Population

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Population Growth in Tudor England

Over the 16th century, England saw a dramatic increase in the size of its population.

Population growth

At the beginning of the Tudor period, the population totalled 2.2 million.
By 1600, the population was 4.1 million.
Data from this period comes from parish registers (from 1538) and tax records.

Reasons for population growth

Population growth is due to two factors: rising fertility and declining mortality levels.
However, England did experience mortality crises.
- E.g. plagues, famine (1588 and 1597).
Wrigley and Schofield (1981): Population growth can be attributed mainly to the rise in fertility.
England did receive a number of immigrants from France, the Netherlands and Belgium.
- E.g. Huguenots who were persecuted for being Protestants.

Impact of population growth

Population growth is fundamental for understanding social change in the Tudor period.
Those at the bottom of society faced a decline in living standards.
- More people meant there was greater demand for food, causing food prices to rise.
- More people led to increased competition for land, causing rent to increase.
- More people also meant more people could work, causing wages to fall.
- Poverty grew.
Population growth also capacitated the rise of yeomanry.

Urbanisation

Over the 16th century, people increasingly migrated from the countryside to cities.

Growth of the metropole

Under Henry VIII, 80,000 people lived in London.
By 1600, 200,000 people lived in London.

Urban growth

There was a period of stability in towns in Elizabeth’s reign until the return of high taxation and bad harvests led to social unrest in the 1590s.
London grew faster than anywhere else. New urban centres began in some places (e.g. Manchester, Plymouth). Some towns declined (e.g. Winchester).
New urban centres grew because of manufacturing, although it was still small-scale. Examples of cottage industry: soap, nails, hosiery.
House building and entertainment did well in many towns.

Impact of urban growth

Employers, merchants and professionals became wealthier. Ordinary workers and labourers saw real wages fall and living standards decline.

Growth of the Professional Classes

The Tudor period saw the rise of the professional classes. This included a group of lawyers and bureaucrats.

Lawyers

The legal profession developed under the Tudors.
The legal profession grew due to the rise of legal tribunals, such as the Star Chamber.
A high proportion of MPs were lawyers.
- E.g. under Elizabeth I half of Parliament was either lawyers or educated at university.

Bureaucrats and administrators

Elton (1953): There was an administrative revolution under Cromwell, during Henry VIII’s reign. Cromwell was the architect behind a bureaucratic government run by civil servants.
The Privy Council became increasingly professional.

1Monarch & Government

1.1Tudor Monarchs

1.1.1Henry VII

1.1.2Henry VIII

1.1.3Edward VI

1.1.4Mary I

1.1.5Elizabeth I

1.1.6Succession Disputes

1.2Changing Role of Parliament

1.2.1Parliament & Henry VII

1.2.2Parliament & Henry VIII

1.2.3Parliament After the Reformation

1.3Principal Servants to the Crown

1.3.1Principal Servants to the Crown

2Religious Changes

2.1Tudor Monarchs & Religious Change

2.1.1The Henrician Reformation

2.1.2Impact of Religious Change Under Henry VIII

2.1.3Religious Change Under Edward VI

2.1.4Religious Change Under Mary I

2.1.5Elizabethan Settlement

2.2Catholicism & Survival

2.2.1Popular Attitudes to Catholicism

2.2.2Catholicism Under Henry VIII

2.2.3Catholicism Under Elizabeth I

2.2.4Catholic Nobility

2.3Protestantism & Puritanism

2.3.1Protestant Influences

2.3.2Protestantism Under Edward VI

2.3.3Protestantism Under Elizabeth I

3State Control & Popular Resistance

3.1Tudor Control of the Country

3.1.1Councils

3.1.2Role of Nobility

3.1.3Justices of the Peace

3.1.4Lord Lieutenant

3.2The State & the Poor

3.2.1Reasons for Growth of Poverty

3.2.2Punishments for Paupers

3.2.3Role of Charities

3.3Resistance to Tudor Rule

3.3.1Resistance to Tax & Subsidies

3.3.2Uprisings Against Henry VIII

3.3.3Uprisings Against Edward VI

3.3.4Uprisings Against Elizabeth I

3.3.5Decline of Popular Resistance

4Economic, Social & Cultural Change

4.1Patterns of Domestic & Foreign Trade

4.1.1Wool & Cloth

4.1.2Exploration & Trade

4.2Changing Structure of Society

4.2.1Population

4.2.2Dissolution of Monasteries

4.2.3Enclosure

4.3Cultural Change

4.3.1Education & Literature

4.3.2Impact of Religious Change

4.3.3Patronage

4.3.4The Arts

4.3.5Cult of Gloriana

5Historical Interpretations

5.1Significance of Threats to National Security

5.1.1Spain

5.1.2The Spanish Armada

5.1.3Ireland

5.2Court Politics

5.2.1Court Factions

5.2.2Essex's Rebellion

5.3Elizabeth & Parliament

5.3.1Conflict with Parliament

5.4Social Distress in the 1590s

5.4.1Social Distress in the 1590s

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