Tudors Chapter 5 - Kett's Rebellion

Question 1

Which Norfolk farmer had large enterprise in sheep farming?

Answer 1

Sir William Fermour of Norfolk - 17,000 sheep

Question 2

What was enclosure?

Answer 2

Landlords took over areas of common land, enclosing it in order to charge tenants and make profits.

Question 3

What was engrossing?

Answer 3

The practice of joining two or more farms together, forcing former occupants to move elsewhere.

Question 4

Which thinkers led to govt. action against enclosure?

Answer 4

Thomas More and John Hales - they blamed enclosure for many social problems of the era.

Question 4

What was rack-renting?

Answer 4

The practice of landlords rapidly increasing rent prices so they can evict tenants who couldn’t pay.

Question 5

Why were copyhold tenants and the landless so affected by enclosure?

Answer 5

Copyhold tenants held land by tradition or custom; held no legal claim.
The landless survived off the common land; this was taken away from them by enclosure.

Question 6

When did Thomas Wolsey issue an inquiry into illegal enclosure?

Answer 6

1517

Question 7

When was the Sheep and Farms Act; what did it do?

Answer 7

1533 - tried to restrict number of sheep per farmer to 2,400.

Question 8

What was foldcourse?

Answer 8

Landlords would take over their tenants’ land - this was greater issue than enclosure in some parts of East Anglia.

Question 8

Where was arable farming at a premium; what did this do for attitudes surrounding enclosure?

Answer 8

Central Suffolk and N/E Norfolk - more wooded region - enclosure therefore a nuisance.

Question 8

When was the Sheep Tax; what did it do?

Answer 8

March-November 1549 - attempted to restrict size of flocks and discourage sheep farming

Question 9

What did the ‘commonweath-men’ want?

Answer 9

Wanted social reform for the good of the Commonwealth - not total social equality however.

Question 10

How do RH Tawney and Geoffrey Elton disagree about the Commonwealth-men?

Answer 10

Tawney feels they were coherent group with set ideas that influenced Somerset.
Elton feels they were a largely disparate group who disagreed with each other.

Question 10

What did the commonwealth-men blame for growing poverty?

Answer 10

Increasing enclosure

Question 11

What was the real cause of socioeconomic hardships during Mid-Tudor era and why?

Answer 11

Population growth
1525-51, 2.3m to 3m (rapid)
Higher food demands, higher prices, higher unemployment; inflation.

Question 12

Why did the 1547 Vagrancy Act cause further resentments among the poor?

Answer 12

It showed that the govt. was only able to punish.
Only dealt with poverty once it became a threat to the regime.

Question 13

What happened during 1545-49 that made food shortages worse?

Answer 13

Poor harvests; booming cloth market marked a shift to sheep farming over arable.

Question 14

How did debasement further economic issues?

Answer 14

Led to inflation as the coinage lost its value.