Quote 476 of 495

That Elizabeth did hope for peace, even so late as the spring of 1588,
we can be fairly sure.  In spite of the mounting war fever among the
Puritans, a good many of her subjects shared her hope, mostly because
of the state of the cloth trade.  A Lancastrian parliament once
declared that "the making of cloth in all parts of the realm is the
greatest occupation and living of the poor commons of this land," and
in the century and more that had passed since, its importance had
increased.  Normally, woolens amounted to four fifths of English
exports and when exports diminished, the clothiers promptly threw
spinners and weavers out of work the the fleece from the squire's
flock was scarcely worth selling.  A bad market for woolens pinched
more purses than any other kind of catastrophe, and of late the market
for woolens had been very bad indeed.
		-- The Armada, Garrett Mattingly, p. 189

Tags: peace occupation parliament spite catastrophe flock fleece purses squire puritans fourfifths lancastrian clothtrade warfever garrettmattingly