Elizabeth I

• economic impact on society

  • inflation = replaced debased coins with minted ones = limited effect
  • increasing crime and demands for higher pay = statute of artificers to regulate training and fix prices = difficult to enforce
  • increasing poverty = poor law - fines for those who refuse to contribute = limited impact
• religious impact on society

  • did not please the protestants in terms of structure
  • "half-reformed"
• continuity

  • nobles = great landowners - senior positions
  • gentry = served as MPs - wide range of social role
  • commoners = lived in rural areas - low standard of living
• change

  • nobles = no dukedoms after 1572
  • gentry = growth in numbers
  • commoners = widening gap between rich and poor
• poverty and poor relief

  • elizabethan poor law 1601 = national system basis on the parish
  • each parish to raise rates for poor relief through an overseer of the poor
  • idle poor = prisons
  • able-bodied poor = work in the house of industry
• regional issues

  • ireland = imposed english law - hard to establish protestantism = spoke gaelic
  • wales = welsh no longer used in government - poor
  • scotland remained reasonable with england