Topic 2 - Lifestyles Of Rich & Poor Flashcards
What is the structure of Elizabethan society?
11 sections
Monarch
Nobles/lords
Gentry
Wealthy merchants & professionals
Yeomen & tenant
Cottagers & skilled artisans
Landless/unskilled labourers & poor/unemployed
Who are the nobles?
Great landowners with an income of £6000 a year
50 families
Who are the gentry?
Lesser landowners with an income of £200 a year
10,000 families
Who are the wealthy merchants?
Successful business people who buy and sell goods
30,000 families
Who are the professionals?
The emerging middle class with jobs E.g. lawyers / clergy / school masters
Who are the yeomen farmers?
They own property and a few servants
Farm land
Collectively own 17% of cultivated land
Who are tenant farmers?
Rent 10-30 acres from landowners
100,000 families
Who are the cottagers?
Small gardens to farm in
Small scale home industries
E.g. spinning
Who are the skilled artisans?
Men with a trade
Craftsmen
Who are the landless / unskilled labourers?
They had no savings
Poverty was a constant threat
Once in poverty they became beggars
What are the 6 causes of poverty?
Rising population Inflation Cloth trade collapse Expensive wars Bad harvests Changes in farming
What are the 7 types of vagabonds?
Dummerer
Ruffler
Doxy
Hooker
Counterfeit crank
Abraham man
Clapper dudgeon
What did the dummerer do?
Pretend to be dumb to get sympathy and beg from charity / passers by
What did the ruffler do?
They were former soldiers
Thrive off robbing and use threats to get money
What did the doxy do?
Female beggar who walks around knitting with a large bag
Bag is actually filled with stolen valuables / chickens
