3. Agrarian discontent: Kett’s rebellion 1549
❖ The social and economic reasons for rebellion
❖The challenge posed by Kett’s rebellion
❖The role of leaders in challenge and suppression
The social and economic reasons for rebellion
The impact of enclosures (TRIGGERED the rebellion)
Enclosured= this was when landlords enclosed the common lands (which was public/free land
so that they could kill animals for food and crops) to develop sheep farming. He privatised the
land. The aim was to create larger profits from the land. Required little man power and can’t be
affected by bad weather. (TRIGGERED RURAL DISCONTENT)
How did enclosures cause social/economic hardship?
➔ Fewer jobs as sheep farming didn’t require much people
➔ Common lands couldn’t be used for the villagers. The landless were most vulnerable as
they relied on the land for survival
➔ Increasing entry fines.
➔ Rack-renting (increasing rent)
(LED THEM INTO POVERTY).
However, the impact of enclosures depended on the region’s economy. East Anglia was
dominated by sheep farming. (EVALUATION)
The role of the commonwealth-men
Group of thinkers who were often politicians, clergymen etc, with strong faith. They say it
as a public nuisance and the main source of poverty, unemployment and vagrancy.
→ They believed that social reform should happen for the good of the commonwealth.
→ Aim was to create a ‘Godly commonwealth’. Their ideas were important for this reasons:
➔ Even though many of the rebels couldn’t write or read, they could still hear about and
understand the idea about a more democratic society
This then influenced the rebels' aim and actions in 1549.
One of them was John Hales→ He is an MP, and Somerset got influenced by their ideas.
However, they were incorrect about the real causes of poverty. Poverty was caused by
population growth. As the population grew, more pressure on job market, inflation etc.
Enclosures made these worse, not the root cause.
, Rural discontent (ROOT CAUSE of poverty)
1540s→ England faced many social/economic issues:
- As population grew, there was a limited food supply and this led to rapid prices. Led
to more pressure on land, which was needed for crops.
- Population growth: population increased 1% each year since 1500.
- The price rises also caused landlords to turn to enclosures.
- Poor harvests which made food shortages worse. At the same time, the wool/cloth
market was booming which attracted the landlords.
- Debasement of the coinage, to meet the costs of war with France and Scotland. They
added cheap metals like copper to the actual gold/silver coins. Caused prices to rise.
This doubled inflation.
How did these problems cause cause an increase in social problems?
Led to an increase in Vagrancy. Those who couldn’t get jobs because of the competitive
population, turned to vagrancy. This was significant as in Tudor England, vagrants were
severely punished
The impact of the Duke of Somerset’s commission on enclosures (ENCOURAGED
the rebellion)
He appointed John Hales to oversee government reforms of social and economic problems.
→ They tried to issue a series of commissions to inquire into ilegal enclosures and report the
evidence back to the government, but only one commission went ahead. However, they
found little evidence, Hales argued that this was because the landlords refused to co-operare
with his commissioners.
The failure of the 1545 commissions led to Somerset taking the problems into his own
hands.
→ He took direct action where he ordered the ploughing up of illegal enclosures. The estates of
the Duke of Norfolk etc were affected.
→ He also issued new enclosure commissions. The commissioners were told that illegal
enclosures should be destroyed
The enclosure commissions had 2 unintended consequences:
➔ Somerset alienated the landed gentry/nobles who were the target of his
commissions. This was a mistake as they were the first line of defense.
➔ The commons of England thought that Somerset was on their side. His attempts to
punish illegal enclosures sent a message to the rebels. This was dangerous as it
isolated Somerset from the landed elites and encouraged a rebellion.
At the end, he falls from power and was replaced by John Dudley (his land was affected during
the commissions/his land was enclosed).
❖ The social and economic reasons for rebellion
❖The challenge posed by Kett’s rebellion
❖The role of leaders in challenge and suppression
The social and economic reasons for rebellion
The impact of enclosures (TRIGGERED the rebellion)
Enclosured= this was when landlords enclosed the common lands (which was public/free land
so that they could kill animals for food and crops) to develop sheep farming. He privatised the
land. The aim was to create larger profits from the land. Required little man power and can’t be
affected by bad weather. (TRIGGERED RURAL DISCONTENT)
How did enclosures cause social/economic hardship?
➔ Fewer jobs as sheep farming didn’t require much people
➔ Common lands couldn’t be used for the villagers. The landless were most vulnerable as
they relied on the land for survival
➔ Increasing entry fines.
➔ Rack-renting (increasing rent)
(LED THEM INTO POVERTY).
However, the impact of enclosures depended on the region’s economy. East Anglia was
dominated by sheep farming. (EVALUATION)
The role of the commonwealth-men
Group of thinkers who were often politicians, clergymen etc, with strong faith. They say it
as a public nuisance and the main source of poverty, unemployment and vagrancy.
→ They believed that social reform should happen for the good of the commonwealth.
→ Aim was to create a ‘Godly commonwealth’. Their ideas were important for this reasons:
➔ Even though many of the rebels couldn’t write or read, they could still hear about and
understand the idea about a more democratic society
This then influenced the rebels' aim and actions in 1549.
One of them was John Hales→ He is an MP, and Somerset got influenced by their ideas.
However, they were incorrect about the real causes of poverty. Poverty was caused by
population growth. As the population grew, more pressure on job market, inflation etc.
Enclosures made these worse, not the root cause.
, Rural discontent (ROOT CAUSE of poverty)
1540s→ England faced many social/economic issues:
- As population grew, there was a limited food supply and this led to rapid prices. Led
to more pressure on land, which was needed for crops.
- Population growth: population increased 1% each year since 1500.
- The price rises also caused landlords to turn to enclosures.
- Poor harvests which made food shortages worse. At the same time, the wool/cloth
market was booming which attracted the landlords.
- Debasement of the coinage, to meet the costs of war with France and Scotland. They
added cheap metals like copper to the actual gold/silver coins. Caused prices to rise.
This doubled inflation.
How did these problems cause cause an increase in social problems?
Led to an increase in Vagrancy. Those who couldn’t get jobs because of the competitive
population, turned to vagrancy. This was significant as in Tudor England, vagrants were
severely punished
The impact of the Duke of Somerset’s commission on enclosures (ENCOURAGED
the rebellion)
He appointed John Hales to oversee government reforms of social and economic problems.
→ They tried to issue a series of commissions to inquire into ilegal enclosures and report the
evidence back to the government, but only one commission went ahead. However, they
found little evidence, Hales argued that this was because the landlords refused to co-operare
with his commissioners.
The failure of the 1545 commissions led to Somerset taking the problems into his own
hands.
→ He took direct action where he ordered the ploughing up of illegal enclosures. The estates of
the Duke of Norfolk etc were affected.
→ He also issued new enclosure commissions. The commissioners were told that illegal
enclosures should be destroyed
The enclosure commissions had 2 unintended consequences:
➔ Somerset alienated the landed gentry/nobles who were the target of his
commissions. This was a mistake as they were the first line of defense.
➔ The commons of England thought that Somerset was on their side. His attempts to
punish illegal enclosures sent a message to the rebels. This was dangerous as it
isolated Somerset from the landed elites and encouraged a rebellion.
At the end, he falls from power and was replaced by John Dudley (his land was affected during
the commissions/his land was enclosed).
