Rebellion and disorder under the Tudors, 1485–1603 - 3 Agrarian…

The idea

Kett's rebellion in 1549 grew from social and economic pressures in East Anglia. Enclosures, especially of common land, reduced grazing and arable access for poorer tenants, while rising rents, entry fines, inflation and population growth deepened rural discontent. Many rioters first pulled down fences around enclosures before the rising widened into a camp at Mousehold Heath. The Duke of Somerset, Lord Protector, had encouraged complaints against enclosures and sent a commission to investigate illegal ones in 1549. Its limited action and the perception that it offered hope without remedy fuelled expectations and anger, helping turn local grievances into a major rebellion.

What earns the marks

• Explains how enclosures, particularly of common land, harmed smallholders and labourers by reducing access to grazing and arable land, creating a direct grievance that rioters expressed by destroying fences.
• Explains wider rural discontent: rising rents and entry fines, price inflation, population growth and insecure employment increased poverty and resentment among copyholders and wage labourers.
• Explains how these social and economic grievances interacted with religious and political complaints to produce the camp at Mousehold Heath and the scale of Kett's rebellion.
• Assesses the relative importance of enclosure compared with other rural grievances, recognising that enclosure was often a symbol of wider economic hardship rather than the sole cause.

Common mistakes and how to put them right

• Claiming Kett's rebellion was purely about enclosure.

  Put it right by explaining that enclosure was one grievance among wider rural discontent such as rents, fines and inflation.

• Assuming Somerset's commission solved the problem.

  Put it right by noting it investigated complaints but achieved little, so expectations were raised and then disappointed.

• Confusing the 1549 enclosure commission with later Tudor poor laws.

  Put it right by keeping the focus on its immediate role in the events leading to Kett's rebellion.

Exam tips

• Link each economic cause to a specific rebel action or demand, such as fence destruction or articles drawn up at Mousehold Heath, to show causation rather than listing grievances.
• Weigh social and economic factors against religious and political ones when the question asks for the most important cause, and state a clear judgement.
• Use precise terms such as common land, entry fine and copyholder correctly to demonstrate secure contextual knowledge.