Agrarian discontent: Kett's Rebellion

Question 1

Who was Kett’s rebellion against?

Answer 1

The power and influence of the landed elite

Question 2

What was enclosure blamed for?

Answer 2

Growth in poverty and vagrancy

Question 3

What did many leave behind for sheep farming?

Answer 3

Arable farming

Question 4

Why did many turn to sheep farming? (2)

Answer 4

• Cloth trade brought high revenue
• Under pressure from rising prices, which meant that they needed to increase their income

Question 5

How many sheep did Sir William Fermour of Norfolk own?

Answer 5

17,000

Question 6

Reasons for enclosures: (2)

Answer 6

• Profit - Sheep farming due to the great demand for wool
• A response to Depopulation Where tenants had left or died and had not been replaced

Question 7

Why was the common land important to those who did not own land? (2)

Answer 7

• Common grazing provided manure for the village crops; without this it became harder to grow enough food to survive
• Graze animals for subsistence farming

Question 8

Why were copyhold tenants vulnerable to being forced out of their homes and into poverty?

Answer 8

Their leases were open to challenge so easily forced off their land

Question 9

How did the landless suffer from enclosure

Answer 9

They were reliant on the common land for survival

Question 10

1553 Sheep and Farms Act:

Answer 10

• Tried to restrict the number of sheep kept per farmer to 2400
• Engrossing was allowed, but only to a maximum of two farms

Question 11

What was introduced from March to November 1549? And why? (2)

Answer 11

A tax on sheep was introduced in an attempt
- To restrict the size of flocks
- Discourage landlords from turning to sheep farming

Question 12

What did Protector Somerset introduce, inspired by the thinking of commonwealth-men?

Answer 12

Introduce commissions of enquiry into illegal enclosures

Question 13

What was the population of England in 1525 and 1551

Answer 13

• 1525 - 2.3 million
• 1551 - 3 million

Question 14

Why were the poorest in society badly affected by the rise in population and greater demand for food? (4)

Answer 14

• Greater demand for food led to rapid food price rises
• Led to pressure on land to grow more crops
• Which led to pressure on the amount of land in each village available for tillage
• Price rises led landlords to turn to enclosure, which made the lives of the rural poor even harder

Question 15

Why did the growing population cause unemployment?

Answer 15

More competition for jobs

Question 16

What kind of help was available for the poor?

Answer 16

Charity, or limited poor relief from the government

Question 17

1547 Vagrancy Act:

Answer 17

First offence - Vagrant branded with a ‘v’ and forced to work as a slave for 2 years for the person who’d informed against them

Question 18

What happened in 1545 and 1549 which exacerbated the problem of food shortages, rising prices and growing bagrancy?

Answer 18

Poor harvests

Question 19

Why did enclosure increase unemployment?

Answer 19

Sheep farming required less labour than arable farming

Question 20

What is debasement?

Answer 20

Gold and silver in the coinage was melted down and mixed with less expensive metals, used to make an increased number of coins

Question 21

How did debasement cause price to rise further in the later 1540s?

Answer 21

Reduced confidence in the currency, led to merchants putting up their prices, which added to the problem of inflation

Question 22

Why was debasement used?

Answer 22

To meet the costs of war with France and Scotland in the 1540s

Question 23

Why was the Duke of Somerset attracted to the idea of creating a Christian commonwealth?

Answer 23

He was a committed Protestant

Question 24

What did Somerset appoint John Hales to do?

Answer 24

Hales was appointed to oversee government reform of social and economic problems

Question 25

Why did Hales' first series of bills, encouraging social and economic reform, all fail to pass?

Answer 25

Parliament tended to represent the interests of the landed elites, who profited most from enclosure and sheep farming

Question 26

What did Hales manage to successfully introduce in 1549?

Answer 26

A tax on sheep

Question 27

What was Hales' and Somerset's commissions set up to do?

Answer 27

To inquire into illegal enclosures and report evidence back to the government

Question 28

What did the commissions not have the power to do? (2)

Answer 28

- Order illegal enclosures to be taken down - Punish those found to be in breach of the law

Question 29

What did the one commission, that actually went ahead, find in the Midlands?

Answer 29

Little evidence of illegal enclosures

Question 30

What did Hales claim about the commission findings?

Answer 30

The local landlords had been obstructive, by refusing to co-operate with his commissioners

Question 31

What direct action did Somerset and Hales take after the failure of the 1548 commissions?

Answer 31

They took direct action against illegal enclosures by ordering the ploughing up of illegally enclosed land

Question 32

Which two high-profile men had their land affected as a result of Hales' actions?

Answer 32

- Thomas Howard, Duke of Norfolk - John Dudley, Earl of Warwick

Question 33

What did Somerset tell commissioners to do this second time around and why was this illegal?

Answer 33

Commissioners were told illegal enclosures should be destroyed

Question 34

What unintended consequences did the second Commission by Somerset have? (2)

Answer 34

- Somerset alienated the landed gentry and nobility - The commons of England thought that Somerset was on their side

Question 35

Why was it a mistake for Somerset to alienate the landed gentry and nobility? (2)

Answer 35

- The landed gentry were the first line of defence against the rebellion - Somerset relied on this group for support in the government of the country

Question 36

Why were these actions by the 'Good Duke' dangerous for England?

Answer 36

The commons of England thought that Somerset was on their side

Question 37

Where and when did riots against illegal enclosure of common land break out?

Answer 37

Essex and moved to East Anglia

Question 38

In July 1549, where and why were local nobility and gentry summoned?

Answer 38

Windsor Castle to discuss the serious rebellion in the West country

Question 39

What were the causes of the Western Rising?

Answer 39

Resentment over the new English Book of Common Prayer

Question 40

Reasons why Somerset found it difficult to put down the Western Rising: (2)

Answer 40

- Government forces were already overstretched, dealing with enclosure riots across the Midlands and the South East - Poor communication and a reluctance by Somerset to take the rising seriously

Question 41

Which town did the Rebels in the Western Rising beseige?

Answer 41

The county town of Exeter

Question 42

In which battle were the rebels finally defeated?

Answer 42

The Battle of Sampford Courtenay

Question 43

When was the Battle of Sampford Courtenay?

Answer 43

16th August 1549

Question 44

How many rebels were killed on the Battle of Sampford Courtenay?

Answer 44

4,000

Question 45

Where did Kett's rebellion begin?

Answer 45

Wymondham in Norfolk

Question 46

Which landowner had his enclosed land destroyed by rebels and why?

Answer 46

- Sir John Flowerdew - In dispute with the people of Wymondham over the fate of the local abbey. Flowerdew had started to demolish part of the abbey, even though the townspeople had purchased it

Question 47

How did Sir John Flowerdew try to turn rioters against Kett?

Answer 47

Kett also followed the practice of Enclosing land

Question 48

How was Kett similar to Robert Aske?

Answer 48

He was able to turn discontent from the commons into an organised and serious uprising against the government

Question 49

What ideology was Kett?

Answer 49

Idealist

Question 50

Where did Kett set up his rebel camp?

Answer 50

Mousehold Heath, a hill that overlooks Norwich

Question 51

When was the camp established by Kett?

Answer 51

July 12th 1549

Question 52

Why was Norwich an ideal place for Kett and the rebels? (2)

Answer 52

- Second largest city in England with a sharp divide by rich and poor - It was an important administrative town so a good way to guarantee the government's attention

Question 53

What percent of the population owned what percentage of the population?

Answer 53

6% of the population owned 60% of the land and goods

Question 54

What did Kett's arrival encourage some of the inhabitants of Norwich to do?

Answer 54

It encouraged some inhabitants of Norwich to throw down enclosures on the outskirts of the city

Question 55

Where, in East Anglia, were two other rebel camps set up?

Answer 55

- Downham Market (Norfolk) - Bury St Edmunds (Suffolk)

Question 56

Why did Kett's rebels not seek to persuade the gentry to join them?

Answer 56

The landowning elites were the group they were going against and would have contradicted their stated aims

Question 57

How many rebels were in Kett's camp?

Answer 57

16,000

Question 58

What did the rebels do to show they could administer local government peacefully and effectively, without the local gentry?

Answer 58

Government writs and commissions to issue orders for supplies of food and drink were used

Question 59

What did the rebels do to show they could administer Law & Order peacefully and effectively, without the local gentry?

Answer 59

Members of the gentry who were captured were put on trial before Kett under a tree, which the rebels called the Oak of reformation

Question 60

What was the royal army forced to do?

Answer 60

Raise a second army under John Dudley, Earl of Warwick

Question 61

For how long did Norwich remain in rebel hands?

Answer 61

3 weeks

Question 62

Whom did Somerset send in to lead the second royal army against the rebels?

Answer 62

John Dudley, Earl of Warwick

Question 63

How many men were in the second army?

Answer 63

12,000

Question 64

What tactics did the rebels use to continue their resistance?

Answer 64

Guerrilla warfare of arson and ambush

Question 65

Whose arrival proved the turning point in the rebellion? And when?

Answer 65

1000 mercenaries on 26 August

Question 66

How many mercenaries arrived on the 26th of August?

Answer 66

1000

Question 67

How many rebels were killed?

Answer 67

3000

Question 68

What happened to Kett?

Answer 68

He was captured and executed for treason in December 1549

Question 69

What happened to the 9 rebels at the Oak of Reformation in a symbolic act of revenge?

Answer 69

They were hung, drawn and quartered from the tree

Question 70

How were these men's bodies used as a deterrent to other locals?

Answer 70

Their heads were displayed on the city walls of Norwich, and their bodies sent to local communities involved in the rebellion

Question 70

How did the Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer, help to discourage further rebellions?

Answer 70

He preached against rebellion and the ideas encouraged by those who believed in the Godly commonwealth