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How did Thomas More criticize enclosure in England?
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utopia
Sir Thomas More, oil on panel by Hans Holbein the Younger, 1527; in the Frick Collection, New York City.
In his 1516 work Utopia, Thomas More offered a scathing critique of the enclosure movement, which he viewed as a destructive force that prioritized the greed of the wealthy over the survival of the peasantry.1
More utilized the character Raphael Hythloday to expose the social devastation caused by landlords, noblemen, and even abbots who converted arable land into sheep pastures to profit from the lucrative wool trade. His criticism centered on several key points:2
- Human Displacement: More famously employed a grotesque metaphor, describing sheep as "great devourers" that "swallow down the very men themselves," as the conversion of farmland to pasture forced families off their land and destroyed entire villages.2
- Moral Condemnation: He characterized those responsible for enclosures as "greedy individuals" who preyed upon their native land like a "malignant growth," converting a national advantage into a "national disaster".1
- Social Consequences: By destroying the traditional agricultural base, enclosure created a surplus of displaced, impoverished people, effectively turning productive citizens into vagrants and paupers.32
Through these satirical devices, More highlighted the stark inequality of his time, where the pursuit of profit by the elite directly caused the starvation and suffering of the common people.12