Status and Society

Elizabethen Era Queen Elizabeth

Status, Daily Life, Entertainment Elizabethen Society Status, Daily Life, Entertainment By Natalie Lentell

Status During Elizabethan Times, Society was set by Social status. There were classes of people, these classes determined what people could do in society, were they could go and how they would be treated. Most people were put in a class by the blood line, according to were they came from and how there other family members were. They definitely were not judged on there personality’s and how good of a person they were. Some examples of classes in Elizabethan society were; High Society. Society began to form along new lines in the Tudor years. If feudal England was an age of community, Tudor England was one of individuality. Nobility and knights were still at the top of the social ladder, but the real growth in society was in the merchant class Nobles old and new. Within the nobility there was a distinction between old families and new. Most old noble families were Catholic, and most new noble families were Protestant. The upper classes were exempt from the new oaths of allegiance to the Church of England, and many Catholic families maintained private chaplains. The new merchant class. The Tudor era saw the rise of modern commerce with cloth and weaving leading the way. A prosperous merchant class emerged from the ashes of the Wars of the Roses. The prosperity of the wool trade led to a surge in building in the active wool areas. "Wool churches" can be seen today in the Cotswolds, Lavenham, Leominster, and Stamford, among others. The importance of the wool trade in late medieval and Tudor England cannot be overstated. Witness the inscription carved on a monument in a wool church, "I thank God and ever shall, it was the sheep that payed for all". These classes could be categorized into three classes: High- royal family (highest class), Bishop, protestants, anglicans Middle –nobility, knights, Catholics Low- day-labourers, poor husbandmen [farmers], and some retailers (those who own no land) copyholders [leaseholders], and all artisans such as tailors, shoemakers, carpenters, brickmakers, masons, etc. As for slaves and bondmen, we have none. (artisans or labourers) (women could be placed in any of these classes according to what there husbands were or if they were part of the royal family)

Daily Life Daily life in Elizabethan England varied according to status and location. This page reflects the general daily life for the majority of the English people and the some of the major events which effected their lives. It was the time of the Renaissance - new ideas in science and technology. The Introduction of the theatre and the work of playwrights such as William Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe and great poets such as John Donne and Edmund Spenser. Changes in leisure and entertainment, increase in trade, changes in the countryside with the wool trade and discoveries in the New World. Elizabethan Village Life
Elizabethan Village Life changed with the seasons - the busiest being during harvest and hay making periods. People lived and worked in close family units and trades and specific skills were passed from Father to son. A village would contain a variety of skilled men helping to maintain the self-sufficiency of the village - blacksmiths, carpenters, builders, roofers, ploughmen, cowmen , farmers and the peasants and labourers. Rural England had its own social hierarchy The Lord of the Manor The Gentry - gentlemen owners of local land Yeoman - English freemen who took on various roles of responsibility - jury service, church wardens etc Free holders of land Tenants Skilled Laborers Landless Laborers (unskilled) Other work such as milkmaids, servants and millers were usually beholden to the Lord of the Manor. the Monarchy
 Queen Elizabeth I ruled England. She was a popular monarch and the English people loved her. She was the daughter of King Henry VIII  and well versed in the art of rhetoric. She inspired the English people with some great speeches which confirmed her position as a strong leader of the country. one of her finest speeches was made when she addressed to the English army at Tilbury Fort, when invasion by the mighty Spanish Armada was imminent: "...I know I have but the body of a weak and feeble woman; but I have the heart of a king, and of a king of England, too; and think foul scorn that Parma or Spain, or any prince of Europe, should dare to invade the borders of my realms: to which, rather than any dishonour should grow by me, I myself will take up arms..." Queen Elizabeth had never married and therefore never been subject to the wishes of a husband - she had not brought a foreign prince to influence the everyday lives of the English people. Her leadership skills provided a sense of security and stability to the people of England and Elizabethan Daily life.

Entertainment Elizabethan Entertainment was extremely important to people who lived in the Elizabethan era. The lives of Elizabethans were hard, the mortality rate was high due to frequent outbreaks of the Bubonic Plague and life expectation was low. Elizabethan entertainment was popular whenever there was something to celebrate! A betrothal, wedding, victories and festivals. Court entertainment was regular, often a nightly occurrence combined with feasts, jousts and banquets often accompanied by music and dancing. But the poor people enjoyed entertainment from acting troupes, tournaments, dancing, trained animals, mummers (dancers), mystery plays, jugglers and strolling players. Tournaments, Games, Sports, Gaming and Gambling also played an important part in Elizabethan entertainment. Types of Elizabethan Entertainment
- There were many different types of Elizabethan Entertainment many of which are detailed as follows: Feasts - A large, elaborately prepared meal, usually for many persons and often accompanied by court entertainment. Often celebrated religious festivals Banquets - A ceremonial dinner honoring a particular guest Fairs - The Annual Summer Fair was often a bawdy affair Plays - Starting as plays enacted in town squares followed by the actors using the courtyards of taverns or inns ( referred to as Inn-yards ) followed by the first theatres ( great open air amphitheatres built in the same style as the Roman Coliseum ) and then the introduction of indoor theatres called Playhouses Mystery Plays - Re-enacting stories from the Bible Festivals - Celebrating Church festivals Dancing - Elizabethan dances enjoyed by the Upper Classes, Royalty and Nobility included the Cinque-pace, Galliard, Pavane, Roundel, Tordion and the Volta Jousts / Tournaments - A series of tilting matches between knights Games and Sports - Sports and games which included archery, bowling, cards, dice, hammer-throwing, quarter-staff contests, quoits, skittles and wrestling Animal Sports - Including Bear and Bull baiting. Dog and Cock fighting Hunting - Sport followed by the nobility often using dogs Hawking - Sport followed by the nobility with hawks

-Knights -Knights fighting -Gentleman -Elizabethan theatre -Merchants -Farmers -Elizabethan festival -Yeomen

l4.com/science/microsites/S/spellbinder/worldview.shtml References l4.com/science/microsites/S/spellbinder/worldview.shtml http://www.wvup.edu/mberdine/Shakespeare/ShakElizWorldView.htm

By Natalie Lentell