Elizabethan society

• Catholicism believed that the Pope had ultimate authority over all Christians, while Protestants believed that they could interpret the Bible themselves without the need for priests or bishops.
• There were two main branches of Christianity - Catholicism (the Pope) and Protestantism (King James).
• The Church was the most powerful institution during this time.
• The Catholic Church was seen as corrupt by many Protestant reformers due to its wealth and power.
• Puritans were strict Protestants who wanted to purify the church from what they considered to be unbiblical practices.
• The Church was divided into three levels: clergy, laity, and hierarchy.
• The Church played an important role in people's lives as it provided comfort and guidance to those who needed it.
• The Church controlled education through grammar schools and universities.
• The Church also owned land and collected taxes from it.
• Clergy included priests, monks, nuns, and friars who lived lives dedicated to God.
• Protestant reformers wanted to remove corruption from the church and make it more accessible to ordinary people.
• Church attendance was mandatory on Sundays and holidays, with fines imposed for non-attendance.
• The Church had control over marriage and divorce.
• The Church also had influence on politics and law.
• Hierarchy consisted of bishops, archdeacons, deacons, vicars, curates, and parishioners.
• Bishop - highest ranking member of the clergy
• Gentry

  • Wealthy who owned lots of land
• Yeoman

  • Men who had a little bit of land and did professional jobs
• Tentant farmers


  Rented land that was owned by the gentry or yeoman
• Landless/Labouring

  • Poor people working on land
• Vagrants

  • Seen as criminals and came at the bottom of society
• Theatre in Elizabethan society

  • The authorities began to fear that plays could encourage rebellions
  • The fear worsened as many characters played vagrants
  • Theatre companies were set up and built especially for plays such as the Global Theatre
• Towns societal hierarchy jobs

  • Merchants-1
  • Business owners and professionals like lawyers and doctors-2
  • Skilled craftsman -3
  • Unskilled workers and unemployed-4
• Act of uniformity 1558 

  • Made Protestantism an official faith of England
  • Set out rules of religious practice and worship
  • Retained some catholic traditions as a good compromise
• Act of supremacy 1558

  • Declared Elizabeth the supreme governor of the church of England
• Main features of Elizabethan theatre

  • Often played in daylight and open
  • People sat around the stage in galleries
  • The cheapest place was in front of the stage where ordinary people stood. They were known as groundlings
• Features of the rich( importance of popular entertainment)

  • Partake in sports like jousts and hunting
  • Wealthy families would have entertainment in their own homes and masques
• Poor society (importance of popular entertainment)

  • Would enjoy plays by wandering or strolling players, puppet shows and conjours
• Gentry

  • Were landowners and during this period they had began to build and extend their homes to reflect their wealth
  • Food- meats like venison and swan - wine imported from France
  • Land- gained wealth from land- the rent from their estates meant they didn't have to work and enjoy things like hunting
• Gentry political power

  • Acted as justices of peace and helped the monarch to maintain law and order
  • Elizabeth didn't trust many older Nobel families and relied more on the gentry to help the government
• Rise of the gentry

  • They became more wealthier and more powerful during Elizabeth reign
  • From buying land from monasteries
  • The growth of wool trade
• Middling sort

  • Work- tradesmen and craftsmen who ran their own business. In the countryside was the yeoman and the husbandmen
  • Food- they would eat beef, mutton and pork
  • Drink beer and mead instead of wine
• Labouring poor

  • Worked for yeoman and husbandmen
  • Found it difficult to pay rent and buy food
  • They suffered during times of bad harvests during the late 16th century and their families starved to death