Section 5

Question 1

Merry England

Answer 1

People in Industrial Britain looked back with nostalgia on the Elizabethan period and created a myth of ‘merry England’ that wasn’t always based on reality

Question 2

Interpretation of Merry England: ‘golden age’

Answer 2

People wore fine clothing
Everyone had plenty of food
People got on well with one another
Cultural achievements- Shakespeare’s plays were enjoyed by all

Question 3

Sport in Elizabethan era

Answer 3

Football:played on the streets between huge teams from different villages, players fought for possession
Bear-baiting: Spectators bet on a pack of dogs attacking a tied up bear was widespread
Bareknuckle boxing
Cudgelling; fighting with sticks
Wrestling
‘throwing at cocks’

Question 4

Festivities in Elizabethan England:

Answer 4

On saint’s day villages held parish ales- festivals of drinking, eating, and dancing- that lasted several days
Christmas festivities included a lot of eating, drinking, and carol singing that lasted 12 days
On May Day people danced around maypole and watched plays
Harvest Home was celebrated once all the crops had been harvested at the end of August

Question 5

The alehouse (pub)

Answer 5

The most common pastime for the labouring poor and middling sort was going to the alehouse to drink beer with friends
Alehouses were also a place of gambling and prostitution

Question 6

Puritan attack on popular pastimes

Answer 6

A striking feature of Elizabeth’s reign was the decline in popular pastimes
Parish ales stopped in many areas
Alehouses were closed
Maypoles were pulled down

Question 7

Reason for decline in popular pastimes

Answer 7

Puritan ministers wanted people to live purer Christian lives. They clamped down on popular pastimes by:
Preaching sermons attacking festivities such as parish ales
Persuaded Justices of the Peace to ban maypoles and introduce licences for selling ale

Question 8

Reason’s for Puritan ministers disliking popular pastimes

Answer 8

T protect the sabbath- puritans believed that Sunday should be reserved for prayer, no drinking and no dancing
Stop pagan practices- Traditionally may day were pagan not Christian, Puritans believed this distracted from the true Christian religion
Preventing violent disorders- crowds at festivities such as parish ales and harvest home often became drunk and violent. Puritans did not think this was Christian behaviour
Preventing sex outside of marriage- puritan ministers believed- perhaps with good reason- that dancing and drinking at festivals such as May day led to the sin of sex outside of marriage

Question 9

Growth of theatres

Answer 9

There were no theatres when Elizabeth became Queen in 1558
Instead actors performed in alehouses and parish ales
When the government began arresting actors as vagrants, they formed theatre companies
Theatre companies built theatres in London to perform plays written by playwrights

Question 10

Popular theatre company: Lord Chamberlain’s Men

Answer 10

Playwright: William Shakespeare
Popular plays: Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth
Theatre: The Globe

Question 11

Opposition to theatres

Answer 11

Puritan ministers opposed theatres because plays encouraged unholy behaviour and distracted ordinary people from prayer and bible reading
London City authorities opposed the theatre because they feared crowds of spectators would spread the plague or commit crimes

Question 12

Support for theatres

Answer 12

The Queen enjoyed the theatre and invited Shakespeare to perform at the Royal Court
Ordinary people loved it because it provided cheap entertainment

Question 13

Why were Puritans concerned about theatres

Answer 13

Theatres were deliberately built beyond the city walls as they were outside the control of the London Mayor
Puritans associated plays with paganism (non Christian beliefs) or Catholicism
They wrote letters to the government asking for the prohibition of theatres but most of these were disregarded
Concerned that theatres led to sinful behaviour
Drew servants away from their work and attracted the wrong kinds of people

Question 14

Seating arrangements in the Globe theatre

Answer 14

the galleries were the covered raised areas of seating. Entry was 6 pence
The yard was where the poor- known as groundlings stood to watch plays. Entry was one penny
The stage was raised and jutted out into the centre of the theatre

Question 15

The design of the Globe

Answer 15

The stage was simple and every audience member understood the meaning of each part
The stage had a roof for protection from weather- also symbolised the heavens and was painted with a starry sky
There was a trap door to represent a grave or the gateway to hell

Question 16

The persecution of witches

Answer 16

Elizabethan’s believed that witches could perform magic to cure illness, control he actions of others, or recover stolen goods
Some people believed witch’s power came from their relationship with the devil
Witches were believed to have familiars: small animlas such as cats and toad that assisted with their evil acts

Question 17

Persecution of witches during Elizabeth’s reign

Answer 17

1563- law against witchcraft
Death by hanging for using witchcraft to kill
Prison for damage to property
The number of cases increased in the later years of Elizabeth’s reign: 166 cases in the 1580s
There were 172 cases in Essex alone during Elizabeth’s reign

Question 18

Historian’s interpretation for persecution of witches: Tensions between villagers

Answer 18

Power of the powerless; explains confessions
Lots of unexplained terrible things happened

Question 19

Attacks on women: witches

Answer 19

90% of those accused of witchcraft were women
In a patriarchal society, persecuting witches was a way to deal with women who did not have husbands to control them

Question 20

Puritans and witches

Answer 20

Puritan ministers encouraged persecution to get rid of magical beliefs
There was a lot of witchcraft accusations in Essex which was a highly Puritan area