Elizabethan society in the age of exploration

Question 1

the importance of education

Answer 1

during Elizabeth’s reign people increasingly began to recognise the importance of education, many new schools were set up and more people learned to read and write

Question 2

education at home

Answer 2

early education

parents taught correct behaviour and basic religion

Question 3

sunday school

Answer 3

mandatory from the age of 6
learnt Lord’s prayer, the 10 commandments and the Nicene Creed

boys - simple work skills
girls - helped their mothers with household activities

Question 4

noble houses education

Answer 4

some children from noble houses were taught at home by private tutors
this education was intended to teach children how to behave in a noble society and give them the skills to be successful at court
others were sent to live with another noble family

Question 5

petty school

Answer 5

• small local schools
• provided a basic education
• run by a local parish priest
• others attached to grammar schools or were set up by private individuals
• taught basic reading and writing and a little maths
• wasn’t a set curriculum altough lessons usually had a strong religious focus
• didn’t usually have books
• main teaching aid was the hornbook which was a wooden board showing the alphabet and the Lord’s prayer
• most pupils were boys altough a few girls were addmited
• started age 6 and finished when they could read or write

Question 6

give a comment and anylsis for education in general

Answer 6

only a small minority of children in Elizabethan England went to school but the number was growing
education was increasingly important for many careers includisng ytrade and government administration

Question 7

discuss grammar schools

Answer 7

• existed for centuries but big expansion during Elizabeth’s reign with foundation of around 100 new schools
• rare for girls to go, most pupils upper/middle class boys
• some offered free places to bright boys from poorer backgrounds but few boys were able to attend because their parents needed them to work at home
• started age 7
• lessons focused mainly on Latin and classical literature (Ancient Greece and Rome) and a little greek sometimes

Question 8

discuss university

Answer 8

• when they left grammar schools some boys went on to univeristy at one of the two Uni’s in England (Oxford or Cambridge)
• growing prosperity of upper/middle classes meant the number of students increased during Elizabeth’s reign
• Uni courses conducted almost entirely in Latin
• Students studied advanced written and spoken Latin then arithmetic, music, Greek, astrology, geometry and philsophy
• ## After completing an undergraduate degree, students might specialise in law, theology or medicine

Question 9

what encoruaged increased literacy

Answer 9

the printing press had been introduced to England in 1476

as printing spread it encouraged increased literacy levels because it made books much more widely available and cheaper

Question 10

discuss court life

Answer 10

• Elizabeth and her courtiers often hunted deer and other wild animals
• hunting was entertainment and provided food for the court of over 1000 memebers
• the queen was skilled at hawking spending hours with her trained falcons as they hunted
• training falcons was an expensive process that only the rich could afford
• Elizabeth’s courtiers and noblemen expected to be expected to be skilled at fencing and it was practiced at a young age
• tennis and bowls became increasingly popular but required expensive equipment so it was only played by the rich

Question 11

discuss the lesuire time of ordinary people

Answer 11

• most people worked 6 days a week and went to church on Sunday so had little lesuire time
• there were several festival days in the summer such as MIdsummer’s day and Asencion day that left people free to enjoy sportys, feasting and other pastimes
• football was popular and was often played between two villages but there was an ulimited number of players and few rules so games often desended into long and violent fights
• blood sports like cockfighting and bull-or-bear-bating were popular and people would gamble on the outcome

Question 12

theatres

Answer 12

• there was no permanent theatres in England at the start of Elizabeth’s reign, companies of actors travelled around performing in village squares or courtyards of inns
• first theatres were built in London in the 1570’s - the theatre and the Curtain
• they were usually round, open air buildinghs with a raised stage into the audience