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Social Status In The Elizabethan Era

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Social Classes in the Elizabethan Era Throughout the ages, England has maintained its culture such as its prevalence of monarchical regime, however, as time marched on a cultural aspect of England has disappeared, social status. Social status is defined as a person's standing or importance in relation to other people within a society. As a result of status one’s lifestyle was predetermined, however, more opportunities were provided for the impoverished classes during the Elizabethan time period. The Elizabethan era refers to the English history of Queen Elizabeth I's reign (1558-1603) when England prospered and is considered to be the time of the English Renaissance. However, due to one’s standing in society, those who were wealthy thrived …show more content…

“Peasants or Serfs had to labor on the lord's land for two or three days each week, and at specially busy seasons, such as ploughing and harvesting. The life of a Knight during the Middle ages centred around castles or Manors or fighting for his lord and the King during times of war. The life of Lords and Nobles centred around their castles or Manors or fighting for their liege lord or King during times of war” (Medieval Life). In the Elizabethan era, status was significant to their time period, this is shown by each class’ distinct ways of living. “Medieval Life was dictated by wealth, power and status and the feudal system. The Feudal System was sustained by the rights and privileges given to the Upper Classes and in most cases enacted by laws. The high ranking nobles lived in castles with their knights, ladies and retinues. Others enjoyed their life on their manors. The peasants, including serfs, freeman and villeins spent their life on a manor or surrounding village life” ( Medieval Life ). Therefore, those who were wealthy lived a comfortable, privileged life while those unfortunate to not have this honor lived a life of work and poverty. Also, since wealth determined class, fortune did not smile upon those who couldn’t afford to own a lavish residence, …show more content…

The Council took care of routine administration which involved matters of religion, military, the queen’s security, economics, and the welfare of the citizens.... A group of representatives called Parliament was divided into two sections. The House of Lords or the Upper House consisted of bishops and aristocrats. The House of Commons or the Lower House consisted of common people. The main function of Parliament at this time in history was to deal with financial matters such as taxation and granting the queen money” (Elizabethan Era). Nobility in the Privy Council possessed more power than lords and the common people of Parliament; the Privy Council gave advice to the queen and dealt with a plethora of matters while Parliament dealt with financial affairs. In conclusion, a large majority of people in government positions were nobility, with the queen having the most power and the Privy Council and Parliament providing assistance with matters concerning the ruling of

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Underneath the nobles and barons, there are knights that are trained from the age of 7. In return for service to the nobles and barons, they are given grants of land. The peasants and serfs are on the bottom of the social system, there are peasants who farm the land in return for shelter and protection (history.com). This compares with

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These relationships were called feudalism (Doc. 1). Feudalism and the Church greatly contributed to the social, economic, and political life in Europe in the Middle Ages. “Feudalism was a political, economic, and social system which included kings, nobles, knights, and serfs (Doc. 1).” Every position or status had a job that benefitted another ranking (Doc. 1). For example, a king grants land to nobles, nobles granted land to knights, and knights grant land to serfs (Doc. 1).

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Throughout England 's history, the main three social classes were royalty, nobility, and commoners. Over time, the center of power shifted from the higher classes down to the lower classes with documents such as the Magna Carta. This led to Parliament having two houses, the House of Lords for the nobles and the House of Commons for the commoners. The House of Lords was the higher and more powerful house at the time, although this changed in the 19th century when limitations were placed on their power. Their primary responsibility was checking bills passed by the House of Commons to make sure that they were not making a mistake.

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In the Middle Ages, the power of people impacted the society, because of the Feudal System. In other words, the rankings of people. There were four groups. The Kings and Queens were at the top, then the nobles, the knights, and last peasants and serfs(Doc. 1). Serfs and peasants had very little land given and they even had to provide food that they farmed for the knights and nobles.

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For example, in 1347 at Cuxham manor in England a labored received two shillings a week, but by 1350 a laborer was paid nearly 11 shillings. Since the nobles had less wealth they were unable to afford the live and luxuries they were accustomed to. Unable to lead the same lives their high social status was affected. Soon everyone in Europe had a lower standard of living. As a result of the nobles being unable to afford much of what they used to buy the economy for these

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The major portions within this were the life on the manor, and the trade and commerce in the time period. First off, the life on the manor itself was the entire “economic side of feudalism” (Document 2). The work of the serfs (peasants tied to the land) for the lords was the support of the economic system of manoralism, and the Middle Ages as a whole. The serfs had to go through tedious and excruciating work in order to continue living on the land (Document 2). On top of all the work they did, they also had to pay taxes to the lord in order to continue living on the land.

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In the Elizabethan era, social classes were seen as the status of wealth a person had and was thought to be put in place by God(Ros 1). Six classes made up this era ranging from the monarch to the laborers. Monarchs, the highest class, were the leaders of the countries and would have been the person to appoint knights to their position in society. The nobility were a set of high classed families that were also set by the monarchs; as a result, a monarch could position knights in the nobility class that would also award them with an estate and laborers. The most common class for knights was the gentry, in which the highest of this particular class was the knights themselves, but could also include common gentlemen, gentlewomen, and squires of the kingdom.

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For them, life was difficult. They had to work long, hard hours on the manor that belonged to their lord. Most peasants were farmers. Peasants did not have good food or clothing. They did not have the right to be educated.

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