ipl-logo

Social Status In The Elizabethan Era

1093 Words5 Pages

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

Show More
Related

Influence Of The Massachusetts Bay Colonies

151 Words | 1 Pages

The right to vote and hold office was limited to male church members. In local affairs, the General Court developed powers and a structure similar to England’s Parliament. It had two houses: the House of Assistants and the House of Deputies. Also,

Read More

Similarities Between Tokugawa Japan And Medieval Europe

687 Words | 3 Pages

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

Read More

How Did The Life Of The Middle Ages Ap Euro Dbq

534 Words | 3 Pages

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).

Read More

Compare And Contrast American Government Vs Colonial Government

788 Words | 4 Pages

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.

Read More

Dbq Essay On The Middle Ages

679 Words | 3 Pages

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.

Read More

Middle Ages Dbq Essay

357 Words | 2 Pages

The Middle Ages was a period that lasted from about 500 to 1500(OI). There were kings and queens, nobles, knights, and peasants (Doc. 1). People were treated and respected differently according to their class(OI). There were special relationships and responsibilities that everyone had. In the Middle Ages feudalism affected people’s lives economically, socially, and politically.

Read More

How Did The Black Death Affect European Society

478 Words | 2 Pages

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

Read More

Middle Ages Dbq Essay

1539 Words | 7 Pages

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.

Read More

Dbq Essay On The Middle Ages

1030 Words | 5 Pages

The Middle Ages was the time period after the fall of the Roman Empire around 500 CE to the 1350’s. During this time the Roman Catholic Church and the Pope held the most power throughout Europe, the priests often lived in a closed area inside the walls of the monasteries. “Schools were few. Illiteracy was widespread” (Background essay) because of this average person of this time was illiterate .and more than 85 percent of the population were farmers and peasants called serfs and they worked in an estate for the owner called the lord.

Read More

Jobs In The Elizabethan Era

1031 Words | 5 Pages

Jobs in the Elizabethan era A variety of jobs existed during the Elizabethan era. There were some people who worked for the queen, others who worked with their hands, and lastly people who worked for royalty. These jobs that people did were really important out of the elizabethan era. Some people had the job were they were responsible for the queen.

Read More

Knights In The Elizabethan Era

861 Words | 4 Pages

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.

Read More

What Are The Children Of The Poor In The Elizabethan Era

541 Words | 3 Pages

Not much to your surprise, life as a child in the Elizabethan Era is much different than childhood today. For starters, children in the Elizabethan Era did not have phones to play games, not everyone was allowed to go to school, and we have access to almost anything we want. But just like today, some children had it easier than others. Today in my presentation, I am going to compare the children of the wealthy to the children of the poor during the Elizabethan Era, including examples from Romeo and Juliet. Children of the Poor: Children of the poor had it tougher than the children of the wealthy.

Read More

Middle Ages Caste System

1498 Words | 6 Pages

Royalty was the people who normally lived in the big castle governing the people who were below them. People who were mostly in the Royalty class were the King, Queen, Princess, and the Prince. Everyone one in the royalty class played an important role in the kingdom. They ran their government based on a monarchy system. A monarchy is a form of government where sovereignty is in control through one person, a head of state called a monarch.

Read More

Aristocracy In Regency England

1372 Words | 6 Pages

Today, the term aristocracy is not used that often, but what about in Regency England? There is certainly a significant attitude shift when jumping back to the early 1800’s. The word, however, most likely did not have a different meaning. How was this era portrayed in books and other media? Jane Austen takes a look at many different social classes of the era in her work, Pride and Prejudice.

Read More

Social Classes In The Middle Ages Essay

555 Words | 3 Pages

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.

Read More

More about Social Status In The Elizabethan Era

Related Topics

Open Document