5.4.1

Social Distress in the 1590s

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Social Distress in the 1590s

The 1590s was characterised by social distress. Elizabethan society was hit by famine and disease.

Harvest failure

Harvest failure

  • For four years running (1594-1598), there was crop failure in Elizabethan England.
  • This led to severe shortages, inflation and high mortality rates.
  • Over the 1590s, the price of crops increased by around one third.
  • Rappaport (1983): From 1593-1597, flour prices in London rose by 190%.
  • Rural workers were also hit by low real wages.
  • Phelps-Brown and Hopkins (1981): 1597 was the lowest level of real wages for building workers between 1264-1954.
Disease

Disease

  • Alongside harvest failure and famine, England was struck by outbreaks of the plague.
  • From 1592 to 1593, 17,000 died in London.
  • Historians have used parish records of burials and baptisms to analyse the impact this (alongside harvest failure) had on the population.
Poverty

Poverty

  • Those at the bottom end of society suffered the most from the crisis in the 1590s.
  • Power (1985): "The food crisis of autumn 1594 to spring 1598 intensified an already existing concern for the poor and for the regulation of vagrants and public order".
Local government response

Local government response

  • Power (1985): "It was the city court of aldermen which paid most attention to the problems in London during the crisis, issuing approximately three times as many orders as the national government".
National government response

National government response

  • Power (1985): "The privy council was active in the role of ordering corn to be released from counties to London...The imposition of martial law stemmed from the government. And parliament took over the initiative for providing for the poor".
  • In response to this decade of hardship, the government introduced Poor Laws. One was passed in 1598, the other in 1601.
  • Historians note that the Privy Council feared a repeat of Kett’s Rebellion in 1549.
  • Strikingly, there was no popular rebellion in the 1590s.
Domestic and foreign agendas

Domestic and foreign agendas

  • Social distress was exacerbated by the government increasing taxes to pay for their costly campaigns in Ireland and Spain.
Jump to other topics
1

Monarch & Government

1.1

Tudor Monarchs

1.1.1Henry VII1.1.2Henry VIII1.1.3Edward VI1.1.4Mary I1.1.5Elizabeth I1.1.6Succession Disputes
1.2

Changing Role of Parliament

1.2.1Parliament & Henry VII1.2.2Parliament & Henry VIII1.2.3Parliament After the Reformation
1.3

Principal Servants to the Crown

1.3.1Principal Servants to the Crown
2

Religious Changes

2.1

Tudor Monarchs & Religious Change

2.1.1The Henrician Reformation2.1.2Impact of Religious Change Under Henry VIII2.1.3Religious Change Under Edward VI2.1.4Religious Change Under Mary I2.1.5Elizabethan Settlement
2.2

Catholicism & Survival

2.2.1Popular Attitudes to Catholicism2.2.2Catholicism Under Henry VIII2.2.3Catholicism Under Elizabeth I2.2.4Catholic Nobility
2.3

Protestantism & Puritanism

2.3.1Protestant Influences2.3.2Protestantism Under Edward VI2.3.3Protestantism Under Elizabeth I
3

State Control & Popular Resistance

3.1

Tudor Control of the Country

3.1.1Councils3.1.2Role of Nobility3.1.3Justices of the Peace3.1.4Lord Lieutenant
3.2

The State & the Poor

3.2.1Reasons for Growth of Poverty3.2.2Punishments for Paupers3.2.3Role of Charities
3.3

Resistance to Tudor Rule

3.3.1Resistance to Tax & Subsidies3.3.2Uprisings Against Henry VIII3.3.3Uprisings Against Edward VI3.3.4Uprisings Against Elizabeth I3.3.5Decline of Popular Resistance
4

Economic, Social & Cultural Change

4.1

Patterns of Domestic & Foreign Trade

4.1.1Wool & Cloth4.1.2Exploration & Trade
4.2

Changing Structure of Society

4.2.1Population4.2.2Dissolution of Monasteries4.2.3Enclosure
4.3

Cultural Change

4.3.1Education & Literature4.3.2Impact of Religious Change4.3.3Patronage4.3.4The Arts4.3.5Cult of Gloriana
5

Historical Interpretations

5.1

Significance of Threats to National Security

5.1.1Spain5.1.2The Spanish Armada5.1.3Ireland
5.2

Court Politics

5.2.1Court Factions5.2.2Essex's Rebellion
5.3

Elizabeth & Parliament

5.3.1Conflict with Parliament
5.4

Social Distress in the 1590s

5.4.1Social Distress in the 1590s

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    Between 1592 and 1593, how many in London died of the plague?Multiple choice
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Conflict with Parliament