England in 1485 (AQA A-Level History): Revision Notes
England in 1485
Understanding England in 1485 requires examining the country's social structure, economic foundations, religious life, and early signs of intellectual change. This was a predominantly rural society, deeply Catholic, and organised around strict hierarchies. Yet beneath this apparent stability, economic tensions and new ideas were beginning to emerge.
The countryside, economy and English society
Population and settlement patterns
England's population stood at approximately three million people in 1485, with 90 per cent living in rural communities. Urban development remained limited. London, the largest settlement, housed around 60,000 residents in cramped and overcrowded conditions. Other major towns were considerably smaller: Norwich held roughly 12,000 inhabitants whilst Salisbury contained about 5,000.
Many settlements that functioned as centres for local government and market trade had populations below 1,000 people, such as Lewes in Sussex. This demonstrates how truly rural England remained in this period.
The hilly and mountainous landscape would have appeared familiar to modern observers, though the agrarian economy and dispersed settlement pattern created a very different social world.
Farming practices and rural life
Agricultural methods varied considerably across England's diverse terrain. In southern England and the Midlands, arable farming (labour-intensive crop production using basic tools such as ploughs) dominated the open field system. Land was divided into strips allocated to tenant farmers by local landowners. Most villages also maintained common land where all residents could graze livestock. In hillier regions, particularly in the north and west, farmers concentrated on raising cattle, sheep and pigs. Woodland provided essential timber and grazing, whilst rivers, lakes and marshes supported fishing communities.
The practice of enclosure (fencing off land from open fields and removing common rights) had begun to generate controversy by 1485. Landowners enclosed fields either to produce single crops on a larger scale or to convert arable land to more profitable sheep pasture.
This transition particularly affected the Midlands, where wool production offered greater returns than grain cultivation. Tenant farmers risked losing their strips when landowners altered farming methods. The removal of common land for grazing, timber collection and hunting provoked fierce resistance from villagers who claimed customary access rights. Parliament passed an anti-enclosure law in 1489, though it achieved little practical effect.
Example: Enclosure in the Midlands
Enclosure in Henry VII's reign remained limited compared to earlier periods. The Midlands experienced the greatest change, with less than 3 per cent of land enclosed. Far more extensive enclosure had occurred during the Wars of the Roses when law enforcement weakened.
By Henry's reign, enclosure increasingly involved engrossing (consolidating several farms into one unit through purchase), which typically resulted in tenant evictions. The poor bore the heaviest burden from agricultural changes, as geography and climate determined their capacity to specialise and survive.
The cloth industry and trade
England's cloth industry generated nearly 80 per cent of the country's exports, making it the backbone of the economy. Although agriculture provided most people's livelihood, woollen cloth production created the greatest wealth. Manufacturers exported various types and sizes of cloth primarily to the Netherlands, but also to Spain, the Holy Roman Empire and Venice.
The Merchant Adventurers, a London-based company, controlled this trade, exporting cloth and importing foreign goods in return. The quality of English sheep wool, produced from both raw materials and finished cloth, made it highly sought after domestically and abroad.
Tudor governments from Henry VII onwards actively encouraged the cloth sector because its success generated valuable income through customs duties (taxes on goods entering or leaving the country, comprising tonnage on exports and poundage on imports). During the Middle Ages, raw wool had been the primary export.
Governments increasingly discouraged raw wool exports because each piece of exported cloth cost the Crown export income whilst hampering the development of a domestic finishing industry (the final production stages converting spun yarn into cloth through weaving, fulling to eliminate oil and dirt, and dyeing).
Woollen cloth production was scattered across England, though the highest quality came from western regions, including Welsh border towns and villages, extending into Gloucestershire, Wiltshire and Hampshire. Production remained specialised but not intensive. Most cloth was made by hand, either in peasant cottages or small workshops within cloth merchants' houses. Few people worked full-time in the woollen industry, though itinerant 'journeymen' travelled to hire out their specialist skills. This conflict between arable farming and cloth production created tensions: landowners objected to their farmland being converted to sheep-runs or enclosed.
Social structure and hierarchy
Tudor society operated on the assumption that everyone recognised and accepted their designated social position. From the monarch downwards through clergy, nobles, gentry, merchants, commoners, servants and paupers, a strict hierarchy existed. People generally accepted that 'The Great Chain of Being' had been divinely ordained, establishing fixed ranks. Social status dominated all aspects of life.
The Church reinforced this system by teaching obedience to God's ordained order, making it an indispensable ally of government. This belief in a divinely ordained social hierarchy was fundamental to maintaining order in Tudor society.
The nobility, numbering just over 50 families, owned vast landed estates that provided power and local influence. Strict primogeniture rules (inheritance by the eldest son or nearest male relative) ensured estates passed intact to the next generation. The monarch depended on noble support to maintain law and order locally; without it, rebellions could easily erupt. A successful monarch therefore ruled cooperatively with the nobility.
Some fifteenth-century monarchs had attempted to purchase noble loyalty by granting new titles. Henry VII took the opposite approach, creating only three Earls during his entire reign, thus making the honour highly exclusive and ensuring that title-seekers remained loyal and supportive.
Noble households maintained extensive staffs comprising family members, friends and servants. Richard, Duke of Northumberland, for instance, employed 187 household members in 1503–04.
Below the nobles sat the gentry, merchants, and commoners (ranging from small landowners to landless labourers). The Tudor period saw commoners suffer particularly from agricultural changes such as enclosure and from price rises that characterised the era. At the base of the hierarchy were the beggars and paupers.
The monarch and political authority
At the social hierarchy's summit stood the monarch, who ruled under God. The theory of Divine Right of Kings (the belief that monarchs ruled on God's behalf, making them answerable only to God whilst subjects were expected to obey or face divine punishment) had not yet been fully articulated in 1485.
These theoretical powers did not make the monarch an absolute dictator. He required support from leading nobles to provide law enforcement and military forces during wartime. He was expected to consult advisers, largely drawn from trusted nobility.
Henry VII benefited from having loyal noble advisers he could trust. The monarch also needed to summon Parliament periodically to secure support and pass legislation.
England was more unified than many European countries such as France. A common law system operated nationwide, and an accepted language existed (though Welsh predominated in some regions). Theoretically the monarch controlled the entire country, but practically some areas remained semi-independent, either under powerful nobles' control or ruled by the Church authorities in Durham or York. Wales was regarded as part of England despite the Welsh language's prevalence in certain areas. Cornwall maintained peripheral status with its own distinct linguistic traditions.
The Catholic Church
The Church's power and wealth
The Catholic Church exercised immense power in late fifteenth-century society. It owned approximately one-third of all land and possessed considerable wealth. Mirroring secular society's structure (worldly rather than spiritual matters), the Church maintained its own hierarchy from Archbishops to Bishops down to parish priests who earned less than £15 annually. About 35,000 ordained clergy and roughly 10,000 monks and nuns served the Church.
The institution operated its own legal system, with clergy tried in Church courts. Theoretically, the Pope in Rome decided all matters both religious and political. Constant paperwork flowed between England and Italy, addressing legal cases and administrative issues.
England was fully integrated into the international Catholic Church, though the Pope's primary political focus often centred on the Papal States, which frequently conflicted with neighbouring territories.
The Church's power stemmed from popular beliefs and fears. Life was often short, disease common, and medicines limited. People needed certainty, which the Church provided. Many church walls displayed contrasting vivid images of heaven and hell. Others, such as the wall paintings at Pickering in Yorkshire, depicted scenes from Christ's life, emphasising his suffering and crucifixion.
Illiterate peasants could readily understand their potential fate after death, though their religious beliefs were necessarily simple, sometimes approaching what might be termed 'folk religion'. Their lives followed seasonal rhythms and weather patterns.
Priests worked hard to explain Christian beliefs through paintings and statues, but beliefs understandably focused more on nature's power and the fear of hell than on the subtleties of Christian theology centring on Jesus's death 1,500 years earlier.
Church teachings and structure
At the sixteenth century's beginning, English people, with few exceptions, followed the Catholic Church's teachings (or doctrines). This meant accepting the following:
The Pope in Rome headed the Church and held supreme authority over all spiritual matters. The Papacy also functioned as a Court of Law, with the Papal Curia acting as a Court of Appeal.
An elaborately organised hierarchy of churchmen existed, many working in communities tending to ordinary people's spiritual needs. These included parish clergy and also friars and nuns. Some, particularly monks, withdrew from society to concentrate on prayer. Even these individuals often remained active in local communities and managed large estates.
The Church Hierarchy
The Church hierarchy comprised:
The Papacy (God's representative on Earth) at the apex, beneath which sat two branches:
The Secular Clergy:
- Roman Curia: administered the Church
- Cardinals: senior churchmen who elected popes
- Archbishops: senior churchmen in each country
- Bishops: regional Church leaders
- Parish Priests: ministered to each congregation; special rights kept them apart from the laity
The Regular Clergy:
- Enclosed Monastic Orders: limited community contact, devoted lives to worship and contemplation
- Open Monastic Orders: worked within society; included Augustinians, Franciscans, Dominicans
The clergy occupied a special, powerful position within communities. Only formally ordained priests could conduct church services. Access to the Bible, written in Latin, was restricted to priests and others literate in that language.
Priests interpreted scripture for their parishioners' benefit. The priesthood's unique role was confirmed by their church service appearance (they wore particular vestments to conduct services) and their status separating them from others (they could not marry or engage in sexual relations).
Sacraments and religious practice
People were expected to submit to Church authority in their lives. Catholic teaching identified seven essential sacraments which the Church performed:
- The eucharist (commemorating Jesus's Last Supper with his disciples)
- Baptism
- Holy orders (granting priestly status to those completing religious training)
- Confirmation (recipients confirming God's spirit in their hearts)
- Marriage
- Confession, leading to penance (performing tasks demonstrating repentance)
- Unction (anointing the sick, part of the Last Rites)
For salvation, people were required to attend church regularly, believe in the sacraments and demonstrate their faith in God.
The Church in community life
The church functioned as the social fabric's centrepiece. It was the most common building throughout the country, an easily identifiable landmark in virtually every village and town. Communities took great pride in constructing and maintaining their church as a sign of devotion to God.
Example: Church Building in Louth
In Louth, Lincolnshire, fundraising between 1501 and 1515 produced £305 to construct a magnificent spire. Nearly two-thirds of English parish churches were built or rebuilt during the fifteenth century. Many contained gifts of vestments, plate and jewels.
This evidence suggests most people still supported the Church in the early sixteenth century as they had in previous centuries. Only when Henry VIII sought a divorce, leading to what became the Reformation, did the focus shift to Church criticisms. This has led historians to paint an excessively negative picture of early sixteenth-century church life focused on officials' failings.
Most people attended church regularly because it was a special place and most believed in its basic teaching. Consider how the church interior, with its large open space, ornate windows, images, statues and decorations, must have appeared to its congregation. It was probably the most impressive building they would ever enter.
From construction through maintenance to the emphasis on communal rather than individual worship, churches helped communities, especially villages, develop a sense of identity and collective purpose. In church, villages gathered together for worship but also to celebrate Holy Days and other festivals with dancing and drinking. Long before summer holidays and Bank Holidays existed, the church organised breaks from daily routine throughout the year. These occasions bound villagers together into one community.
Quite a few such days occurred annually, some local and some observed nationally. Two examples were 23 April, St George's Day (declared a saints' day in 1222), and May Day, with dancing around the maypole and considerable merrymaking.
Criticisms and debates
The Church was powerful but also suffered from faults. Its very power encouraged corruption. Some clergy were absent from their parishes (claiming stipends – priestly payment for parish appointment – from several parishes); some clergy were pluralists (holding multiple positions simultaneously); some were immoral (having mistresses); and some were ignorant and could not recite the Lord's Prayer.
Historians' Debate on the Pre-Reformation Church
Historians have held different views about the pre-Reformation Church's condition:
Critical View (e.g., Professor A.G. Dickens): Examining evidence from a Protestant perspective, found substantial grounds to suggest the Catholic Church in England faced much criticism because of faults and shortcomings that undoubtedly existed in some parishes. These historians viewed the Reformation process and England's transformation into a Protestant nation as a logical consequence.
Revisionist View (Recent Historians): Argued that Church shortcomings were nothing new; the Catholic Church had possessed strength, vitality and considerable active support, both in worship and in outward signs such as church building projects. These historians contend that the Reformation's origins were primarily political – specifically Henry VIII's divorce desire – and this political reformation coincidentally occurred simultaneously with the European Reformation initiated by Martin Luther.
The Church's political sphere
Through these various means the Church had become an accepted and intrinsic part of ordinary people's lives. It also functioned as a force in national and international politics. Since the Norman Conquest (the events in which William came from Normandy and defeated King Harold in 1066, subsequently imposing new laws and governmental systems) the Church had operated its own law courts to try crimes involving priests or doctrinal breaches.
These courts remained active into the fifteenth century, though medieval kings had worked to weaken the Church courts' independent power. Bishops and abbots held political roles, serving as King's Lords.
Churchmen were often the most educated, literate people in the country, making their administrative skills valuable. In the early Tudor period governments routinely appointed senior clergy as advisers and ministers. Henry VII promoted Bishop Morton to Archbishop of Canterbury and then Lord Chancellor, where he played an important role advising the monarch.
Henry worked closely with the Church both because he believed in its teachings and because it served as a powerful ally if his claim to the throne faced challenges. The Church also provided monarchs an additional service. Its power over people's minds through its teachings created a channel through which obedience to the King's will could be taught.
Key Points to Remember:
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England in 1485 had a population of approximately three million, with 90 per cent living in rural communities and London housing about 60,000 residents.
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The cloth industry dominated exports, accounting for nearly 80 per cent of England's trade, with the Merchant Adventurers controlling this lucrative sector.
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Society operated on a strict hierarchy from monarch to paupers, reinforced by the Church's teaching that this social order was divinely ordained through the Great Chain of Being.
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The Catholic Church owned about one-third of the land, employed around 35,000 clergy and 10,000 monks and nuns, and operated its own legal system whilst providing the social fabric for communities through churches, festivals and sacraments.
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Historians debate the pre-Reformation Church's condition: some (like A.G. Dickens) emphasise faults and criticisms, whilst others stress its continued strength, vitality and popular support, viewing the Reformation as primarily politically motivated rather than driven by popular discontent.