Life in Elizabethan England 1558-88

• Lower class Leisure

  • inns and tavern; ale served at any point
  • theatre and storytelling; introduction of printing press (robin hood) and theatres
• Lords Leisure

  • tobacco industry became increasingly popular but expensive
  • read translations of greek and roman text
  • employed musicians to organise evenings
• Leisure for both classes

  • gambling= aristocracy gambles with cards, lower class gambled on cockfighting
  • celebrating national holidays like saints day, may day
  • hunting= aristocracy hunted deer on their own land whilst poor hunted rabbits
• William Harrison’s 4 groups in society

  1. gentlemen (lords and nobles)
  2. citizens and burgesses (lawyers, master craftsmen)
  3. yeomen= farmers who owned land
  4. fourth sort (servants and craftspeople)
• Improvement of living standards

  • opportunities for wealth= more education, ability to start businesses and buy land
  • more houses with better construction= insulation with oak panels and devices decreased risk of houses falling down
  • more leisure activities improved quality of life
• Elizabethan Theatres

  • prior to her reign there were zero theatres

  opened..

  1. theatre (1567)
  2. curtain theatre (1577)
  3. rose theatre (1587)
• Features of Theatres

  • all social classes attended; cheap fees
  • lower class area was called the pit; cheapest tickets
  • galleries were where the upper class were situate; protected from rain
  • some aristocracy sat on stage to show wealth
• Elizabeths attitudes towards the theatre

  • invited actors to court to perform for her
  • (1572) censorship introduced to protect her from political ideology
  • acting companies required a royal license and playscripts submitted to master rebels
• Puritan attitudes to theatre

  • believed that the theatres encouraged worship of the devil
  • encouraged false idolism
• Elizabethan education

  • only boys if higher class allowed to attend school; social hierarchy reflected education
  • taught greek latin history philosoppy and government
• Women’s education= music dancing and needlework

  Boys sports education= horse-riding, archery fencing
• Education system; Grammar Schools

  • (1560s) 40 grammar schools set up
  • public speaking and debating valued highly
  • memorised passages within the bible; valued moral lessons
  • alternative curriculum available for craftsmen
• Lower class education

  • depended on how valuable it was in the eyes of the family
  • boys would be in apprentices for family businesses like farms
• Factors that increased poverty

  1. harvest
  2. unemployment
  3. inflation
  4. population increase
  5. closure of monasteries
• Harvests

  • 24 out of 60 bad harvests 30 years of and prior to her reign
  • prices of bread rose; poor affected
  • farmers switched agricultural methods which put village labourers out of work
  • rack-renting= increasing rent of farming land
• Unemployment in industries

  • cloth trade was the biggest industry in the 16th century until it collapsed in 1550s
  • thousands of spinners and weavers out of jobs
• Population increase

  • as the population increases, opportunities for work in trades decreases
  • more people earned less money
• Inflation

  • population increase led to increased demand for goods
  • Henry VIII debasement of coinage made silvers wealth inaccurate; merchants raised prices as they didn’t trust the value of coins
• Closure of Monastaries

  • henry VIII dissolution of monasteries left the homeless starving as they couldn’t seek help
  • couldnt provide shelter or food to the homeless
• Attitudes towards the poor

  1. political
  2. social
  3. economic
  4. religious
• Political attitudes towards the poor

  • governement concerned about danger of rebellion; rising numbers made risk greater
  • catholic nobles could encourage rebellion
• Religious attitudes to the poor

  • puritan belief states that unemployed people were lazy
  • was deemed a sinful quality
• Social attitudes

  • outbreak of plague blamed on wandering vagabonds who could spread disease
  • Thomas harsh exaggerated the amount of vagabonds within the country
• Economic attitudes

  • rich landowners concerned with increased spending of poor relief
  • fears of increasing crime due to wandering vagabonds
• Laws and punishment for poor

  • Vagabond act (1572)= anyone except under 14 was whipped; a persistent offender was executed
  • Poor Relief Act (1576)= towns required to find work for idle poor, labelled either deserving or idle poor, sent to house of corrections
• Voyages in Elizabethan England

  1. drakes circumnavigation (1577)
  2. raleighs expedition in 1585
  3. reighs expedition in 1587
• Circumnavigation aim

  • to attack settlements in new world; seeks vengeance against attack on Hawkins fleet 1564
  • wanted to weaken catholic power
  • find new land to colonise
  • personal prosperity by capturing gold and silver; used to pay back investors of expeditions
• discovering new land/ routes (Drakes)

  • ability to sail round southern tips of south america
  • tierro del fuel was a group of islands
  • java was attached to a continent
• Established new trade opportunities (Drake)

  • established trade treaty with ternate to trade spices
• Brought home Riche’s (Drake)

  • in cacafuego they looted 26 tonnes of silver and 89 pounds of gold; equivalent to £400,000
• Increased englands status (drake)

  • claims california/ nova albion for elizabeth
  • established new colonies
• Setbacks of drakes voyages

  • ships sank in marigold
  • attacked by native tribes of mocha
• • Raleigh wasn’t present for any of the expeditions but funded and organised them
• Discovered New Land (1585 raleigh)

  • established settlement in roanoke island but eventually forced to move out by secotan tribe
• Brought home riches (1585 raleigh)

  • discovered gold mines in chesopeake bay
• Increased englands status (1585)

  • started building a series of settlements in north america
• Discovered new land (1587 raleigh)

  • parts of virginia explored
• Established trade opportunities (1587)

  • potatoes became a new common food resource after its discovery
• Increased statues (1587)

  • increased desire to build further colonies beyond virginia
• Setbacks of 1587 voyage

  • colonists depended on native american food; led to potential starvation
  • ships failed to return with fresh supplies