Elizabethan daily life

Family Life

How old were most people when they got married ?

In their 20s

Family Life

How big was the average family ?

4-5 members

Family Life

What was the name for a child born outside of marriage ?

Illegitimate

Family Life

Did people have sex before marriage ?

• Illegitimate children were uncommon
• Sex outside of marriage was forbidden by the church
• 30% of Elizabethan women got married when pregnant

Family Life

Were people free to choose who they married ?

How did this differ between rich and poor people ?

• In gentry families, wealthy parents would help arrange a child's partner due to property and status
• Most middling sort and labouring young people were free to choose who they married
• Same sex marriage wasn't permitted

Family Life

What were the roles of wives and husbands ?

• Wives had to obey their husbands at all times
• Husbands were advised to respect their wives and seek their advice
• Women were't afraid to argue with their husbands and often helped run family farms or businesses
• Elizabethans dissaproved of violent husbands and scolding wives

Family Life

Were large families common ?

• Usually only the gentry and nobility had large families
• Most families were small even though people had many children as around 30% of children died before turning 15

Family Life

What were 'wet nurses' ?

Who used them ?

• Some gentry families used wet nurses to care and breastfeed their babies
• Most common women looked after their own children

Family Life

What was education and work like for families ?

• Families with enough money would send their sons to school at around age 7
• In poorer families children often worked on the farm or helped their parents
• At age 12/13 most boys left school to work as apprentices or farm servants and girls left to become servants for other families

Family Life

Was physical punishment used by parents ?

• Physical punishment was widespread
• Boys would often be beaten in grammar schools
• Harsh discipline and physical punishment was uncommon at home however

Family Life

Did people live with their wider family ?

• Most houses rarely included kin outside parents and children
• Big gentry houses sometimes had members of wider family
• When wider family liver together it was because someone was sick and needed looking after, or couldn't take care of themselves

Family Life

Did kin live in the same village ?

• No, most young people left home at an early age and would settle and work in a different place

The Gentry

What was the gentry class ?

• The social class below the nobility
• Owned land and earned an income from it

The Gentry

What happened to the wealth of the gentry ?

Why ?

• Population growth, more efficient farming, rising food prices and increased rents all meant the gentry earned more money from their land

The Gentry

How did the gentry show off their wealth ?

• From the 1570s many of the gentry class bought new homes or improved them
• They usually had large windows made of glass ( which was very expensive )
• Large landscapes, chimneys and fireplaces were also signs of wealth
• They often wore ruffs on clothing made out of expensive silk, velvet, and women wore long sleeved dresses with hoops under their skirts

The Middling Sort

Who were the middling sort ?

• Social class below the gentry
• They had to work for their survival but had enough money to pay taxes
• Richer members of the middling sort included yeomen and merchants who gained wealth through increasing trade and from working on their own land
• Less prosperous members included shop keepers and small farmers, at risk of poverty

The Middling Sort

Who were yeomen ?

• Rented land or owned some and worked on it
• Often had wooden oak houses with at least 2 floors
• They often had servants

The Middling Sort

Who were husbandmen ?

• Usually owned about 5-10 acres of land and often rented it from yeomen

The Poor

How much of the population were poor ?

• 30% of the population were settled poor

The Poor

Did poverty increase in Elizabethan times ?

• Poverty increased largely

The Poor

Who were the vagrant poor ?

• Vagrant poor had no home and wondered from place to place looking for work
• Usually young unmarried men and women
• Many vagrants died from harsh winter weather each year
• Villagers were often suspicious of them

The Poor

Who were the settled poor ?

• Settled poor had a room to live in and could earn money or receive alms

The Poor

Who were the impotent poor ?

• Physically unable to work through age or illness

The Poor

Who were the able-bodied poor ?

• Wanted to work ( capable ) but couldn't get it

The Poor

How did the government choose to deal with vagrants ?

• Harshly punished
• From 1572 law stated that vagabonds over 14 should be whipped and burned through the ear with a hot iron ( for a second time caught begging )
• Anyone above age 18 could be hanged
• From 1589 the government prohibited people from giving shelter to vagrants and could be fined for it

Causes of Poverty

How did Henry VIII and monasteries affect poverty ?

• In the past monasteries provided support for many poor, ill and disabled people
• Between 1536 and 1541 Henry VIII closed down England's monasteries and sold off most of their land ( the dissolution of monasteries )

Causes of Poverty

How did charity affect poverty ?

• Charity became the main source of support for the poor
• However poverty became so bad that charitable donations by individuals were no longer enough

Causes of Poverty

How did changes in agriculture affect poverty ?

What was it like previously ?

• Traditional farming wasn't very efficient as farmers rented small strips of land in large fields to grow what they needed
• In the 16th century, landowners developed new techniques to make money, instead of sharing open fields they enclosed these fields to create a few large farms
• These new farms required fewer labourers, so farmers who rented land were evicted leaving them unemployed and homeless

Causes of Poverty

How did population growth affect poverty ?

How did the population change ?

• In the 16th century England's birth rate increased and the death rate fell
• Food production couldn't keep up with the growing population and as a result prices for food rose
• Prices rose much more quickly than wages causing living standards to fall and many ordinary people fell into poverty
• The growing competition for land also meant rents increased

Causes of Poverty

How much did the population increase by ?

When ?

2.8 million in 1541
4.1 million in 1600

Causes of Poverty

How did harvests and food affect poverty ?

• In the late 1580s and 1590s several failed harvests led to food shortages and higher food prices
• This pushed some people into extreme poverty with some people starving to death
• In 1586, 1595,96 and 97 harvests failed

Response to Poverty

How did many people feel about poverty ?

• Most people believed everyone had a fixed place in society following the Great Chain of Being
• People believed everyone had to work hard to care for themselves and their families
• Many people thought vagabonds were spreading the plague

Response to Poverty

What did Puritans believe about poverty ?

• Believed idleness was a sin and thought hard work was important
• Thought the devil made people idle and therefore anyone who refused to work should be harshly punished

Response to Poverty

What was the Statute of Artificers ?

When was it made ?

Statute of Artificers
1563

• If the impotent poor refused to make contributions they could be taken to court and imprisoned
• The idle poor would be fined and taken to their place of origin if begging without a license

Response to Poverty

What was the Vagabonds Act ?

When was it made ?

Vagabonds Act
1572

• Impotent poor had to make compulsory contributions to poor relief, overseen by the parish
• Punishment for vagrancy increased ( whipping and ear boring)
• The 'deserving poor' were exempt from these punishments for the first time ever

Response to Poverty

What was the Act for the Relief for the Poor ?

When was it made ?

Act for the Relief of the Poor
1576

• 'Houses of correction' were set up to punish those who refused to work
• Justices of Peace had to buy materials to provide work for those who were able to
• Ear boring and execution for being a vagabond were removed

Response to Poverty

What happened when the act was updated ?

What was the act for the Punishment of Rogues ?

When ?

1597/8

• 4 overseers were appointed to find work for the poor
• Beggars were whipped and returned to the parish of origin
• Each county had to have at least 1 house of correction
• Tools and materials were provided to the poor and children were apprenticed to a trade

Response to Poverty

When was the poor law introduced ?

What did it do ?

1601

• 4 overseers were appointed to find work for the poor and collected a poor rate ( money ) from householders in the parish to support the poor
• Beggars were whipped and returned to the parish of origin
• Impotent poor were looked after in almhouses and work was provided for the able bodied poor

Response to Poverty

How did the council respond to poverty in York ?

When?

1588

• Provided people who could work with wool and hemp and paid them small wages to spin in their homes
• Any rogues or vagabonds would either be put to work or banished from the city

Response to Poverty

How did the town respond to poverty in Ipswich ?

When ?

1569

• House of Blackfriars was turned into a hospital for people in the town, called Christ's Hospit