Economic development in Elizabethan England

The patterns of trade
what was the value of different types of trade?

internal trade outvalued foreign trade.

-biggest development in internal trade was the growth of shipments of coal from the tyne to the thames to meet growing demands of london market.

-rapidly developing trade with france.

The patterns of trade
what does the changes in trade of luxury goods tell us?

a wider range of foreign luxury goods imported under elizabeth. suggests such goods were becoming more affordable.

-alternate arguments show that this is a symptom fo the more peacable nobility.

The patterns of trade
what happened to the cloth trade?

cloth trade with netherlands, while important, declined.

-antwerp market declined from early 1550s.
-it used to bring in 35 to 50,000 pounds per year in custom duties before elizabeth.

The patterns of trade
how was the elizabethan government able to solve the issue of the antweerp decline?

cecil developed alternative trade based on the north german port of emden.

-major port remained to amsterdam, whose commercial growth came at the expense of antwerp whcih remained under spanish control

new trading opportunities
as antwerp declined, how did england attempt to create a new russian trade?

by elizabeths accession in 1558, overland trading expeditions under anthony kenkinson travelled through russia to asia.

-muscovy trading company was heavily supported by elizabeths court.


-exported cloth, lead, tin and food, while importaing cables, cordage, was anx furs brought in 25,000 a year.

The patterns of trade
how did england attempt to create new trade in the baltics?

eastland company established in 1579 to import goods, mostly naval supplies from the baltic.
-cloth made up 75% of englands exports to the baltic.

new trading opportunities
what was the new east india compnay?

in 1583, john newberry and ralph fitch travelled to india and established the east india company.

New trading opportunities
overall, where these new opportunities successful?

some new gains, however largley superficial under elizabeth. gains only expierenced later.

-74% of english imports still came from the netherlands, holy roman empire and spain

attempts to explore and colonise
where did the idea of a new british empire orginate?

while exploration under elizabeht was superficial, her reign contributed to the kickstarting of the push for a english empire.

1577 works argued that english naval advancements could be used to form a “british empire” - the term first originated from this time.

attempts to explore and colonise
how was there a push for colonisation in the new world?

push for colonisation in the new world and attempts to establish colonies in virginia.

-proccess encouraged by richard hakluyt A Discourse of Western Planting (1584)
-walter raleigh, a courtier, presented this work to elizabeth herself. despite this, raleighs attempts to establish coloniesi n the new world failed, and he did not secure profit

attempts to explore and colonise
how did spain dominate exploration, limiting elizabeths success?

by 1550, trade to the new world required liscence from spain, rarley granted to english traders.

attempts to explore and colonise
how did the transatlantic slave trade emerge?

in 1562 and 1564, john hawkins brought salves from africa, selling to america.
-he returned to england with gold, silver and animal skins. the voyages were highly profitable.

attempts to explore and colonise
what is a direct example of spanish dominance directly harming english efforts to explore and colonise?

John Hawkin’s voyage in 1567 attacked by Spanish at San Juan de ulua in 1568.

attempts to explore and colonise
what was the virginia mission? was it successful?

in 1585 sir francis walsingham received a patent from the queen to colonise moder day virginia, with two expeditions landing in roanoke.

-attempts proved disasterous, poorly organised and were given little attention from elizabeth due to her focus in european conflicts.
-colonisation of virginia under england only occured after elizabeths death under James Ist.

land issues
how did the issue of enclosure harm prosoperity, while helping the rich?

enclosure allowed landlords to practice intensive farming methods.


those evicted looked for employment in villages, axacerbating the vagrancy issue.

agricultural innovation
what was a new form of husbandry?

‘up and down’ husbandry removed divisions between arable and pasture farming, removing the need for fallow fields and enriched soil.

-crop yields increased and more livestock could be kept due to surplus food.

agricultural innovation
how were new textbooks used?

new accessible textbooks used to promote agricultural innovation.
-6 textbooks published during 16th century.

agricultural innovation
how were fertilisers used?

experiments to find new ways to improve soil quality.
-alternatives to animal dung tried such as vegetable compost, wood ash, lime and chalk. these developments significantly increased crop yields.

agricultural legislation
what was the tillage act?

1563 act for maintaining tillage
_all land wich had been under tillage for 4 years since 1528 must remain under tillage.

agricultural prosperity
what is a work at the time which shows agricultural prosperity?

William Harrison’s Description of England (1577) highlighted the improvement in living standards enjoyed by farmers.

agricultural prosperity
what have inventories shown?

inventories taken after farmers death have confirmed the pttern of improvement.

urban prosperity
why is urban prosperity hard to assess?

Some towns, such as Stamford and Winchster, declined under Elizabeth. urban decline in areas heavily dependent on cloth industry.

-however, growth in other established towns such as york and norwich.

new settlemetns such as manchester and plymouth established.

Depression
what happened to real wagees?

real wages fell

Depression
what happened with harvests?

9/44 harvests under elizabeth were poor.
-newcastle once reported the burying of 25 homeless people, dead of starvation.