Elizabethan Society And Governemnt 1558 Flashcards
The social hierarchy of Elizabethan England
Nobility
Gentry
Yeomen
Tenant farmers
Landless or labouring poor
Vagrants, homeless
What’s the Nobility
Earls, dukes etc
Own lots of land
Control large place of country
What’s the gentry
Knights, squires, gentlemen/women
Own smaller amounts of land
What are yeoman
Middle class people
Own 1 farm
Own their land
What are tenant farmers
Farmers
Most rent their farms from others
Landless or labouring poor
Will work one someone else’s farm for low wages
Vagrants, homeless
People who wander from place to place
People who are looking for work
The social hierarchy of towns in Elizabethan England
Merchants
Professionals
Business owners
Skilled craftsmen/ people who learned a skill or trade
Unskilled workers/unemployed
Merchants
Often owned a lot of property
Traders
Professionals
Lawyers, clergy, doctors, teachers
Business owners
Usually highly skilled craftsmen
Employed others
Skilled craftsmen people who’d learned a skill/trade
Own local butchers or carpenters
Work with crafters
Elizabeth’s roles
War and peacemaker -
Declare war, make peace
Oversee parliament -
Call them,dismiss them
Judge -
Court
Land owner -
Gain income from crown lands
Grant patronage -
Titles, land, money, jobs
The monarch (Elizabeth I)
- Believed they had the right to rule ‘by grace of god’ - divine right
- made most important decisions in country (going to war, calling/dismissing parliament)
- could reject parliaments/privy council ideas
- could reward people with land/title/patronage
The court
- body of people who lived in/near the same palace or house as the monarch
- made of nobility members
- required to entertain/advise the monarch
