Wool & Cloth

History: Edexcel A Level England, 1509-1603, topic 4.1.1

Significance of the Wool and Cloth Trade

Wool and cloth were England’s primary exports in Tudor England.

Raw wool was originally England’s primary export. The Tudor government sought to change this to finished woollen products.
In 1489, Henry VII limited the export of English raw wool and made it illegal for foreigners to buy English raw wool for use on the continent.

Henry VII believed that Burgundy (a region in modern-day France) was England’s gateway to trade with the continent.
In 1496 Henry VII signed the Intercursus Magnus treaty with Burgundy.
It allowed English merchants to trade freely throughout Burgundy, except in Flanders.
Under Henry VII, English cloth exports were up over 60%.
Under Henry VIII, exports of woollen items increased by 100%.

New lightweight cloths began to be produced in England. These were called the ‘New Draperies’.

In the 1560s, artisans (invited by the English government) from France and the Netherlands began to immigrate to England.
These craftsmen introduced new types of cloth to the English industry.
These included cloths such as silk and linen.

Historians have noted that ‘alien’ workers from the Netherlands contributed to the growth of the new drapery techniques in England.
- Coleman (1969): argued that the existing cloth industry was stagnating in England.
However, some historians have challenged this assessment.
Kerridge (1969): The role of immigrants in reviving England’s cloth industry have been over exaggerated.

Immigrant workers settled in certain regions in England.
Allison (1966) on the cloth industry in Norfolk: By the 1560s it was recognised that “only a radical change from traditional methods and products could have enabled Norfolk to compete with continental worsteds”.
Coleman (1969): “Those who went to Colchester helped to bring a major transformation of the output of the important Suffolk-Essex industry after their arrival in the 1570’s.”
The East Anglian industry was directly impacted by immigrants. In response, other areas adjusted without immigrants.

In 1517, Londoners rose up in a xenophobic riot. This was called ‘Evil May Day’.
The riot was targeted against merchants from the Hanseatic League.
Due to the rise of merchants from Antwerp and within England, Hanseatic merchants were expelled in 1597.