English society at the end of the 15th century Flashcards
(40 cards)
What was the structure of society like?
Still partly feudal:
King, senior churchmen and nobility (land owners), gentry, yeomen and citizens, labourers, vagrants and beggars.
What was the difference between the nobility and the gentry?
Nobility- owned land - part of government
Gentry- gentleman who lived in large houses in the country and provided armies for war
Who were yeomen citizens and labourers?
Yeomen- farmers, owned land or rented land in the country.
Citizens - Rich merchants and craftsmen in towns.
Labourers - worked for citizens or yeomen or shopkeepers
Why were the nobility important in politics and power?
They dominated land ownership
Nobility/ peerage Comprised of around 50-60 people who were entitled to sit at house of lords
Henry relied on such families for the maintenance of order
Why was Henry reluctant to replace dying out nobles?
They were usually replaced by others who had acquired the kings favour.
Henry distrusted the nobility as a class so was reluctant to create new peers.
Who, specifically, did Henry trust and who did he never really trust?
Lancastrian military commanders such as Earl of Oxford and Lord Daubeney.
Never really trusted Earl of Northumberland despite him betraying Richard in BoB swaying it in H’s favour
Which two basic ways did Henry control the nobility?
Punishments- e.g. political/ financial.
Rewards
When did Henry pass retaining laws?
What did it stop wealthy magnates from doing?
1487 - the law restricted wealthy magnates recruiting knights and gentlemen known as ‘retainers’ to serve them as administrators or for military purposes.
In what 4 ways did Henry control the nobility with punishments?
Through bonds and recognisances, acts of attainder, feudal dues, retaining
In a law in 1487 he attempted to limit their power - the law restricted the practice that wealthy magnates recruited knights and gentlemen known as ‘retainers’ to serve them as administrators or for military purposes
What was the hierarchy of the church like?
The papacy The church at the top - owned land The secular clergy Cardinals Archbishops Bishops/Abbots.
How much of the population did the gentry and nobility combined make up?
1%
How many commoners were there?
Little more than 2 million
What was the social ladder like for the commoners in towns and cities?
The Middling sort (Bourgeoisie), Educated and professionals (most numerous/influential group = lawyers, often collaborated with wealthy merchants) and merchants, then shopkeepers and skilled tradesmen (tended to dominate town councils/ borough corporations and played a key role in organisations such as guilds and lay fraternities which were common feature of rural life in pre-Reformation England) , then unskilled urban workers and beggars/prostitutes
What was the social ladder like for the commoners in the countryside?
Yeomen farmers, then husbandmen/richer peasantry (bought or rented their own farms) then labouring peasants (relied on selling their labour or supplementing irregular income through planting of vegetables, grazing rights etc) and beggars.
What did some of the regional, social variation/divisions arise from?
Demographic differences- sparsely populated north/west of imaginary line from Tees estuary to Weymouth = 1/4 of population while 3/4 = more densely populated south/east of line.
Difference in agriculture either side of the line.
Government structures - separate councils for north of England, wales and Ireland - justice increasingly administered at county level but magnate influence often cut across county borders.
Linguistic and cultural differences - particularly in Wales, Cornwall and Ireland
Was there high levels of discontent in late 15th century?
No - probably because living conditions of the poor were improving - only two rebellions (lack of discontent compared to later in Tudor period) and seems to have avoided subsidence crisis which affected other countries
What/when were the two rebellions and what triggered them both?
Yorkshire rebellion- 1489
Cornish rebellion- 1497
Both sparked by taxation
What happened during the Yorkshire rebellion?
Sparked by resentment of the taxation granted by parliament in 1489 in order to finance an army for the Brittany campaign
The earl of Northumberland was murdered by his tenants/ the rebels when his retainers deserted him (in April in the North Riding of Yorkshire
Why did Northumberland’s retainers desert him during the Yorkshire rebellion?
Punishing him because he had deserted Richard III at Bosworth
He was ultimately a victim of resentment against taxation
What happened in the Cornish rebellion?
Arose from a tax needed to finance a campaign against Scotland - Cornish people saw this war as irrelevant to them
The people blamed the king and ministers such as Morton and Bray
Why did the Cornish rebellion pose a greater threat than the Yorkshire one?
Larger numbers were involved (estimated 15,000).
Perkin Warbeck attempted to exploit the rebellion.
A march on London reached Blackheath raising question on Henry’s ability to retain countryside order (they had marched so far with no real attempt to stop them).
What were the effects of the Cornish rebellion?
In the short term it forced Henry to remove Lord Daubeney and his troops from the Scottish border to crush the rebellion.
The rebellions were easily crushed and the three leaders e.g. Lord Audley, were executed (most rebels leniently treated).
Made Henry ensure Anglo-Scottish tensions were eased and made him cautious about entering further foreign conflicts.
About 1,000 of the rebels were killed at the so-called Battle of Blackheath. Some were taken prisoner but many of the rebels simply fled.
What did both the rebellions involve that made them a threat?
The involvement of the nobles made it a greater threat because of their level of power and the fact they were meant to support the King
What changed in terms of society?
A growth of a professional and bourgeoisie who had become increasingly important in London and the major provincial cities such as Norwich and Bristol.
Economic pressure (especially since the black death) had increased social mobility and alarm amongst more conservative minded members of the upper classes whose sumptuary laws proved unenforceable.
