Mary I: The Catholic Restoration · Summer Term

Economic and Social Problems under Mary

Harvest failures, sweating sickness, and administrative reforms.

About This Topic

Mary I's reign from 1553 to 1558 grappled with severe economic and social challenges that tested her government's capacity. Harvest failures in the mid-1550s caused food shortages and drove inflation, with grain prices doubling and debased coinage worsening the crisis. Sweating sickness outbreaks added to mortality rates, straining poor relief systems amid population growth. Her administration responded through measures like the 1551 coinage recoinage to stabilise currency, enclosure controls to protect arable land, and early naval reforms that strengthened dockyards and shipbuilding.

These issues sit within the A-Level Tudors module, linking social pressures to political instability and requiring students to assess causation and significance. Key skills include evaluating government responses to inflation, analysing if administrative and naval changes paved the way for Elizabethan achievements, and judging the 'crisis' label against evidence of continuity and adaptation.

Active learning suits this topic well. Students engage deeply when they handle primary sources on price riots or debate reform impacts in role-play councils, turning abstract crises into vivid narratives that sharpen analytical arguments and historical empathy.

Learning Objectives

• Analyze the causes and consequences of harvest failures and food shortages during Mary I's reign.
• Evaluate the effectiveness of Mary I's government's administrative and fiscal reforms in addressing economic instability.
• Critique the extent to which the 'sweating sickness' contributed to social and economic crisis in the 1550s.
• Compare Mary I's naval reforms with those of preceding and succeeding monarchs, assessing their long-term impact.
• Synthesize evidence to argue whether Mary I's reign was primarily a period of crisis or continuity.

Before You Start

The Tudor Dynasty: An Introduction

Why: Students need a basic understanding of the Tudor period and the political context of Mary I's accession before examining specific challenges of her reign.

Early Modern Economic Systems

Why: Familiarity with concepts like agrarian economies, early forms of currency, and trade is necessary to analyze the specific economic problems Mary faced.

Key Vocabulary

Debasement	The reduction in the precious metal content of a country's coinage, often leading to inflation and loss of confidence in the currency.
Sweating Sickness	A mysterious and rapid epidemic disease that caused high mortality rates in England, particularly in the late 15th and early 16th centuries, reappearing during Mary's reign.
Enclosure Movement	The process of consolidating small landholdings into larger farms, often by fencing off common lands, which could lead to social disruption and food supply issues.
Recoinage	The process of calling in old, debased coinage and issuing new, standard-value coins, undertaken to stabilize the currency.
Poor Laws	Legislation aimed at addressing poverty and social welfare, which became increasingly important as economic hardship and population growth strained relief systems.

Active Learning Ideas

Source Stations: Crisis Evidence

Prepare stations with extracts on harvest failures, sweating sickness reports, and reform proclamations. Groups visit each for 10 minutes, noting causes, responses, and impacts, then share syntheses. Follow with class vote on crisis extent.

⏱ 50 min·Small Groups

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Debate Pairs: Reforms vs Crisis

Assign pairs to argue for or against Mary's reforms as Elizabethan foundations. Provide data cards on naval spending and coinage. Pairs prepare 3-minute speeches, then switch sides for rebuttals. Conclude with whole-class evaluation.

⏱ 45 min·Pairs

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Timeline Build: Economic Timeline

Individuals or pairs sequence 12 event cards on inflation, sickness, and reforms chronologically. Add impact annotations using class glossary. Groups present one segment, linking to key questions.

⏱ 30 min·Small Groups

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Council Role-Play: Inflation Response

Form council groups with roles like chancellor and advisors. Present scenario of 1557 price spike; groups propose and vote on policies from source menu. Debrief compares to actual decisions.

⏱ 40 min·Small Groups

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Real-World Connections

Economists today analyze historical periods of inflation, like the 1550s in England, to understand the impact of currency debasement and supply shocks on national economies, informing current monetary policy.

Public health officials and epidemiologists study past pandemics and epidemics, such as the sweating sickness, to identify patterns of disease spread, mortality, and societal impact, aiding in preparedness for future health crises.

Urban planners and historical preservationists examine the effects of enclosure and land use changes on historical towns and rural landscapes, understanding how past economic policies shaped the physical environment.

Watch Out for These Misconceptions

Common Misconception

Mary's economic problems stemmed solely from her religious policies.

What to Teach Instead

Challenges like harvest failures and sweating sickness predated her reign and arose from climatic and demographic factors. Group source sorting helps students distinguish policy from circumstance, building nuanced causation skills.

Common Misconception

All of Mary's reforms failed and contributed to crisis.

What to Teach Instead

Naval and coinage reforms showed successes, like stabilised mint output, laying Elizabethan groundwork. Debate activities reveal evidence balances, as students weigh short-term strains against long-term gains through peer challenge.

Common Misconception

Inflation was minor compared to religious upheaval.

What to Teach Instead

Price rises hit 300% for some goods, sparking riots; active timelines let students quantify and sequence alongside burnings, correcting overemphasis on faith by integrating social data.

Assessment Ideas

Exit Ticket

Provide students with a short primary source excerpt describing a harvest failure or price increase. Ask them to write two sentences explaining the immediate economic impact and one sentence connecting it to a government response during Mary's reign.

Discussion Prompt

Pose the question: 'Were Mary I's administrative and naval reforms a foundation for Elizabethan success, or simply continuations of existing trends?' Facilitate a debate where students must cite specific examples of reforms and their outcomes to support their arguments.

Quick Check

Present students with a list of events and policies from Mary's reign (e.g., coinage debasement, sweating sickness outbreak, naval dockyard expansion, enclosure legislation). Ask them to categorize each as primarily an 'economic problem', 'social problem', or 'government response', and briefly justify one categorization.

Frequently Asked Questions

How did Mary's government respond to 1550s inflation?

Responses included the 1551-1552 coinage recoinage to withdraw debased silver, grain imports via royal commissions, and vagrancy laws tying relief to work. These mixed measures curbed some speculation but faced resistance from enclosures. Students benefit from comparing outcomes to Edwardian policies for continuity insights.

Were Mary's administrative reforms basis for Elizabethan success?

Reforms like centralised treasury audits and Portsmouth dockyard expansions improved efficiency, influencing Elizabeth's navy. However, incomplete implementation limited impact. Source-based pair debates help students evaluate evidence, weighing innovations against inherited Tudor structures for balanced judgements.

How can active learning teach Mary's economic and social problems?

Role-plays of privy councils facing harvest crises make policy decisions tangible, while station rotations with price lists and disease tracts build evidential analysis. Collaborative timelines connect events to key questions, fostering evaluation skills as groups negotiate interpretations and defend crisis assessments.

To what extent was Mary's reign a period of crisis?

Economic woes like food riots and sickness marked crisis, yet adaptive reforms showed resilience. A-Level demands weighing against stability evidence, such as steady tax yields. Group debates on this sharpen students' ability to construct substantiated arguments from diverse sources.