Societal changes in Britain throughout the 17th century

Population
1. Between 1520 and 1680 the population went up from 2.5 million to 5 million.
  1. Factor- Mortality and fertility
    1. People became better at isolating and dealing with the sick
    2. During the great plague (1665), the death of a father would result in the son succeeding, marrying and having kids.
    3. However, a higher average marriage age in 1650 meant people were having less kids.
  2. Factor- Migration
    1. The religious toleration, established by Cromwell in 1651 was the start of mass migration.
    2. Migrants generally went to towns, to set up businesses.
    3. To find work and feed families, many migrants would travel around the country.
    4. Kent, the centre of the cloth trade, became very popular due to many migrants being specialised.
2. Certain towns and cities shot up in population during this time.
  1. Factor- London
    1. In 1650, London was home to 7% of the population- around 400,000 people.
    2. The demand for grain shot up to 400% to meet this population- this was easily met due to London being the hub of trade- This Greatly boosted the economy.
  2. Factor's- Other towns
    1. Between 1600 and 1700, the number of towns with a population of over 5,00 went up from 8, to 30.
      1. Many, such as Norwich (30,000) welcomed migrant workers.
    2. Bristol and Liverpool, costal towns, saw a huge growth- Bristol would become the second largest town with 20,000 people.
    3. Smaller market towns saw little change, with the north's only surge being in it's coal industry, such as what is seen in newcastle.
Social standings/ hierarchy changes
1. Nobility
  1. They inherited their place in the house of lords and made up only 2% of the population.
  2. Their high, expected speedier of luxury items, inflation and the declining income from land proved to slowly degrade the wealth and relevance of the nobility.
  3. Their decline had started at Elizabeth I and continued through the 17th century.
2. Gemtry
  1. Despite their small numbers, they became incredibly important and powerful during the Stuart period- they held 50% of the country's wealth.
  2. During the Stuart period, the population grew by 30%. Despite this, they still only totalled 15,000 people.
  3. There power dominated parliament, with the title of Gentleman carrying an incredible amount of weight.
3. Merchant class
  1. London and major cities contributed, heavily, to the growth of the merchant class- Between 1580 and 1688, the number grew from 30,000 to 64,000.
  2. Improved trading conditions in the 1650s led to a consumer boom, leading to a higher demand of shops and traders.
  3. Despite their wealth, they were looked down on by the landed elite.
4. Women
  1. Women were generally viewed with suspicion, given little power, with an education at the very basiscs- only enough to do the housekeeping and educate children.
  2. Unmarried women were property of their father, married women were property of their wives.
  3. Women part of the gentry were expected to do wife things, direct staff and servants and be a symbol of fashion.
  4. Puritan advocated a wider education and values for women, the restoration led Charles II to lift the ban of women in plays.
  5. Despite diggers advocating for women's suffrage in the 1650's, little changed for women.
The poor
1. Poor laws
  1. Elizabeth the I's poor relief act, 1601
    1. Overseers were put in place to collect taxes and allocate money to anyone they saw fit .
    2. Those who were able to work would be punished if they didn't, with provisions given to the disabled.
    3. The overseers had the ability to send people to the poor house- Begging was permitted, however, but only in the persons home parish and only for food.
  2. The growth of poverty was evident by the funds needed to help poverty growing from 250,000 a year in 1650, to 700,000 a year in 1700
  3. Book of order- 1631
    1. The book created no new policies, simply reinforced and was made out of Chrales's fear of rioting.
    2. It did, however, highlight the generosity of the gentry, for many donated large amounts.
    3. Despite Charles's general disinterest in helping the poor, the laws were well enforced, war or not.
  4. Poor relief act- 1662- Made out of complaints, settlement certificates were given out.
2. Causes and effects for poverty
  1. Population growth and the competition for work led to a consistently increasing poor population
  2. Rising prices, shortages of foods and goods and the high price and time to complete apprenticeships made it difficult for the poor to get into work.
  3. Inflation was a huge cause for poverty- Prices increased by 800%, while wages only increased by 300%.
  4. Most people worked in agriculture, meaning they did not have a constant source of employment. As a result, many became vargarbts or beggars, looking for work.
    1. In Salisbury, it was recorded that around 22% of vagrants that passed through had already travelled 100 miles.
    2. The settlement law in 1662 were passed to limit movement.
Intellectual and general social developments.
1. Philosophy
  1. John Locke's writing on political theories and his empiricist approach to thinking gained traction in the philosophical community and has remained integral to modern philosophy.
  2. John Hobbes's Leviathan affirmed with the monarchical structure of Government and was also very popular in the philosophical community.
2. Science
  1. Isaac Newton revolutionised maths and science, with his work completely changing astronomy. His work with Maths has also become integral today.
  2. Francis Bacon, a historian, philosopher and scientist, developed the modern scientific method, known as the Beconian method
3. Religious radicalism
  1. The Diggers developed a very primitive form of socialism, wherein they forcefully re allocated the land equally between peasants.
  2. Radicalism, however, was very isolated with the Quakers becoming the most popular form. However, they were still very contained and posed no threat to the state church.

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Societal changes in Britain throughout the 17th century

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