Elizabethan Society - Education And Leisure Flashcards
What was the education you received aimed to prepare you for?
Life you are expected to lead on social hierarchy
What did education focus on?
Practical skills
How many children and girls got formal education?
Small number of children and very few girls
What did humanists believe?
Learning was important such as studying maths to get a better view of the world
What did protestants encourage in education?
Reading the bible in own language, developing relationship with God and improving literacy
When did basic education become mire important but was there significant developments?
With business and trade developments, not significant
What did the children of the nobility learn in school?
Same subjects Elizabeth was good at such as Philosophy and Theology
What did upper class women learn in school?
Expected skills such as music and needlework
How were upper class-women educated?
Tutored at home, separate from brothers, at around 7
What were boys taught in school?
Skills fit for men such as swimming and archery
Where were boys often sent to finish education?
Another noble’s household
Why would boys be sent to other noble’s household to finish education?
So the eldest son could inherit fathers’ title and learn to become a future nobleman
Why did girls sometimes move to another noble family?
To make useful contacts and perfects skills of a noble woman
What type of schoos were the greatest development?
Grammar schools
How many grammar schools were founded between 1560-70?
72, more than ever
Who were grammar schools set up for?
Bright boys, largely coming from sons of middling sorts (wealthy)
Where were girls educated and why?
At home by mothers to prepare for running household
What were fees for grammar schools based on?
Property
How could lower class boys get into grammar schools?
If they showed promise they wouldn’t have to pay and their places would be funded by people who left money in their will to provide education for poorer
When were the only holidays at grammar schools?
Easter and Christmas
How long were grammar school days and what was the focus?
10 hours a day, focused on Latin
What did boys study at grammar schools?
Ancient historians and philosophers such as Aristotle and had time for archery and chess
What was there an emphasis on doing in grammar schools?
Memorising larger texts and focusing on morals and manners
Why was debating important in grammar schools?
Public speaking was essential to a well-educated gentleman.
What were the school days at grammar schools?
Monday-Saturday
How did boys contribute to reporting misbehaviour in and out of school?
Two boys made to monitor and report misbehaviour
What was punishment for very naughty boys?
Immediate
What were possible punishments at grammar schools?
Kept at break, exclusion, expellation after warning to parents, corporal punishment (caning)
What school curriculum did Merchants and Craftsmen have?
Practical academic subjects such as English and Arithmetic, reflecting what economy needed but still preparing for life expected to lead
What education was there for children of skilled yeomen and craftsmen?
Grammar schools however mostly apprenticeships to learn to run family businnes or farm.
What was a skillee craftsman/yeomen’s child apprenticeship based on?
How valuable the child was to the family business at home
What were petty schools?
Schools run in a teachers home
Where did most begin education if they could afford it?
Petty schools
What was girls equivalent of Petty schools
Dame schools
What would people in Petty school’s learn and were punishments bad?
English and arithmetic and there were harsh punishments
Where would bright/well-off petty school students go off to?
Grammar schools
Why didn’t most Elizabethans have great education?
Most were farmers/labourers
Why did children of labourers and poor children only learn what was needed from families?
Needed to contribute to family income from an early age
Who many men and women were literate in Elizabethan England?
30% men, 10% women
Which gender did better in education?
Men
Who promoted idea of women needing good education?
Thinkers and writers
Why did the roles of men and women stay the same in education?
The cost of family income was lowering from children not working
Why was a little education good for boys?
Could help find a better job
What were the two universities?
Oxford and Cambridge
What age would you start university and what would study?
14/15, study geomery, medicine, law
What was highest qualification at universities?
Doctorate
When did Elizabeth found Jesus College in Oxford and who for?
1571 for Welsh boys
Which clergymen needed more education?
Proestant clergymen
Who specifically trained lawyers?
Inns of Court in London
What determined which sports and leisure you could do?
Social class and gender
What sports did nobility and gentry do?
Fencing, real tennis, fishing (men and women)
What sports did all classes play but how were they played differently?
All did wrestling, but noblemen wrestled privately and bet to watch lower class wrestle in public
Who were the working people of the social hierarchy?
Crfastmen, farmers and labourers
What did working people play?
Football
How was football extremely dangerous?
No rules against picking up ball, number of players, tripping up and size of the pitch. Some games played in the street
What were large sums often spent on in spectator sports?
Gambling outcomes
How was baiting a spectator sport?
Was when a bear was chained to a post, and a dog unleashed against it
Bear had short teeth so didn’t bite dogs but many dogs died as bear lashed claws. Had special arenas in London for all classes. Bull baiting also popular
Why did Elizabethans make sure bears didn’t die in baiting?
Was expensive
What was cock fighting?
Metal spur attached to cockerels
Who enjoyed cock fighting but who was against it?
All classes enjoyed, but puritans against as the animals were being mistreated and the fights took place on Sunday (holy day)
What were pastimes?
Literature - most popular form of creative writing was poetry and plays
What leisure was undergoing a revolution in Elizabeth’s reign?
Theatre
What pastimes did the Queen write?
Poetry
Why did theatre develop?
Because of protestantism
What type of plays were most common at start of Elizabeth’s reign?
Mystery plays - brought bible stories to life. Saints were an important part of Catholicismand these plays kept memories in public imagination
What type of plays did Elizabeth stop?
Mystery plays
What other type of plays were popular?
Secular plays, unknown ending. Comedies
Who were theatre companies funded by?
Nobility
What was Earl Of Leicester’s theatre company called?
Leicester’s men
What new theatres were built and example?
Purpose-built theatres such as the Rose in 1587
Who were theatres popular with?
All classes
Who could act in theatres?
Men
How many would queue to watch theatre?
2000
How much did it cost to go to theatre?
1p for the pit in front of stage. Seats very expensive
What instruments did many people play?
Lutes and harpsichords
What instruments were cheaper for lower classes?
Bagpipes and fiddles
How was music listened to by lower class compared to wealthy families?
Lower class: at fairs and markets
Wealthy families: paid male musicians to play during meals
What was music often composed for?
Accompaniment to new plays
Dancing was popular. What did it mix and not mix?
Mixed gender but not classes
