Society in Elizabethan England

what was the nature of the peerage/nobiltiy under elizabeth?

society remained under aristocratic rule.
-few hereditary peers.
with each of the 4 ducal titles between 1547 to 1572 meeting a bloody end, elizabeth was careful not to create any new dukes.

how did the nobility change?

the nobility became more peacable.

-used building projects to increase prestige:

-burghley house in northamptonshire built by lord burghley
-wilton in wiltonshire built by earl of pembroke

how did the gentry change?

-gentry continued to embrace wider social range, such as influential knights of the shire, or politically important figures such as sir christopher hatton.

-county gentleman and esquires dominated local government as JP’s

the wealth gap
what is a statistic in terms of land?

great landlords owned 17% of the cultivated land

the wealth gap
what is a statistic in terms of cincome?

14% of the national income belonged to the richest 1.2% of families.

-taxes show that the richest 23% of the population owned 55% of all taxable wealht.

poverty
what are statistics in terms of the amount of poor, and income?

half of 16th century families in england were classified as ‘labouring poor’ - received 20% of national income

food and drink accounted for 80% of expenditure for the poor.

population growth
how did londons population grow?

from 60,000 in 1520 to 200,000 by 1600.

-burst under elizabeths reign: 120,000 in 1550 to 200,000 in 1600.

population growth
how did population growth effect quality of life?

pressure on public services due to population growth. in 1571, london was described as a “stinking city, the filtheist of the world”

-overcrowding led to increased spreading of disease.

povery and poor relief
when and what was the statute of artifices?

1563 statute of artifces
7 year apprenticeships made cumpolsory for all urban crafts.
-regulated number of apprentices per master and journeyman

maximum wage rates fixed

had largely and adverse effect due to introduction of maximum wages

povery and poor relief
when and what was hte vagabonds act?

1572 vagabonds act

-severe penalties against vagrants. JPs to keep a register of the poor, and raise a poor rate to provide shelter for the elderly and the sick.

-governemnts fear of vagrants illustrated through this.

povery and poor relief
when and what was the act for the releif of the poor?

1576 act for the relief of the poor.

-first attempt to create a national system of poor relief.
-financed/administered locally.

-able bodied poor directed by JP’s to find work.
-those refusing sent to house of correction.

povery and poor relief
when and what was the act for the punishment of rogues ?

1598 act for the punishment of rogues.

-JP’s establish houses of correction for rogues/vagabonds.

-rogues whipped before forced to return to parishes.

-enabled the authorities to contain poverty/vagrancy.

povery and poor relief
wwhat was the difference between deserving and underserving poor?

distinction between deserving and underserving limited the effect of elizabethan poor laws.

-overall a misundertanding of economic/social issues.

problems in the regions
what was the nature of elizabeths control over england ?

england under elizabeth was more unifed than france which was expierencing a civil war, or spain.
-more peacable - only one serious rebellion in 1569 which collapsed quickly.

problems in ireland
what was the elizabethan policy on ireland? how did elizabeth gain control over irish religioun?

ireland was to be subjected to a policy of ‘englishness’ in both religious and secular matters.

-elizabeth proclaimed supreme governer of hte church of ireland in 1560.

problems in ireland
how did elizabeth find problems imposing protestantism onto ireland?

Elizabeth found problems imposing protesntaism as ireland was largely catholic.

gaellic customary laws, landownership and culture differed greatly to england.

problems in ireland
how did tensions between the people of ireland and the english worsen?

the influx of fortune hunters and english newcomers, exacerbated by frequent use of martial alw led to tensions between the gaelic irish and the english.

problems in ireland
how did rebellions break out in irealnd?

rebellions in the south of ireland against english rule in 1569-1573 and 1579-1582.

-second rebellion linked to a spanish incursion

-relations worsened due to brutality of the response of lord deputy of ireland, lord grey of wilton to the second rebellion.

problems in ireland
what was the background of the third, great rebellion in ireland?

third rebellion was more diffucult/expensive to deal with.

-in ulster, the earl of tyrone rose up in rebellion in 1595.

-Spain attempted to exploit the situation by including an irish contingent in the armada of 1596

problems in ireland
were spanish attempts to exploit the rebellion successful?

Spains attempts to exploit the 1595 rebellion were not successful, however the fact that their signalled their intentions caused much unease among elizabeth/the council.

problems in ireland

what eventually hapened with tyrones rebellino?

rebels victorious at battle of yellow ford, august 1598

-tyrone and his allies gained control of much of ireland ‘beyond the pale’

problems in ireland
how did elizabeth respond to such advancements?

elizabeth, in despertation sent earl of essex to ireland as lord lieutenant in 1599.
-proved an error as he disobeyed her orrders.

problems in ireland
how did essex cause issues for elizabeth?
-what did this lead tyrone to do?

Essex, lord lieutannt made a truce with tyrone rather than confronting him, as elizabeth had ordered.

-as soon as the truce expired, tyrone moved south, aiming to link up with a spansih army, gaining much power.

problems in ireland
how did england eventually make progress in ireland?

removal of essex, progress made under new lord lieutenant lord mountjoy.

-english defeated tyrones forces on 24th december 1601

-tyrone negotiated peace with mountjoy in 1603, however elizabeth had already died

Problems with wales
was the welsh border a problem under elizabeth?

welsh border no longer a problem under elizabeth. integration of england and wales continued.

while cultural differenes remained, border issues were not present for elizabeth

Problems with wales
how did elizabeth control the welsh border via government strucutres?

structure of border adminstration, under the council of wales and the marches, remained in operation.

Problems with wales

how did wales cause slightly more problems near the end of her reign?

poverty clear in wales.
-while welsh gentry prospered under elizabeth, the disproportionate number of welshman implicated in the 1601 essex rebellion suggests some discontent from wales near teh end of her reign.

Scotland and the north of england
why was soctland still an issue?

border conflict remained in scotland.
-large emphassis on casual violence and sheep rustling which caused problems for authorities.

Scotland and the north of england
what was a flashpoint in scottish border control? how was it resolved?

murder of francis russel, son of the earl of bedford in 1585 scottish border incident

-however relieved via skillful diplomacy. james vth accepted an annual pension of £4000 along with hints to succession.

socal discontent
what is a judgement on elizabethan social discontent?

reign was a period of order. most significant rebellion, 1569 northern rising, had little to do with socioeconomic issues.

-rising prices, plagues and harvest failures in the 1590s did not cause much threat to social stability.;

-heavy response to 1596 oxfordshire rising was overblown - only 4 men.

northern rebellion
when was the northern rebellion?

1569-70

northern rebellion
who headed the rebellion? what were its motives?

headed by leading northern nobility, earls of northumberland and westmorland.

-they considered themselves humiliated as they had been displaced from their traditional aristocratic role of controlling northern government.

northern rebellion
how could the nothern rebellion have been potenitally tied to a conspiracy ?

could have been potentially tied to a plot for the duke of norfolk to marry mary, queen of scots, who would be restored to the scottish throne.

northern rebellion
was the rebellion successful? why?

not successful, crushed by royal forces.
-lack of organisoation - poor leadership - lack of epected foreign support

-geograhpically limited, few rebels gained from outside durham and the north riding of yorkshire.