3.1 - Education And Leisure

Question 1

Describe Elizabethan attitudes towards education.

Answer 1

• Elizabethan England had no national system of education. The purpose of education was to help prepare people for their roles in life, so it focused on practical skills and possibly on basic literacy (15-20% pop could read and write).
• Very few children went to school and all schools had fees.
• People saw no need to provide formal education for the vast majority of the population (especially labouring classes).

Question 2

Describe the changing influences on education.

Answer 2

• By early 1500s, Humanists were arguing that education was valuable. This meant educational opportunities gradually improved during Elizabeth’s reign.
• Protestants argued that people ought to be able to study the scriptures - required more people to be able to read, boosting literacy.
• Growth of the printing press meant books became less expensive, allowing more people to read.
• Growth of trade in the Elizabethan era required ordinary people to be able to read,write and understand mathematics; encouraged more people to be literate

Question 3

What Elizabethan education was available?

Answer 3

• Private tutors : privately delivered education to members of nobility.
• Parish schools (up to age 10) : set up locally by the Church and run by the clergy. Taught basic literacy to children of yeoman farmers and craftsman.
• Petty schools (up to age 10) : run privately from people’s homes. Attended by children of the gentry, merchants, yeoman farmers and craftsmen.
• Grammar schools (for boys aged 10 to 14) : Provided an education independently of the Church and charged fees (scholarships available for poorer families). Attended by children of gentry, merchants, yeoman farmers and craftsman..
• Universities (ages 14/15 onwards) : Two universities Oxford and Cambridge were you studied a range of complex topics. Highest possible university qualification was a doctorate.

Question 4

Did girls in the Elizabethan era get education?

Answer 4

• No formal education at all.
• Girls from better off families attended Dame Schools run by wealthy women in their homes.
• Wealthy girls had private tutors.

Question 5

Describe the changes in education between 1558-88.

Answer 5

• New grammar schools meant children were now educated independently of the Church.
• Scholarships allowed people from poorer backgrounds to receive an education.
• Literacy improved. This was the combined result of the printing press, parish schools and the need to read scriptures.

Question 6

Describe what nobility did for leisure.

Answer 6

• Hunting : took place on horseback involving men and women.
• Fishing : done by men and women.
• Real tennis : played indoors (men only).
• Bowls : men only
• Fencing : undertaken with blunted swords (men only).

Question 7

Describe what farmer, craftsmen and the lower classes do for leisure.

Answer 7

• Football : it could be very violent - men often killed during matches. Men only.
• Wrestling : men of all classes took part in public wrestling matches.

Question 8

Give some spectator sports in Elizabethan England.

Answer 8

• Baiting : involved watching animals fight to the death. Money bet on the outcomes.
• Cock-fighting : Cockerels would attack each other using metal spurs on their beaks. Money bet on the outcomes.

Question 9

Describe literature and the theatre in the Elizabethan period.

Answer 9

• Lot of new literature written during Elizabeth’s reign. Medival literature was also popular.
• Mystery Plays, popular with many Catholics, replaced with new non-religious plays. These were shown in purpose-built theatres (the Globe).
• Comedies, funded by the wealthy noble men, were very popular. Sponsors included the queen.
• All social classes attended the theatre, so theatres had to be built to accommodate growing audiences.

Question 10

Describe music and dancing in the Elizabethan period.

Answer 10

• Many Elizabethans played instruments.
• Musical performances were popular. Musicians paid to play at official functions all the way down to fairs and markets.
• Music was also written to accompany plays performed in public theatres.
• Dancing remained a popular pastime, as it brought together men and women. However, upper and lower classes did not dance together.