The Tudor period gave birth to two fundamental problems, unemployment and destitution, and for that reason alone the 16th century has a lot in common with more recent periods. Many laws were passed to deal with industrial conditions, but a number had the additional object of relieving destitution. The dissolution of the monasteries by Henry 8th was considered by many to have contributed in a major way to causing distress. But in recent times there is a view that this was not the case, and that labour saving agriculture and other economic factors were probably more important. The greater scale of manufacturing in Tudor times rendered employment less stable. The influx of silver from the New World caused a gradual rise in prices, food, clothing, and rents rose more rapidly than wages, inflicting great hardships on the poor. Another important cause of distress was the conversion of large areas of arable land into pastures. Large demands home and abroad for English wool made it far more profitable to breed sheep than to plough the land. In the 16th century England became the greatest wool producing country in the world. So many who had cultivated the land for centuries were evicted on a large scale, in order that sheep runs might be formed.
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