Chapter 22 - Economic development in Elizabethan England

Question 1

what 4 point can be made about trade with relative certainty?

Answer 1

1. the value of internal trade considerably exceeded that of foreign trade
2. a wider range of foreign luxury goods came to be imported during elizabeth’s reign
3. the cloth trade with the netherlands, while remaining important, declined relatively as part of the economy.
4. though attempts to establish new overseas markets did take place, for example in russia, these remained economically marginal

Question 2

what was the single biggest development in internal trade?

Answer 2

the growth in the shipping of coal from the tyne to the thames to meet the growing demands of the london market, though some coal was exported across the north sea, including a rapidly developing trade with france.

Question 3

what does a wide range of luxury goods being imported suggest?

Answer 3

that such goods were becoming affordable for a wider range of the population.

Question 4

why did the cloth trade with the netherlands decline relatively as part of the economy?

Answer 4

• the antwerp cloth market had declined from the early 1550s.
• sir william cecil was anxious for political reasons to end the dependance on a single market
• an alternative trade was established, based on the north german port of emden, but the major was to amsterdam, whose commercial growth came at the expense of antwerp which remained under spanish control.

Question 5

what was the main centre of african trade?

Answer 5

Guinea

Question 6

what became used as the starting point for John Hawkins’ move into the americas?

Answer 6

guinea, in the process he invented the english slave trade

Question 7

how many expeditions did hawkins make?

Answer 7

3 from 1562, acquiring slaves in Africa that he then transported and sold in south america

Question 8

how did Hawkins’ first 2 expeditions go?

Answer 8

• they proved to be financially successful, although he succeeded in irritating the spanish authorities.
• by the time of the 2nd expedition in 1564, Hawkins had secured investment from prominent courtiers including the earl of leicester, as well as support from the queen who supplied ships - for a price.

Question 9

what happened on hawkins’ third expedition?

Answer 9

he achieved royal support once more, but his fleet was bockaded in the mexican port of San Juan de Ulua, although some gold got back to england

Question 10

what did hawkins’ activities do?

Answer 10

antagonised the already strained relations between england and spain

Question 11

what does the fact that the queen was prepared to be involved with hawkins’ activities suggest?

Answer 11

that she was willing, in return for profit, to run the risk of antagonising philip II

Question 12

what were the main changes in english trading patterns in the 1580s?

Answer 12

• the main markets for english wool moved from the southern to the northern netherlands
• there was an increase in trade with the ottoman empire

Question 13

what trading companies were set up?

Answer 13

• the Muscovy company had been incorporated in 1555 to trade with russia and northern europe, though it failed in the long term to compete effectively with the dutch
• the eastland company was set up in 1579 to trade in the baltic but had a similarly limited effect
• the levant company, founded in 1581 as the turkish company, enjoyed success in its attempts to develop trade with the ottoman empire
• the east india company was set up in 1600 to trade with asia, but it had less investment compared with the dutch east india company, and therefore found it very difficult to compete in the short term.

Question 14

what assumed greater significance in light of later developments?

Answer 14

the extension of trade to the mainland of north america and the attempt to form a colony in virginia

Question 15

who did the suggestion that england should start colonising north america originate with?

Answer 15

the entrepeneur and explorer humphrey gilbert

Question 16

who encouraged the process of colonisation in North America?

Answer 16

Richard Hakluyt in a Discourse of Western Planting, published in 1584.
- Hakluyt, a clergyman and geographer, was closely linked to gilbert’s half-brother, Walter Raleigh, and, through raleigh, presented the discourse to the queen.

Question 17

which prominent investor did raleigh gain support from?

Answer 17

Francis Walsingham

Question 18

when did raleigh receive a patent from the queen to colonise what would become known as virginia?

Answer 18

1585

Question 19

where did the first two expeditions make land on?

Answer 19

Roanoke island

Question 20

what happened with the colonies in roanoke?

Answer 20

• many died, the colonies failed
• the attempts proved to be disastrous, from a combination of poor organisation, ill luck and reluctance by the queen to give the matter priority when she was faced by war with spain
• permanent english colonisation of virginia had to wait until the reign of james I

Question 21

why did landowers benefit from the economic trends present in elizabethan england?

Answer 21

• landed incomes rose
• many landowners acquired a range of material possessions which would have been unknown to their grandparents generation
• as well as benefitting from increased income from land, in many cases many large landowners had been able to profit from the generosity of henry VIII and edward when disposing for a quick profit often at knock-down prices much of the land which they had acquired through the dissolution of church property.

Question 22

what is clear about building in elizabeth’s reign?

Answer 22

a building boom of unprecedented scale took place in Elizabeth’s reign

Question 23

what were farmers able to benefit from?

Answer 23

the rise in agricultural prices

Question 24

what is the overall trend with agricultural production?

Answer 24

there does seem to have been overall an increase in all aspects of agricultural production, though bad harvests provided interruptions to this trend

Question 25

what was urban decay particulary associated with?

Answer 25

corporate boroughs that had been heavily dependent on the cloth industry, as this had migrated to more rural areas

Question 26

what are two examples of towns declining during elizabeth's reign?

Answer 26

Stamford and winchester

Question 27

what two old-established towns, despite some declining, continued to improve?

Answer 27

York and Norwich

Question 28

what relatively new urban settlements developed?

Answer 28

Manchester and plymouth

Question 29

what did towns that did well tend to have?

Answer 29

they tended to either have a broad range of manufacturing industry or were unincorporated towns in which industry was able to develop without hindrance from regulation

Question 30

what was an issue with regard to towns that was difficult to resolve?

Answer 30

- it was argued at the time that london's growth as a port and industrial centre had a detrimental effect on the growth of other cities - on the other hand, some places, most importantly newcastle, benefitted from supplying london's economic needs

Question 31

how many of the harvests of the reign were poor?

Answer 31

9 of the 44

Question 32

did real wages fall for many?

Answer 32

yes

Question 33

why was 1594-97 catastrophic for some people?

Answer 33

there were 4 successive poor harvests

Question 34

what had happened to real wages by 1596?

Answer 34

they had collapsed to less than half the level which they had been a mere 9 years earlier

Question 35

when was the one real substinence crisis?

Answer 35

1596-7

Question 36

where did conditions during 1596-7 seem to have been worst?

Answer 36

- the far north, with starvation the ouctome both in the more remote rural areas and in the urban centre of newcastle, which doubtless had attracted the poor and the indigent from across the region - the corporation of newcastle reported burying 25 homeless people who were presumed to have starved.

Question 37

what was the wealthiest part of the country? (from taxation records)

Answer 37

the south-east, followed closely by norfolk and suffolk and the 'inner west country' counties of Somerset, gloucestershire and wiltshire

Question 38

what were the poorest counties?

Answer 38

those in the north and the west midlands

Question 39

what does the inventories of goods left by labourers in hertfordshire show?

Answer 39

they left goods worth almost 3 times as much as their northern counterparts reflects the income differences in the country

Question 40

what was the main priority of the elite?

Answer 40

the maintenance of public order, which many considered to be threatened by the subsistence crisis of the 1590s