Life in Elizabethan times Flashcards
Why is Elizabeth’s reign considered a Golden Age in terms of exploration?
- English privateers such as Sir Francis Drake travelled to
new lands and brought back riches and resources - Britain started to become a major power, especially
when it came to its Navy
Why is Elizabeth’s reign considered a Golden Age in terms of art?
- Portraits were very popular and included symbolism to
show sophistication - Mini portraits were also popular as personal
possessions - Decorative silverware and textiles were common,
showing the refinement of the era
Why is Elizabeth’s reign considered a Golden Age in terms of science?
- There were breakthroughs in astronomy, navigation
and magnetism - The invention of the printing press allowed ideas and
news to be spread faster
Why is Elizabeth’s reign considered a Golden Age in terms of education?
Education was becoming increasingly important, with wealthy boys and even some girls receiving lessons
Why is Elizabeth’s reign considered a Golden Age in terms of conflict?
Prior to Elizabeth’s reign, England had been at conflict for many years, but she established peace and order and allowed the country’s wealth to prosper
Why is Elizabeth’s reign considered a Golden Age in terms of theatre?
- Theatre was extremely popular
- Many theatres were built and plays were created that
are still performed today
Why is Elizabeth’s reign considered a Golden Age in terms of literature?
- Poetry, plays and Shakespeare’s sonnets were popular
- Included many references to sophisticated civilisations
of the past, such as ancient Greece and Rome
Why is Elizabeth’s reign considered a Golden Age because of its buildings?
- Stately homes were constructed that still exist today
- More importantly, buildings could be created without
defence in mind, unlike in medieval times
What were some reasons why Elizabethan England could not be considered a Golden Age?
- Blood sports (bear baiting, cock fighting etc) were very
popular - Cruel torture methods were used to punish criminals
even for minor crimes - Life expectancy was still fairly low
- Many illnesses that are safe today were lethal
- Divided population - minority lived in luxury while the
rest of the population suffered in poverty
Why did poverty increase before Elizabeth’s reign?
- Henry VIII put soldiers out of work by limiting nobles
from having retinues (private armies) - He also closed all monasteries during the Reformation
period, evicting church workers and removing a place
where the poor could receive aid - He debased coins, damaging trade as they were worth
less value - Debasing coins also caused Britain’s largest trade - the
cloth trade - to collapse, ruining further jobs
Why did poverty increase during Elizabeth’s reign?
Bad harvests between 1594 - 1598 caused food shortages, leading to starvation
The new system of farming, land enclosure, meant that fewer workers were needed, causing many to lose their jobs
Britain’s population increased by 35% due to an increased birth rate and decreased death rate, increasing demand for the already scarce food supply
Vast numbers of workers moved to big towns to find work, but there were not enough jobs to go around
Landlords raised rent prices (rent racking) due to an increased demand
Inflation of food prices
Taxed had been raised to pay for previous wars
An outbreak of flu in 1556 killed thousands, including workers who produced food
Who were the deserving poor?
People that could not find work, or were too sick or old to do so
They were viewed with empathy
Many wealthier Elizabethans worked hard to provide aid for these people, such as through the building of Almshouses
Who were the undeserving poor?
Beggars and thieves who tricked people into giving them money
In 1567, Thomas Harman published a book that warned of the scams that vagrants used
This caused many people to form negative stereotypes about all poor people, including the deserving poor
Begging was dealt with by severe punishment
How did the government treat the poor before Elizabeth’s reign?
Henry VIII and Edward VI tries to pass laws to deal with the problem of poverty, but it only grew more serious as time went on
1495 - Beggars punished in stocks and sent back to their
home towns
1531 - First offence = whipped
Second offence = burned hole in ear
Third offence = hung
Most of these laws stayed in place during Elizabeth’s reign
What act was created in 1576?
The Act for setting the poor on work - Local authorities given the responsibility for finding work for the poor, while the national policy focused on punishment
What were the three main points of the 1601 Poor Law?s
In each area of the country, the wealthy should be taxed to pay for aid to the vulnerable
The fit and healthy poor were to be given work
Those who could work but refused to were whipped and sent to a House of Correction
What were the 3 types of poor people, according to the law?
The helpless poor - The sick and old who were provided with food and shelter in special homes
The able-bodied poor - Those considered fit (including children) who were expected to work and were paid with food and sometimes shelter
The idle poor - Too lazy to work but could do so. Whipped and sent to the House of Correction as punishment. Those who were criminals were punished even more severely.
Were the Poor Laws effective?
The first time the government took responsibility for those in poverty and recognised the difference between the vulnerable poor and vagrants
Remained in place for ~200 years
Appeared to work but were loosely enforced in many areas
Begging did decrease, but that may have been more due to the threat of punishment rather than the increased support
Some paupers without a clear home were sent from area to area, a flaw in the Poor Law
What was the Great Chain of Being?
An Elizabethan belief that all living things within society existed in a hierarchal structure, starting with God, then the monarchy, nobility, gentry, peasantry, animals and plants
What impact did the voyages of discovery have on trade?
Trading companies established with the purpose of trading in certain areas, such as the East India Company, established in 1600, giving England a foothold in India
This allowed for greater wealth for England and the introduction of new resources such as porcelain, silk and spices
What impact did the voyages of discovery have on the human/slave trade?
In 1562 John Hawkins captured ~300 Africans who had been enslaved by the Portuguese and sold them in the Caribbean for a large profit
He and other privateers completed many more voyages like this over the following years, trading ~1300 people (some backed by Queen Elizabeth)
This laid the foundations for the Trans-Atlantic slave trade, which would create immense wealth for England
How did the voyages of discovery help to reveal the New World?
English and European soldiers travelled to previously unmapped territories such as Southeast Asia, Africa and the Americas, creating maps of the geography of these areas
In 1584, Elizabeth gave Sir Walter Raleigh permission to colonise and rule any Non-Christian land, and in return he would give the queen 1/5 of all the gold and silver he found to boost England’s wealth
Colony established at Roanoke, NC, in 1587 but did not last
How did the voyages of discovery impact Britain’s wealth and power?
Sir Francis Drake circumnavigated the globe between 1577-1580, raiding Spanish ships as he travelled, returning £200 million in modern money and removing national debt
English naval power grew immensely, becoming dominant over many other countries
England laid the foundations for its later empire
