#english_history 

## Economy & Trade
The situation for the poor improved in the seocond half of the 17th century. But it was the middle groups who continued to do well, as many who started life as yeoman farmers or traders became minor gentry or merchants. Partly their success is attributed to their interest in farming improvements.

By the 1650's the government had already begun to control the trade in cereals to make sure that merchants did not export these while Britain still needed them. However, by 1670 Britain was able to export cereals to Europe, where living conditions were much worse.

Trade withing Britain itself changed enormously in the 17th century, as many regions became more economically connected to each other. E.g. Kent grew more fruit and vegetables to export to other regions, got known as "the garden of England".
Improved transport resulted in a change in buying and selling, with most towns having proper shops.

London remained far larger than any other town with more than 500,000 people by 1650. It controlled almost all sea trade with other countries. Although the [[Great Plague and Fire of 1666]] did kill a lot of people, London's supremacy still was a truism. After the fire the richer citizens for the first time had **water supplied** to their houses, through specially made wooden pipes.

## Society
In London there was a new class of rich aristocrats, most of whom belonged to the nobility, or had bought a high position.
After 1650 the rich began to meet in the [[Coffeehouse culture|new coffeehouses]], where they chewed the fat about politics and other matters.

Some of the old nobility did not accept the new rich as equals, and started calling themselves "squires".

While the rich of London visited the coffeehouses, the ordinary folk went to the drinking houses, **"alehouses"** (ale - an ilk of beer), which soon became the centre of popular culture. By the end of the century the government had secret informers watching the alehouses and listening for rebellious talk.

## Family life
In 1650 the population of Britain and Ireland combined was 7.7 million, though then the rate started to fall. It is not really clear why this happened.

During the Tudor and [[The Stuarts|Stuart]] age, when the authority of the monarch was almost absolute, the authority of the husband and father also grew. This was also the result of the fact that the Protestants placed the duties of maintaing spiritual welfare of a family on its father, who led daily prayers and bible reading.