Society and economy under Elizabeth I

Social and Economic conditions

• 'By 1603 it was clear that the English people had benefitted little in social and economic terms from the rule of Elizabeth I'. Assess the validity of this view
• Issues of poverty had been growing through the 16th century - link to religious changes and decline of the Church's ability to help the poor. This meant the government had to take more responsibility but this was not always successful
• Economically the reign of Elizabeth was very mixed - the conditions in the 1590s were especially challenging for her subjects

Dealing with poverty

• The issue of poverty and vagabondage was growing throughout her reign - this meant that increasingly the government had to try to solve the problems
• 1572 Act established the principle that local ratepayers should be required to pay a rate for the relief of their own poor
• 1576 Poor Law Act was the first attempt to create a national system of poor relief to be financed and administered at a local level. Towns were required to make provisions for the employment of the deserving poor

Dealing with Poverty

• Poor Law Acts of 1598 and 1601 completed this process
• The Parish became responsible for administering poor relief
• Each Parish had to appoint an overseer - they had to collect rates and distribute to the poor
• Priority was care of the impotent poor (those that were incapable of looking after themselves), setting the able-bodied to work and apprenticing children

Importance?

• Government was taking responsibility
• A minimum level of subsistence was set for the deserving poor
• This was to be the basis of government intervention until 1834

'Undeserving' poor

• This remained harsh throughout Elizabeth's reign
• A repressive Act in 1547 had been repealed but most agreed that the undeserving poor should be whipped
• 1572 Act allowed the authorities to brand the undeserving poor
• 1597 Act - first time offenders could be whipped and sent back to the parish of their birth. Repeat offenders could be executed

Economic conditions

• Landowners benefitted from economic trends - income from land rose
• Many landowners had benefitted from the sale of church land at low prices by Henry VIII and Edward VI. The growth of wealth amongst the land-owning classes is shown by the building of great country houses
• Farmers at a more modest level benefitted from a rise in agricultural prices
• Shipbuilding was beginning to grow during her reign but this was countered by the long-term decline of the cloth industry (leading to the decline of some towns)

Economic conditions

• English financial institutions remained far less sophisticated than their counterparts on continental Europe.
• Manchester and Plymouth began to develop (towns with a broad range of manufacturing did well). Newcastle also developed as a port supplying the needs of London.
• Attempts to develop oversees trade did little to benefit the economic conditions of most people

Problems in the 1590s

• The decade started with a series of good harvests but there were 4 successive crop failures (1594-97)
• There was also an outbreak of plague (1592-93) that killed thousands (it would remain a problem for urban areas for the next 10 years)
• Impact on population - most parish records show more deaths than births during this period

Problems in the 1590s

• The harvest failures meant that food prices rose by a third during this period
• By 1596 real wages were less than half of what they had been 9 years earlier
• Conditions in the North were particularly bad - people suffered from starvation in and around Newcastle
• Elizabeth and her council feared social disorder as a result - there were food riots in London, the South East and the West in 1596 and in East Anglia in 1596-97

Problems in the 1590s

• Poor Laws of 1598 and 1601 have to be seen as the reaction to this
• Successful in preventing any large scale social disorder

England by 1603

• Huge difference in standard of living between the wealthy elite and the rest of the population
• However, the population could be fed and there was only one subsistence crisis during her reign (in the 1590s)
• The Poor Laws alleviated the worst conditions of this crisis
• Small-scale industry was developing - nail-making, brewing and soap manufacturing

England by 1603

• However, it was normally only through hard work and multiple employment that people were able to avoid poverty
• Overall her economic record is mixed (but remember the concept of having an economic policy simply did not exist). Ministers tended to react to situations as they arose - as seen in the 1590s
• Even in times of crisis, the main concern would be to maintain law and order