob protested the taxation blaming the king and ministers such as Morton and Bray. More serious than Yorkshire rebellion because:
  • Large no. involved- 15,000 according to some estimates.
  • Warbeck attempted to exploit the rebellion.
  • March on London reach blackheath, raising questions of the effectiveness of henrys system of maintaining order in the countryside.
• Social discontent and rebellions

  The Cornish rebellion 1497- impacts

  • ST= Revolt forced Henry to withdraw Lord Daubeney and his troops from Scottish border to crush rebellion. Leaders executed
  • LT= Made Henry ensure anglo-scottish tensions eased and made him cautious about entering foreign conflicts
• Bastard feudalism

  • implied reciprocal relationship between magnate and his retainers
  • in return for service, a retainer was rewarded with things such as local office or grants of land
  • Acts passed in 1487 and 1504 to take action against nobles who abused the system
  • 1486 - oath against illegal retainment or being retained illegally
  • 1487 - law against retaining
  • 1501 - law reinforced by act passed in 1504 where licences for retaining were sought
• How significant a threat was Perkin warbeck to Henry ?

  • minor but still significant enough
  • all potential uprisings were crushed
  • however he did have an accomplice in the household so could have added instability to the throne
  • Henry was to lenient which caused warbeck and Warwick to abscond
  • support from foreign rulers
  • common people believed that warbeck was really Richard duke of York
• why didn't Lambert simnel get more support?

  • henrys forces were 12,000 against 8,000
  • majority of people wanted peace rather than disruption
  • Henry passed the star chamber act which meant judges could enforce law easily
  • lords and gentry cautious after the failure of the Lovell rebellion
  • rebels moved at such a pace that recruitment was difficult