knowledge organiser 4

Question 1

how were new country houses?

Answer 1

over 50 rooms, had glazed windows and finely decorated chimneys

Question 2

what food did gentrys have?

Answer 2

they hosted feasts where expensive food was carried by servants on silver platters they had a rich and varied diet: exotic meats such as swan and pheasant, fish such as salmon, sweets such as sugar and marzipan and expensive wine

Question 3

how did the gentry make a living?

Answer 3

they did not work but made a living by renting out their lands

Question 4

how did the middling sort live?

Answer 4

houses had around 10 rooms over 2 floors they had windows and chimneys but were less decorated than the gentry houses

Question 5

what did the middling sort eat?

Answer 5

could afford to eat a good diet of meat, fruit and bread and beer they could not afford the luxuries enjoyed by the gentry

Question 6

how did the middling sort earn a living?

Answer 6

were merchants, small business owners, or independent farmers

Question 7

how did the labouring poor live?

Answer 7

lived in small one room houses with no chimney or glazed windows

Question 8

what did the labouring poor eat?

Answer 8

the staple diet was bread this relied on good harvest and vegetables from the garden could be turned into pottage

Question 9

how did the labouring poor earn a living?

Answer 9

travelled around looking for seasonal work on farms

Question 10

how was marriage in gentry England?

Answer 10

had their partners chosen for them by their parents but most could choose who they married

Question 11

marriage in England?

Answer 11

society was patriarchal and wives were expected to always obey their husbands although domestic violence was disapproved of, sex outside of marriage was forbidden by the church.

Question 12

what did couples do immediately if they found out they were pregnant?

Answer 12

they would get married

Question 13

was divorce popular?

Answer 13

no divorce was very difficult although people were encouraged to remarry if their husband or wife died

Question 14

was same sex marriages forbidden by the church?

Answer 14

yes, and homosexual relationships had to be kept secret

Question 15

did parents care about their children?

Answer 15

yes although they sent them away at a very early age

Question 16

was infant mortality rates high?

Answer 16

yes although Elizabethan women had many children. high rates of infant mortality meant families were usually quite small

Question 17

when did gentry parents pay for their son to go to school?

Answer 17

when their son was 7

Question 18

what did children do in the poor families?

Answer 18

started to work in the home or on the farm as soon as they were old enough at the age of 12 or 13 girls and boys left their families homes to work as servants or apprentices wider kinship was not that important

Question 19

did Elizabethans have strong bonds with their extended families?

Answer 19

no most families did not live with grandparents or uncles and aunts many people moved away from home so they did not live close to their extended families, most people turned to their neighbours if they had a problem

Question 20

the causes of poverty?

Answer 20

by 1580s around 30% of the population lived in poverty, vagrants or vagabonds were unemployed people who walked around from town to town looking for work the middling and gentry were worried that the vagrants would commit crimes and vagrants would spread the plague. the increase of poverty was caused by 1. population increase it raised from 2.4 million to 4.1 million 2. inflation increased demand led to price rising the price of wheat increased by 250% 3. failed harvest failed in 1595 and 1597 there was even less wheat 4. sheep farming English cloth was very fashionable and sheep farming became very profitable

Question 21

what was Elizabeths responces to poverty?

Answer 21

did not understand poverty so it was blamed on individuals. government introduced harsh punishments to deter people from becoming vagrants, vagrants caught for the 1st time were whipped and burned through the ear with a hot iron. if they were caught again they would be hanged this did not work= did not deal with poverty,

Question 22

what did the 1601 poor law introduce?

Answer 22

a system that treated some poor people with more compassion this remained for over 200 years the poor law divided the poor into 2 categories

Question 23

what were the 2 categories of the 1601 poor law?

Answer 23

the deserving poor: people who wanted to work but couldnt e.g the elderly, children, disabled people. the undeserving poor: people who could work but didnt e.g criminals, lazy people

Question 24

how did the 1601 poor law treated different types of poor?

Answer 24

the deserving poor were treated with compassion: poor relief (benefits), materials to work, apprenticeships for young people, the underserving poor: still threatened with deterrents such as whipping and hard labour

Question 25

what was the 1601 poor law pay for?

Answer 25

by a tax called the poor rate and managed by the justices of peace