Notes on Kett's Rebellion 1549.
Edexcel A-Level History - Rebellion & Disorder under the Tudors .
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What was the significance of the social & economic causes of Kett’s
rebellion?
Enclosure = Landlords saw the financial gain they could make from rearing sheep for the cloth trade, so started to
section off/enclose land with walls or hedges. (e.g. Sir William Fermour of Norfolk had 17,000 sheep)
Some landlords enclosed common lands, which took away peasant’s space to farm or graze shared animals.
Common grazing provided manure for crops also, without this, crops suffered = harder to survive. The most
vunerable were the landless who only had common land to survive.
Contemporary thinkers (known as ‘Commonwealth men’) like John Hales & Thomas More saw enclosure as the
route of all social problems of the time. They voiced the need for a ‘Godly Commonwealth’ & influenced both
Somerset & the rebels.
CAUSES…
The autocratic personality of Somerset (King Edward’s Lord protector) he was an autocrat in terms of
his leadership - the council did not like him, he made proclamations but wasn’t actually the king
Bad harvests/high grain prices
Mid Tudor Crisis - growing population - 2.3 mill - 3 mill (1525-1551)
Depression in the Cloth industry/instability in the Antwerp market = unemployment for textile
workers (cloth = the largest industry)
The Vagrancy Act of 1547 added to unrest - damaged Somerset’s reputation of humanitarianism
Other rebellions going on across the country (e.g. The Western Rebellion)
Rack renting - landlords increasing rents so tenants who could not pay would be evicted
ENCLOSURE = arguably the biggest cause
‘Commonwealth men’ (e.g. John Hales & Thomas More) voicing their issues with enclosure -
influenced Somerset to act to stop the effects of enclosure & influenced rebels aims and actions
Somerset’s actions on enclosure (1549 Sheep Tax or ‘Enclosure Commission’ to discourage
movement to sheep farming - caused discontent among gentry = isolated his first line of defence &
sent the rebels a message that he supported their actions - Somerset seen as the ‘Good Duke’)
To what extent did Kett’s rebellion pose a challenge to the government?
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