Elizabeth I - Entertainment

Question 1

Strolling players were banned

Answer 1

1572

Question 2

The first theatre was built

Answer 2

1576

Question 3

Failed attempt to ban bear baiting on a Sunday

Answer 3

1585

Question 4

Shakespeare’s Richard III and Romeo and Juliet were written

Answer 4

1595

Question 5

The Globe theatre was opened

Answer 5

1599

Question 6

Cockfighting pit

Answer 6

Cockfighting was a popular form of entertainment and most towns had a cockfighting pit in Elizabethan times. Usually, it was a fight between a single pair of birds, but sometimes as many as
twenty gamecocks would be put into the ring at the
same time and left to fight it out until only one bird
survived. Spectators would bet on which bird they thought would win

Question 7

Bear/ bull baiting arenas

Answer 7

Many towns had arenas where people would
gather to watch a bull or a bear being attacked
by dogs. Bulls were more popular than bears as
bears were hard to find. The bull or bear would be
chained by the neck to a wooden stake driven into
the ground. Dogs would then attack the animal,
trying to kill it. Spectators would bet on which dogs
would survive or whether the bull or bear would
survive

Question 8

Theatres

Answer 8

The government encouraged the building of
theatres during Elizabeth’s reign as they believed strolling players were spreading diseases like the
plague through the country. Theatres were usually basic. The only roof was over the actors to protect them from the rain and over the more expensive seats. Poorer people could purchase tickets to stand around the stage. A flag would be flown above the theatre to indicate that a play was being shown. There was no scenery, so it was up to the
actors to fill in these details to the audiences

Question 9

May Day

Answer 9

A popular public holiday

Question 10

Strolling players

Answer 10

Actors and performers who wandered from
town to town performing their plays in the courtyards of inns. There weren’t many theatres outside of London and none in Wales so strolling players were a popular form of entertainment

Question 11

Cruel sports

Answer 11

Sports involving animals being injured or killed

Question 12

Hawking

Answer 12

Flying birds of prey for entertainment

Question 13

Archery

Answer 13

Using a bow and arrow. All men over the age of 24 were expected to practice every Sunday

Question 14

Cnapan

Answer 14

Similar to the football played in England. The gentry would be on horseback and everyone else on foot. Two teams would try to push forward with the cnapan (ball)
until one of them crossed the finishing point. There was no pitch and very few
rules

Question 15

Playwright

Answer 15

Someone who writes plays

Question 16

Who supported the theatre?

Answer 16

• Queen Elizabeth regularly attended the theatre
• Poorer people who could afford the cheaper tickets
• Nobles liked to dress up and attend theatres, it gave them a chance to be noticed and to socialise
• The government used the theatre as propaganda, to deliver messages to the public in the plays

Question 17

Who opposed the theatre?

Answer 17

• Puritans saw theatres as the work of the devil. They thought plays encouraged sinful behavior and that they should all be banned
• Some people disliked theatres as they thought they encouraged crime from beggars and pickpockets, as well as helping to spread diseases like the plague. Some
  authorities objected to opening theatres as a result

Question 18

A theatre company established in 1574

Answer 18

The Earl of Leicester’s Players

Question 19

A theatre company established in 1583

Answer 19

The Queen’s Men

Question 20

A theatre company established in 1583

Answer 20

The Lord Admiral Howard’s
Company

Question 21

A theatre company established in 1594

Answer 21

The Lord Chamberlain’s Men

Question 22

Richard Burbage

Answer 22

A famous actor of tragedies who performed
the lead roles in many of Shakespeare’s plays.
He later became part owner of The Globe
theatre