Elizabeth- Life in Elizabethan times / The rising gentry and arts Flashcards
What granted a growth in the gentry?
- The Tudor’s marginalisation of ‘old’ nobility (e.g. Elizabeth only having 55 Lords at the end of her reign)
- Dissolution of the monestaries had allowed many gentry to buy up land
- Growth in trade from exploration gave people more excess money to spend
- Improvements in education e.g. ‘chap books’ being sold by street sellers
Famous Elizabethan musician?
William Byrd, Orlando Gibbons
Who was a famous Elizabethan scientist?
William Harvey (was born in Elizabethan times) → blood circulation
What laws passed by Elizabeth controlled what clothes you wore depending on social rank?
the Statue of Apparel
What was the period known as in which many new buildings were created?
The ‘Great Rebuilding’
What style infulenced Elizabethan architecture?
Italian Renaissance
Example of house built under Elizabethan England?
Longleat House
How were new Elizabethan houses different?
- Lots of windows to let light in
- Chimneys allowed for multiple floors
- Decorative gardens
- Often built with an ‘E’ shaped floorplan → Elizabeth?
What plays had existed before theatre in Elizabethan times?
Biblical mystery and miracle plays that had been performed in public areas since medieval times
What happened and when in London that further pushed people’s initial dislike of the theatre?
An earthquake in the South East of England in 1580 → God’s punishment of the theatre
When was a law passed against actors?
1572- actors seen as vagabonds and criminals
Actors had to be licensed
Theatre in London and when it was opened?
The Globe- 1599
How many acting companies were there by the end of Elizabeth’s reign?
40 companies
What were theatres similar in design to?
Bear-bating pits to make them easily convertible
Who were 2 Elizabethan playwrights?
- William Shakespeare
- Christopher Marlowe
What statistic demonstrates increasing population?
Population of London quadrupled to 200,000 people since the start of the Tudor era
How did Elizabeth use the theatre?
- propaganda and spreading her own messages through it (e.g. Shakespeare’s play Richard III presenting the Tudors very positively)
- patronage- e.g. the Queen’s Company
What’s a play that was influenced by Elizabeth’s propaganda?
Richard III
What literature was written that supported Elizabeth’s image → propaganda?
Foxe’s Book of Martyr’s
‘Bloody Mary’ popularised from this, Foxe presented Elizabeth as rescuing England from catholic rule
Who painted miniatures?
Nicholas Hilliard
How did Elizabeth spread her cult of personality?
Portraiture e.g. The Rainbow Portrait and using symbolism such as pearls to display her virginity and purity
