The England’s Immigrants Project Teacher Scholar Scheme 2016

Were there really aliens living among the population of England in the 15th century?

Lesson 2

Welcome! Listen to the music and get ready to

go back in time again First task is a quick review:•Were there aliens in England in the 15th century?•What sort of jobs did they do? •What else did you learn about them?

Your turn to have a think

• When you were investigating the aliens you used a database

• We actually know quite a lot about aliens• Historians think this is wonderful• But would those aliens have agreed?

How were the aliens treated in 15th century England?

• We know so much about the aliens because we have government records

• But what are these records and how do historians use them?

• What can they tell from them?

Look carefully at this document and Look at the bigger image you have been given.

• What can you identify?

• Is it a letter? • A recipe? • Is it

something important?

• How do you know?

It is a tax document.

• Tax today – Direct tax: Government directly takes a percentage of

your income to pay for schools, hospitals, the armed forces and much more

– Indirect tax: Government collects a percentage of the cost of things we buy eg customs duties or VAT

• Tax in medieval times – Indirect tax more common as it is easier to collect– But there were direct taxes– One of these was the Alien Subsidy – a tax on

foreigners!

Why was the Alien Subsidy introduced?

• Feel free to speculate – what reasons can you suggest which explain why the monarch brought in the Alien subsidy?

Why was the Alien Subsidy introduced?

• Finished speculating? Let’s look at some documents!

• Look at Source 1-The Libelle Englyshe Polyce

• Look at Source 2- a Parliamentary petition

The Libelle of Englyshe Polcye 1436 The trewe process of Englysh policyeOf utterwarde to kepep thys regne in restOf oure England, that no man may denyeNer say of soth but it is one the best,Is thys, as who seith, south, north, east or westCheryshe marchandyse, kepe thamyralteThat we bee maysteres of the narowe see. For if this see be kepte in tyme of wereWho cane here pass wthought daunger and wooWho may eschape , who may myschef dyfferre?What marchaundy may forby be agoo?For nedes hem muste take truse every foo,Flaundres and Spayne and othere, trust to me, Or ellis hindered alle for thys narowe see. 

May it please your Royal Highness to grant that, regardless of the arrangement your grandfather, Edward I had made, the merchants from such countries as Flanders, France, Scotland and Italy, be obliged to sell all goods that they bring into England within forty days of their arrival. If they don’t agree to this then their goods should be confiscated. Please can his Royal Highness remember that the grant your Grandfather made to alien merchants was not with the permission of prelates and Earls of this realm? Do you know that alien merchants stay as long as they like in England and they make the Englyshe buy their goods at outrageously increased prices? This is damaging to your Royal Highness and the whole community. These alien merchants are affecting the livelihood of the Englyshe, who have rights enshrined in the Great Charter. Let these alien merchants live in the house of good people of the city, and not live in their own houses. It will be good to have these merchants eating at the same table as a freeman of our city again.

Why was the Alien Subsidy introduced?

• Did you find any of the following factors in the two documents? – Economic hardship– Competition from foreign traders and merchants– Discontent against the monarch– Wanting to control the seas– Not allowing foreigners to have their own homes– Restricting the business activities of foreigners

Some useful extra background…• Turbulent times ….

– England was at war with France from 1337-1453. Historians call it The Hundred Years War.

– Wars were (and still are) very expensive. – Monarchs paid for the war through taxes.– Turbulent times brought discontent among the population.– There was a distrust of aliens in the country, particularly London.– There was resentment of the freedom aliens had in the city.– There was unrest in the Netherlands, Ghent, Cologne and other

areas which was bringing more aliens into the country.• Have any of these points changed your views or strengthened your

views?

Why was the Alien Subsidy introduced?

• After looking at the documents and the extra background, have your views changed? Time to vote again

How did the Alien Subsidy work?

• The monarch decreed there would be a subsidy• Government officials sent instructions (writs) to local

officials• Local officials asked reliable local men to identify aliens• Aliens were recorded on lists • The tax was collected from these aliens

How did it affect people and how did they respond?

• Most aliens just paid the tax. There was not much they could do about it!

• Some avoided the tax by paying for ‘Letters of Denization’ like the one below

• Think back to the earlier document – what can we tell about this one just by looking at it?

• Speculate: What do you think it might say?

Letter of denization for Gervase le Vulre and

his wife, 1441

The king knows all about the gracious service that his loyal servant Master Gervase de Vulre has given him. The king hopes Gervase will continue to provide this service both to himself and to his successors. The king wants everyone to know that from now on Gervase and his wife, who came originally from France, should now be considered to be natives of this realm of England, and shall be treated as true English. Gervase is a suitable person to have jobs given by me the king or by other important people. Gervase, his wife and their heirs can own land and property, just like any true born English person for ever. Gervase and his wife and his heirs can seek justice in the courts of this country, like other English born and and woman , provided that Gervase and Joan his wife are loyal and pay homage to us and contribute taxes and other things just like every other native born English man and woman Witnessed this day in Westminster the 21st day of January 1441

Gervase’s denization

• Why has Gervase received his letter?• How will Gervase and his wife be

treated?• What do Gervase and his wife gain?• What do they have to do in return?• Does it surprise you that Gervase paid for

his letter?

Bringing it all together• So what can we now say about aliens in England in the 15th

century?– Where did they live?– What did they do?– Did they make a contribution? – Were they accepted? Resented?– How were they treated? – What else can we say about them?

Your final task• Choose an alien from the England’s Immigrants database and

write a short account of what it is like living as an alien in England.

• You can EITHER choose an ordinary alien about whom we do not have much information and piece together your account of what you think is likely based on what you have found out. You will have to use your imagination but not too much. No dragons – or aliens from another planet!

• OR you can take one of the more famous aliens like Nicholas Jone and write his or her story.

• You could write your account as a diary or a letter, or some other way if you prefer.