Lifestyles of the rich and poor Flashcards by Livia Buxton

How was the hierarchy in Elizabethan England organised?
(Top to bottom)

The monarch
Nobles and Lords
Gentry
Wealthy merchants and professionals
Yeomen and Tenant farmers
Cottagers and skilled artisans
Seasonal workers and unemployed

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Who were the nobles?

Owned large areas of land
Included dukes, barons or earls

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Who were the gentry?

Landowners
Less wealthy than nobles
Included knights, squires, gentlemen and gentlewomen

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Who are wealthy merchants?

Successful sellers and business people

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Who are wealthy merchants?

Successful sellers and business people

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Who are ‘professionals’?

Emerging middle class
Worked less labour intensive jobs
Like lawyers, physicians, school teachers

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Who were yeomen?

Owned their own houses with farms

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Who were cottagers?

Lived in small cottages

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Who were artisans?

Had a trade such as craft

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Main features of houses of the rich

Built in the shape of E or H
Large windows to show wealth
Built with defensive structures outside like towers
Had a grand hall and above the long gallery
Gardens for leisure
Servants quarters

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What was the grand hall?

Used as the servants dining room or hosted formal events

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What was the Long gallery?

A place above the grand hall
A very wide corridor
For the owners to exercise, play music or for children to play

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What did the rich women wear?

Ruffs (frilly collars)
Cape of cold
Long gown with a petticoat and hoops
Leather shoes and stockings
Lots of jewellery

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What did the rich men wear?

Stiffened ruffle (frilly collar)
Jerkin (jacket)
Doublet (shirt)
Cape if leaving
Stockings and leather shoes
Trunk hose (breeches)

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What were the rich’s clothes made out of?

Silk, linen, velvet, satin, leather and cloth
Expensive materials that had to have been exported thus showed their wealth

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Households of the rich

Wives would stay home and supervise servants
Would make bread, ale, soap, candles and jams
Listen to music from hired bands

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Education of the rich sons

Would be tutored at home
Languages (French, Latin or Greek)
Social etiquette
Hunting
Hawking

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Education of the rich’s daughters

Tutored at home by governesses
Learn how to run a household

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Features of houses of the gentry

Large manors
Servants quarters
Lots of land for farming
Made out of stone and brick (modernised)

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Fashion of the gentry

Very similar to their social superiors (nobles)
But less expensive materials

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Education of the gentry

Sons would go to private schools
Or university and learnt music, theology, maths etc

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Houses of the poor

Small cottages
Only 1 room
Shared with animals
Few pots and pans as well as sleeping on hay

Fashion of poor men

Leather breeches
Doublet (shirt)
Jerkin (jacket)
Made of corduroy or canvas

Fashion of poor women

Petticoat
Mantle (cloak)
Doublet (shirt)

Education of the poor

Many were too poor to afford education However some children went to a local school and learnt English

Working day for the poor

Spent the day farming or getting food

Causes of poverty Elizabethan era

Rising population Rising inflation Bad harvests War taxes Demobbed soldiers Changes in farming Breaking up of monasteries

Why did the rise in population increase poverty?

There is now a greater demand for necessities like food Greater demand = higher prices and less resources

Why did bad harvests increase poverty?

Less food necessities = famine Also raised the prices of food

How did inflation increase poverty?

Increase in prices but wages not keeping up with this = inflation Therefore people couldn’t afford necessarily

How did wars and soldiers cause poverty

Foreign wars costed a lot so taxes rose on people Also when the wars ended many soldiers were now unemployed and homeless

How did changes in farming lead to poverty?

Farmers found it was cheaper to keep sheep not crops Therefore employed less labourers = more unemployment

How did closing monasteries cause poverty?

Caused unemployment for monks, servants and labourers They provided charity relief but were now shut

Government attitudes to poverty

It was your own fault if you were poor Your position has been divinely appointed by God

When and how did attitudes to the poor begin to change?

Towards the end of Elizabeth’s reign Government began to take actual action and help them, but mostly the impotent poor

Why did the attitudes to the poor change?

Risk that vagabonds will commit crimes The poor may spread disease Social order is disrupted if they band together

Vagabonds/ Vagrants

Homeless unemployed person who would beg and roam around Often turned to crime

Idle poor

Included vagabonds that could work but chose not to

Able bodied poor

The poor who could work but chose not to or couldn’t find anywhere to Encouraged to in order to avoid vagrancy

Impotent poor

Those who couldn’t work due to age or sickness

What were the public’s attitudes to the poor?

They spread disease They turned to crime They were lazy which is sinful Violent and may rebel

Clapperdungeon

Put arsenic on the skin to look like they were bleeding for sympathy

Counterfeit cranks

Sucked on soap to foam at the mouth Pretended to have epilepsy for sympathy

Abraham man

Pretended to be mad for sympathy

How did Elizabeth try to deal with the poor?

Separate the idle poor and impotent poor And find solutions for both However didn’t address the causes of it And punished the idle poor

State of artificers law

Boys did 7 year apprenticeship Gave them skills for a trade in the future

Vagabonds act

Death penalty reintroduced for reoffending beggars Branding Local people payed poor taxes Overseers or the poor to help JP keep vagabonds off the street

2 Acts for the relief of the poor

To ‘help’ the poor Idle poor sent to houses of correction Punishment refusing to pay poor taxes 4 overseers per parish for JPs Work to be found for idle poor

Act for the punishment of rogues

Death penalty not for vagabonds again But beggars are whipped And returned to their own parish/ house of correction

1601 Elizabethan poor law

Combination of the previous laws into one The legal framework for how they challenge poverty

Contents of the Elizabethan poor law

Nationwide poor rate/ tax Refuse to pay = jail Begging banned = whipped or houses of correction Alms houses for impotent poor

Alms houses

Places the gave our basic necessities for the impotent poor

Elizabeth’s successes when dealing with the poor

Acknowledgement that the government had responsibility And that some people weren’t at fault for poverty Did keep some beggars off the street

Elizabeth’s failures when dealing with the poor

Number of vagabonds increased Didn’t deal with the root issue: houses of correction just kept them off the street/ moved them elsewhere