Gentry and the Enclosure Movement

Agricultural Improvements In the Early Modern Era, three-crop rotation farming enhanced the production of peasant agriculture, and kept populations increasing However, three new factors greatly increased agricultural output in the 17th and 18th centuries: convertible husbandry, clovers, and enclosure Convertible husbandry and clovers both provided fertilizer in the form of livestock manure, and nutrients from clovers, to maintain full use of land In addition to using more land, landowners found that if they ended the Common Land peasants could live and farm from, they increased output Peasants did not organize or run the land efficiently, and as early as the 16th century, English and Dutch realized their land could be farmed more effectively

Enclosure Movement Not only did peasants not use land effectively, but animals routinely trampled and ate crops, ruining output By fencing off and enclosing their property, landowners solved both problems A few peasants were kept to work the land in a organized fashion, and the fences and hedges prevented animals from ruining crops The rest of the peasants were forced to leave the land their families had lived on for centuries, and migrate en masse to the city—a process called urbanization This mass removal of peasants from the Common Land they had lived on for hundreds of years was known as the Enclosure Movement from the 16th-18th centuries

England and the Netherlands The reason why England the Netherlands were the first to enclose their private property was the presence of the gentry in their government Eager to profit, gentry and nobles alike were willing to pass laws that protect private property, and ended Common Land laws While the rest of Europe would follow later, the mass movement of peasants to cities ruined peasant life With no other skills, peasants were forced to head to crowded, crime-ridden urban cities to try and find work or steal to live This ending of the Common Land caused a fair amount of unrest, and several peasant rebellions such as Kett’s Rebellion in England in 1569

Impact of the Gentry To enable capitalism to function, governments and guilds would have to release their control, and for that to occur, some governments would have to begin eliminating these limiting factors In both England and the Netherlands (E & N), representative bodies called parliaments, were able to create or affect certain laws While the rest of Europe was run entirely by kings and/or nobles, E & N had regular people that could participate in the government Already rich from trade, the gentry class became increasingly large and involved in the government, demanding more influence, and economic reform to eliminate mercantilism The gentry became increasingly focused on protecting and promoting their private property, and eliminating tariffs, taxes, and guild control of industries