life in elizabeth time

Question 1

what class grew massively in elizabeth’s reign?

Answer 1

-gentry, who did not belong to titled nobility

Question 2

reasons for rise of the gentry- tudor’s suspicion of old nobility

Answer 2

• tudors deliberately marginalised nobles, as they saw them as a threat, therefore they were granted very few titles and were excluded from government.
• this left large vacuum that the gentry filled, making them very powerful politically- cecil, walsingham and hatton all came from the gentry class

Question 3

reasons for rise of gentry - dissolution of monasteries by Henry VII

Answer 3

-monasteries owned about a quarter of the land in england, so when they were dissolute there was more land available to buy than ever before

Question 4

reasons for rise of gentry- increasing wealth

Answer 4

-growth in trade and exploration, population growth, rising prices and enclosure helped many gentry families to make their fortune.
-they used this fortune to establish estates, build large houses and educate themselves

Question 5

how did fashion show elizabethan england as a golden age?

Answer 5

-money spent buying expensive clothes, as it was a status symbol

Question 6

what were the sumptuary laws (1574)?

Answer 6

-strictly controlled the clothes people were allowed to wear depending on their social class

Question 7

types of clothing wore by rich (men)

Answer 7

-doublet
-trunk-hose
-jerkin
-ruff
-hat
-cloak

Question 8

clothes worn by rich (women)

Answer 8

-farthingale
-ruff
-undergown
-gown
-dyed hair
-blackened teeth
-white makeup

Question 9

elizabethan architecture

Answer 9

-period known as ‘great rebuilding’
-houses influenced by italian renaissance
-intricate chimney stacks
-large mullioned windows
-‘E’ shaped to honour the queen
-bedrooms placed upstairs for first time
-fireplaces big part

Question 10

poor law 1597 and 1601

Answer 10

-everyone had to pay towards a local poor rates
-parish officials used this money to set up workhouses and relief payments to
‘deserving poor’
-each parish had to appoint four ‘overseers of the poor’ to ensure that orphans had apprenticeships, so they learned a trade
- begging punished through whipping ‘til his back be bloody’

Question 11

reasons for poverty

Answer 11

• population rise by 43% during Elizabeth’s reign, so more pressure on resources
  -Food prices rose by over 200% during her reign
• enclosure meant people could farm sheep, which meant less labourers were needed