Famine and disease

Question 1

How many harvests failed and what happened?

Answer 1

1 in 4

Mortality rates increased and socioeconomic problems occurred

Question 2

What years were harvests poor?

Answer 2

1519-21

1527-29

1544-45

1549-51

Question 3

How long did famines last and what would happen after?

Answer 3

Two years

Fall in grain prices and food came within the budget of most people’s pockets

Question 4

What wasn’t responsible for rebellions and what demonstrates this?

Answer 4

Poor harvests, death, and famine

Good harvests occurred on the eve of rebellions in 1536 and 1546-48

Question 5

When did the worst harvests take place, what did it coincide with, and what was the result?

Answer 5

1555 and 1556

An influenza epidemic that killed 6% of the population

There were no uprisings

Question 6

What did William Cecil comment?

Answer 6

‘nothing will sooner lead men into sedition than dearth of victual’

Question 7

What happened between 1485 and 1528 and what was virulent?

Answer 7

There were four major outbreaks of the plague

The English ‘sweat’

Question 8

What was the situation with upland areas?

Answer 8

There was marginal land and often grain shortages

Rarely affected by plague or disease

Question 9

What was the situation in towns and cities?

Answer 9

Denser, so prone to spreading contagious diseases

Food supplies were good due to the proximity to ports and areas of mixed farming

Question 10

What happened in times of widespread famine?

Answer 10

Starving people made poor rebels and farmers tended to stay at home

Question 11

What did the gentry and landowners stand to gain from and what was the impact?

Answer 11

High prices at times of bad harvests

Likelihood of rebellions occurring was slim

Question 12

When and where did food riots occur during Elizabeth I’s reign?

Answer 12

Gloucestershire, Wiltshire, and Somerset in 1586

Kent and Essex in 1595

Sussex, Norfolk, and Kent in 1596