Bartholomew Steer facts for kids

Bartholomew Steer was an English carpenter who lived in the 1500s. He is known for trying to start a protest in Oxfordshire, England, in 1596. At this time, many people in the area were very poor and hungry. Bartholomew Steer wanted to help them.

Why People Were Unhappy

In the late 1500s, life was hard for many people in Oxfordshire. There wasn't enough food, and poverty was a big problem. Many workers, like weavers, were struggling.

A major reason for their hardship was something called "enclosure." This meant that common land, which everyone could use for farming or grazing animals, was being fenced off and taken over by wealthy landowners. This left many poor families with nowhere to grow food or keep their animals, making their lives even tougher.

Bartholomew Steer saw this suffering all around him. Even though he said he wasn't personally in need, he cared deeply about his community.

Steer's Plan to Help

Steer knew that people in Oxfordshire had protested against unfair rules before. He encouraged his fellow workers to stand up against the enclosures.

His main goal was to tear down the fences that blocked off the common land. He also wanted to protest against the landowners and officers who supported these enclosure laws. Steer hoped to gather a large group of people and march to London. There, he believed, other unhappy workers would join them.

Steer's big idea was that everyone should have common ownership and access to land. He wanted a fairer system where people could share resources.

The Attempted Protest and Its Outcome

In November 1596, Bartholomew Steer and four other men met, ready for many people to join their protest. However, the crowd they expected never arrived.

Soon after, Steer and his companions were arrested. Steer was taken to Newgate Prison. He was questioned by an important official named Edward Coke. The government was very worried about this attempted protest.

It's believed that Steer was treated very harshly during his questioning. When the group went to trial in June 1597, Steer was not there. It is almost certain that he had died by then, either because of the harsh treatment or the difficult prison conditions.

Changes After the Protest Attempt

Even though Steer's protest never fully happened, the government took notice of the problems that led to it. They realized that something needed to be done about the enclosures so that "the poor may be able to live."

Because of this, the English Parliament passed a new law. This law stated that any land that had been changed from farming land to pasture (for animals) since Queen Elizabeth I came to power in 1558 should be returned to farming use. This was a step towards helping the poor.

Historians today see Bartholomew Steer's story as an important example of how ordinary people felt about the unfairness of enclosure and the difficult living conditions during that time.