Elizabethan Society 1558-88

• What was the Elizabethan purpose of education

  Help people prepare for their expected roles in life
• Who was educated at home

  Poor families, noble families
• Where were poor families educated and why

  They had no formal education, but learnt labor skills EG farming (boys) and household chores (girls) did attend sunday school (church)
• Where were noble families educated and why

  Boys and girls educated separately by private tutors at home. Emphasis on subjects like literacy, classical languages, philosophy and theology.

  They learned skills and expectations of their social standing also
• What were the two school types

  Petty schools and grammar schools
• Who was educated in Petty schools and what do they learn.

  What was the girl's equivalent

  Children up to the age of 10 from wealthier families.

  Taught the basic reading, writing and arithmetic, Christian Faith.

  girls equivalent is Dame schools
• Who was taught in grammar schools and what did they learn

  Well-off or talented lower-class Boys - sons of merchants, Yeoman ect

  Taught subjects and skills focused on their likely profession, and they learned their craft and apprenticeship skills also.

  They were strict and had long hours
• Who was educated at university's and what did they learn

  Middle and upper class families.

  The only available universities are Oxford and Cambridge

  Lessons included Latin, Greek, maths, philosophy, geometry and astronomy
• What was continuity in attitudes to education from previous times

  Working class population still had optional attendance to school and many couldn't afford to go.

  Working class children still have to pay towards the family income
• What was changed in the attitudes to education in Elizabethan era

  early education was largely focused on practical skills and preparing children for the roles in Society.

  Attitudes slowly began to change, with the rise of humanism (people believed they should be able to decide their own life pathways) so slowly more people began to become literate. Especially, as Protestants believe reading the Bible in English is the best way to get close to God
• What leisure activities did Nobles partake in

  Hunting

  Fencing

  Tennis

  Boules

  Fishing
• What leisure activities did farmers, craftsmen and the lower classes do

  Baiting - bear baiting involved setting dogs on a chained bear. People placed bets on who would win

  Wrestling - often done in public in streets or arenas. Only the lower class wrestled in public

  Football - teams could have unlimited numbers, villages often played each other, there were no official rules and the pitch could be any size

  Cock-fighting - clockrals with metal spikes on their feet were made to fight with each other. People bet on the outcome
• Who attended theatres, what did they see and how did the actors make money.

  All social classes attended, different seats cost different amounts of money

  people saw biblical plays and also the introduction of non-biblical plays such as Shakespeare

  Wealthy people sponsored professional actors. For example, the queen and the Earl of Leicester. These actors were known as the queen's men and Leicester's men,
• Features of Elizabethan music and who listened to it

  Instruments included lutes, spinets and harpsichords

  Wealthy families employed personal musicians to play during feasts and meals

  People of all classes played instruments for fun and often made music and danced, however they danced respectively to their classes
• Describe the seven reasons for increasing poverty in Elizabethan times

  Demand for food

  Poor harvests

  Recessions

  Competition for land (group under struggles with land)

  Enclosure (group under struggles with land)

  The wool trade

  Migration to urban areas
• How did demand for food increase the numbers of people in poverty

  Increase in population led to increase in demand for food, leads to increase in price of food as it was scarcer, leads to people not being able to afford food and poverty.
• How did poor harvests increase the numbers of people in poverty

  Reduces food supply, increases prices so less people can afford it and are in poverty

  Families who form their own food are hit badly
• How did recessions increase the numbers of people in poverty

  Conflict with Spain led to embargos (bands on trade) which drives up prices and damages jobs
• How was the issue of land leading to an increase the numbers of people in poverty

  - competition for land

  Larger population and more demand for food means more land is needed for animals, crops and living.

  As a result, many can't afford the increased rent and upfront costs for using land

  .

  - enclosure

  Dividing land into smaller fields for animals or arable (crops) farming for profit.

  Common land is no longer available for people to grow their food on

  Larger farms lead to more efficient farming methods which mean there are fewer farming jobs
• How was the wool trade leading to an increase in poverty

  Increased demand for wool abroad meant land was used for breeding sheep which were kept alive for their wool rather than for food.

  Sheep farming also required fewer workers so there was less farming jobs
• How was migration to urban areas contributing to the increase in poverty

  All the factors like enclosure, rent, poh harvests, competition for land ect drove people into towns and cities. Larger urban population needed more food which drove the prices up further.
• What was the name for homelessness, people who are homeless, and travelling without a destination.

  Vagrancy, vagabonds, vagabondage
• Who were vagabonds #and What did vagabonds do.

  Travel around looking for work and often camped near towns. They did small crimes like theft. They also sometimes faned illness to make people give them money.

  They were hard to control and punish for the governments, and offered a threat to societies.
• What event in the Tudor. Made the poor's situation worse

  Henry VIII's reformation of the church and the dissolution of the monasteries stopped poor people from getting charity aid, as the monasteries provided lots of this help and charity
• Why did wealthy people believe poverty was bad

  They thought it would lead to an increase in crime and disorder
• How was poverty defined in Elizabethan England

  - Spending more than 80% of your income on bread

  - being unemployed so you can't provide yourself

  - needing financial help (poor relief)
• What three groups were the Elizabethan poor categorized into. What did these groups mean

  - helpless poor

  People who were ill, disabled, elderly or infant

  - deserving poor

  Those who wanted to work but couldn't find employment

  - undeserving (idle) poor

  They could work but chose not to
• How could vagrants be punished

  Imprisonment, public whipping, hanging on third offense of begging
• Which feature of attitudes towards the poor was a change from previous times

  And Elizabethan authorities recognising that many people were in poverty for legitimate reasons, not just out of laziness
• What two new measures are put in place to do with poverty


  - Statute of Artificers 1563

  Ensure the poor rate was paid by all and All JP's would collect it.

  > in prisonment for non-payment

  > JP's could be fined £20 for not collecting poor relief

  .

  - poor relief act 1576

  JP's have to provide the poor with wool and raw materials to make items and sell. This helps to improve themselves and keep the poor in their local area

  > anyone who refuses is sent to a 'house of correction'
• What punishments were given in response to the increase in poverty

  vagabonds act 1572

  Outlined punishments for offenders...

  > A Whole drilled in the ear on first offence

  > in prisonment on second offence

  > death pedalty on third offense

  Also created a register for people who need assistance in the local area so the government could aid them
• The six factors that increased English exploration

  The growth of trade

  Private investments

  The printing press \

  New ship designs \

  New technology could be grouped all into new technology?

  Better maps /
• How did the growth of trade increase English exploration

  Conflict in the Netherlands means English merchants need to find new trading routes.

  Spain's colonies in America show how profitable exploration could be.

  This encourages long distance trade
• How did private Investments increase English exploration

  In English merchants couldn't lawfully trade with Spanish colonies, so many rich people financed privateers to do it illegally.

  Privateers sought new Territories to trade with or steal from for their investors
• How did the printing press increase English exploration

  More books about Adventures and profit to be had from exploration as publishing is faster, cheaper and accurate. this Inspires a new generation of explorers

  Also an increase in navigation books which explains techniques for sailing and Crossing open oceans. There's led to more successful voyages and predicted ease when sailing
• How did new design increase English exploration

  New gallons (used against the Armada) which were more agile, bigger, good carry more supplies, sale for longer and had better weapons (Canon decks).

  This makes journeys more profitable and easier and more likely to win in a naval attack.
• How did other new technology increase English exploration

  Creation of astrolabes. These helped navigation by measuring the angle between the Horizon and the North Star

  Advancements in mathematics improved accuracy of sailing, for example Thomas Harriot created a simpler way to calculate a ships sailing direction
• How did better Maps lead to an increase in English exploration

  New maps using parallel lines of latitude and longitude increased accuracy of maps, and makes sailing with them easier.

  Maps can also be duplicated quickly through the printing press, so they are all accurate and widely available and cheaper.
• Significance of Drake's circumnavigation of the globe

  - England's reputation as a sea fairing power increases. They gain respect

  - England increasingly seized the navy as its best means of Defense

  - Returned a handsome profit for Drake and his investors which encouraged other explorers

  - provided maps and knowledge for the areas they explored

  - enabled trade and exploration elsewhere, such as China, Africa and India

  - greatly angered the Spanish. King Philip II sees Elizabeth knighting Drake as a final insult to Spain
• What was the aim of the colonization of Virginia

  Increased tradelinks to the new world and open it up to settlement