ABSTRACT
In the seventeenth century England was still to a very large extent an agricultural country. Industry was on the whole in a somewhat backward state. In nearly all branches it had lagged behind that of the Continent. The situation did not change until crowds of Flemish weavers were driven to England by the consequences of the religious wars in the Netherlands. The general conditions of agricultural life prevented the development of a sharp class antagonism between the small peasant and the agricultural labourer. A stronger antagonism, however, existed between members of the handicraft industries, now developing into staple industries and manufactures, and the merchants who dealt in their produce. In the reign of Elizabeth the work of the Reformation was resumed and finished off, but not without provoking fresh rebellions. The middle class of the towns brought it on, and the yeomanry of the country districts fought it out.
