society in 1558 Flashcards
List in order from most powerful to least powerful the people living in the countryside:
Nobility, gentry, yeomen, tenant farmers, landless and labouring poor, homeless and vagrants. (Never Give Your Tiger Little Hamsters)
List in order from most powerful to least powerful the people living in towns:
Merchants, professionals, businessmen, craftsmen, unskilled labourers and the unemployed (My Parents Bring Children Up)
Describe the nobility:
The nobility is made up of major landowners, often they were dukes, lords and earls.
Describe the gentry:
The gentry owned smaller estates than the nobility.
Describe the yeomen farmers:
The yeomen farmers owned their own farmland.
Describe the tenant farmers:
Tenant famers grew their own crops but rented the land off of yeomen, so didn’t own land.
Describe the landless and labouring poor:
The landless and labouring poor was people who didn’t own or rent land so had to do hard labour to provide for themselves and their family. They did long days for little pay.
Describe the homeless and vagrants:
These people didn’t have homes, so moved from one place to another, sleeping rough on the streets, in the search of work.
Describe the merchants:
Merchants were traders who were very wealthy.
Describe professionals:
Professionals were lawyers, doctors and clergymen, so were highly educated.
Describe businessmen:
These business men owned businesses, and were often highly skilled craftsmen.
Describe craftsmen:
Craftsmen were skilled employees/ apprentices, who were employed by businessmen.
What was the relationship between classes above and below you?
Elizabethans had a duty of care to the classes below them, and had to display their respect and obedience to the classes above them.
What difference in power was there between genders?
In a family, the father/ man of the house had the most power, so his wife and children were expected to obey him, as well as any servants.
