Nobility

• Most respected members of society, second only to the queen
• Special privileges included protection from torture
• Included Dukes (highest position), earls and barons
• Owned large amounts of land and passed it on to eldest sons
• Could influence the queen but she could also strip them of their power
• Born into the position of awarded title from the queen
• Landlords of the countryside
• Average income £2000 (£1 million today)
• Lived on rent from their tenants and did no manual labour themselves
• 14% of England’s wealth went to the nobility
• The nobility saw themselves as equal to the queen, and she questioned their loyalty. This meant she excluded them from government