Elizabeth I: Trade & Commerce (AQA A Level History: Component 1: Breadth study): Revision Note

Summary

• In 1558, England's trade was heavily dependent on a single export: woollen cloth sold through Antwerp

  • By 1603, it had diversified across Europe, Russia and Asia

• London grew from around 60,000 people in 1520 to around 200,000 by 1600, becoming one of the largest cities in northern Europe and the hub of English commercial life

• New overseas markets were opened through trading companies, each given a royal monopoly over a specific region

  • The Muscovy Company (chartered in 1555 under Mary I) and the East India Company (founded 1600) were the most significant of these

• Joint-stock companies spread financial risk across many investors

  • This model was a key commercial innovation with lasting consequences

Trade & Commercial Development in Elizabethan England

Illustration - cloth trade and Antwerp crisis timeline (new)

The state of trade in 1558

• England's economy in 1558 was heavily dependent on a single export

  • Woollen cloth made up the overwhelming bulk of English exports

  • Most of this cloth was sold through Antwerp in the Spanish Netherlands

    • This made England dangerously exposed to any disruption in the Netherlands

  • When Spanish military operations disrupted Antwerp increasingly from the 1560s, culminating in its decline after the 1576 Spanish Fury and 1585 capture by Spain

• The old pattern of trade was breaking down at the start of Elizabeth's reign

  • Antwerp's role as a trading hub declined as the Dutch revolt intensified

  • By the 1580s, English cloth merchants had largely shifted from Antwerp to Amsterdam

  • Cecil (Burghley) encouraged the shift away from Spanish-controlled Antwerp towards safer northern markets such as Amsterdam (Protestant)

Government action to stimulate trade

• Cecil (Burghley) steered a series of measures through Parliament between 1559 and 1563 to encourage trade

  • Acts regulated the manufacture and export of cloth, leather, coal, iron, grain and timber

  • Measures encouraged the use of English ships for carrying goods

  • Cecil recognised that a thriving economy would benefit the Crown through taxes and duties

  • The Crown benefited financially through customs duties on trade, particularly tonnage and poundage

• The government also used trading company charters as a commercial tool

  • Royal charters gave specific companies a monopoly over trade with particular regions

    • This encouraged investment by reducing competition and spreading risk

    • It also gave the Crown direct influence over overseas commercial activity

The diversification of trade

• The key commercial story of Elizabeth's reign is diversification

  • England moved from dependence on Antwerp and cloth to a much wider network of trade

  • New markets opened in Russia, the Baltic, the Ottoman Empire and eventually Asia

  • Internal trade also grew:

    • Key example: coal shipments from Newcastle to London via the North Sea and the Thames

  • New urban settlements developed, creating a broad range of goods such as coal, leather and iron

• Legislation to regulate trade and industry increased

  • This reflected the government's awareness that taxing manufacturers and traders brought wealth to the Crown

The Growth of London & the Development of Overseas Markets

The growth of London

• London grew dramatically under Elizabeth

  • Its population rose from around 60,000 in 1520 to around 200,000 by 1600

  • By the end of the reign, it was one of the largest cities in northern Europe

  • This growth was driven by London's role as the centre of English trade, law, government and the royal court

• London developed as a major commercial and manufacturing centre

  • It was the main hub for trading companies, merchants and financiers

  • The city grew as a consumer market

  • Shipbuilding and associated port industries grew with the expansion of trade

• London's growth also created new pressures

  • Overcrowding and disease were persistent problems

  • The food riot of 1595 reflected the social strain that rapid growth produced

The development of overseas markets

• English shipping grew to support the expansion of overseas trade

  • Navigation legislation promoted the use of English ships

  • The navy expanded, partly driven by war with Spain

  • English sailors gained experience on increasingly long ocean voyages

  • Drake's circumnavigation (1577–1580) boosted English confidence at sea

Joint-Stock Companies: The East India Company & the Muscovy Company

What is a joint-stock company?

• A joint-stock company is owned by its shareholders

  • Investors bought shares in the company and received a proportion of any profits

• Key advantages:

  • Risk was spread across many investors

  • No single merchant risked ruin on one failed voyage

• The company often received a royal charter granting monopoly trading rights

• This model was a significant commercial innovation

  • It shaped the future of English (and later British) commercial expansion

The Muscovy Company

• The Muscovy Company was chartered in 1555 by Mary I

  • It grew out of an expedition led by Hugh Willoughby and Richard Chancellor to find a north-east passage to Asia

  • Willoughby and his crew froze to death in the Arctic

  • Chancellor survived, reached the White Sea and made contact with Tsar Ivan IV of Russia

  • A profitable trade with Russia was established

    • English cloth and tin went east; Russian furs, timber, wax and tallow came back

• The Muscovy Company had mixed long-term results

  • It helped challenge the Hanseatic League's monopoly over Baltic trade

  • Anthony Jenkinson extended southward from Russia to Persia in the 1560s, attempting to open central Asian trade routes

    • These Persian ventures ultimately failed

  • The Company eventually struggled to compete with the Dutch in the Baltic

    • But it established Russia as a long-term trading partner

The East India Company

• The East India Company was founded on 31st December 1600 with a royal charter from Elizabeth

  • A group of London merchants received a monopoly on all English trade in Asia

  • James Lancaster had already sailed to the East Indies in 1591, capturing two Portuguese ships

    • His return journey was disastrous; he was eventually picked up by French privateers and returned to England in 1594

  • Lancaster's second voyage, backed by the newly-founded Company, was far more successful

    • He returned with fully-laden ships in 1603, just after Elizabeth's death

• The East India Company faced serious challenges in its early years

  • The Dutch East India Company (VOC, founded 1602) used established trading networks and regional contacts in Asia

  • English competition with the Dutch in Asia would prove difficult and costly for decades

  • Despite this, the Company grew into one of the most significant commercial enterprises in world history

  • It late became central to British expansion in India

How Important was Trade to Elizabethan England's Development?

• Use the specific evidence below to build and support your own argument

The case that trade was central to Elizabethan development

• Cecil's active role in shaping commercial policy shows trade was a government priority from the start of the reign

  • It regulated key industries and promoted English shipping

  • Royal charters gave trading companies monopolies, encouraging investment and spreading risk

• The diversification of trade transformed England's economic position

  • In 1558, England depended almost entirely on cloth exports through Antwerp

  • By 1603, English merchants were trading with Russia, the Baltic, the Ottoman Empire and Asia

    • This reduced England's vulnerability to disruption in any single market

• London's growth to 200,000 by 1600 reflected the scale of trade's impact on society

  • It became one of the largest cities in northern Europe, concentrating financial and commercial activity

  • Internal trade grew alongside overseas commerce

• Customs duties (especially tonnage and poundage) provided an increasingly important source of Crown revenue

The case that trade's importance should not be overstated

• England's trading companies were still modest organisations by 1603

  • The East India Company was only months old at Elizabeth's death

    • Its significance came under the Stuarts

  • The Muscovy Company ultimately struggled to compete with the Dutch in the Baltic

• The economic depression of the 1590s showed how vulnerable trade still was

  • Four successive harvest failures between 1594 and 1597 hit the poorest hard despite commercial growth

  • The war with Spain disrupted trade with Spanish-controlled markets for nearly two decades

• Internal trade surpassed foreign trade in value by the later Tudor period

  • This suggests overseas commerce alone does not explain England's development