ABSTRACT
An increase in population and a steep rise in prices determined much of the course of English history in the Tudor and Stuart period. Agriculture was the main occupation of Tudor England, but its practice varied from one region to another, depending on soil, climate, topography, contour and tradition. The outcry against enclosure became intense in the mid-sixteenth century, even though the actual amount which took place in Henry VIII’s reign was limited and largely confined to the Midlands region. Bubonic plague was another scourge that struck without warning and caused not only suffering but also acute social dislocation. In 1578 the government issued the first printed book of plague orders, requiring infected households to be quarantined. Government servants had to be resident there, at least for part of the year, and so did an increasing number of merchants, for during the Tudor period London established itself as the principal centre of English commerce.
