1. Economic features in 16th century England
The total population of England and Wales was about 3 million in 16th century. Of the population 10% lived in towns and half of this number lived London alone. As rents and food prices rose in the countryside, many villagers were forced to leave their homes and come to the towns to look for work. However, they often could not find employment and ended up begging in the streets.
With so many people moving to the towns, London became the biggest city with between 130,000 and 150,000 people living there by London was the capital, where the monarch lived. It was where the principal courts of law functioned, with their permanent staff of lawyers and when Parliament was summoned – a rare occurrence – it usually met there. Manufacturers and merchants gathered there dealing in every luxury, from the New World and the old, as well as wheat, coal and cloth. In addition the streets were filled with alehouses, gambling dens and brothels, and the public was entertained by street performers and playhouses. As a result London acted as a magnet for beggars, thieves and tricksters from across the country
Agriculture - In the years leading up to Elizabeth’s accession, a process known as land enclosure had changed the face of agriculture. Land enclosure meant that the traditional open field system whereby individual farmers could farm their own pieces of land was ended in favour of creating larger and more profitable farming units which required fewer people to work on them. As the wool trade became increasingly popular, these units were often dedicated to rearing sheep. As a result, many people who had lived and worked in the countryside their whole lives found themselves without any means of support and, in many cases, evicted from their homes. Large numbers headed for the towns in the hope of a better life.
Economic features in 16th century England
Other cities - Apart from London the next biggest manufacturing town was Norwich, centre of the textile industry with a population of 17,000. After London and Norwich there were only a handful of other towns that were of any importance; Manchester and Leeds – began to grow and do well out of rough woollens exported through the port of Chester, Birmingham – grew fast and noisily with its metal workers, and in the midlands Ludlow and Shrewsbury were cloth and market towns, Coventry had a thread making industry and Leicester with a population of relied on cattle and its tanneries.
Textiles - The most important industry of Tudor England was the manufacture and sale of woollen cloth. During the mid-16th century, a new form of woollen cloth became dominant in the textile industry. This was the "new draperies," cheaper and lighter-weight cloth that could be shipped to warmer climates and was far more suitable for dyeing and decoration. These new “draperies workshops” sprang up in the countryside — and in new towns such as Norwich— all round London. London was the largest market for cloth trade and so the southeast became a centre for sheep bearing the wool suitable for draperies production. As a result, about 45% of England’s wool and 70% of cloth trade passed through the Port of London.