Edexcel GCSE Elizabethan England - Elizabethan society in the Age of Exploration

What were the initial attitudes towards education?

• Purpose of education was to help prepare for their roles in life

• 15-20% literacy rate

• The view was that only rich children had to attend school since they saw no use for the labour class to go to school

What were the changing influences on education during the 16th Century?

• Humanists argued that education was valuable and not just preparation for a role in life.

• Protestant argued that people should be able to read scriptures

• Growth of printing press meant books became less expensive

• Growth of trade encouraged people to be able to read, write and understand mathematics so they could record transactions properly

What were the different parts of the Elizabethan education system?

• Parish Schools (up to age 10) - run by clergy and taught basic literacy to children of yeoman farmers and craftsmen

• Petty Schools (<10) - Run privately from people’s homes. Attended by children of yeoman farmers, craftsmen and merchants

• Grammar Schools(10-14) - charged fees but poorer families could get scholarships. Attended by children of middle-lower classes and they were taught lots of things e.g. debating, French, Writing and Mathematics

• Universities (14/15 onwards) - 2 universities: Oxford and Cambridge. Geometry, music, astronomy, philosophy, logic, medicine and law. Highest qualification was doctorate

What type of education was specific to upper classes?

Private tutors - delivered education privately to members of the nobility who often finished their education in the household or in another nobility family

How were girls educated during the Elizabethan period?

Dame Schools - for girls from better off families which were often run by wealthy, educated women in their homes. Wealthy girls had private tutors

What were the changes in education between 1558-88?

• New grammar schools meant children were now educated independently of the Church

• Scholarships allowed people from poorer backgrounds to receive an education

• Literacy improved

What was leisure activities did nobility partake in during the Elizabethan period?

• Hunting - took place on horseback with hounds or with birds

• Fishing - Men and Women

• Real Tennis - cross between modern tennis and squash

• Bowls - men only

• Fencing - undertaken with blunt swords

What was leisure activities did lower classes partake in during the Elizabethan period?

• Football - very few rules e.g. you could pick the ball up and run with it

• Wrestling - people gambled on the outcome

What spectator sports were there in Elizabethan England?

• Cock-fighting - In small towns, arenas for cock-fighting would be built. People would bet on the outcome

• Baiting - involved watching animals fight to the death. Often involved dogs vs chained bears or bulls and bets made on the outcomes of fights

What was literature like in Elizabethan England?

A lot of new literature was written during Elizabethan times but medieval literature remained popular such as “Chaucer’s Canterbury”

How was theatre enjoyed during Elizabethan England?

• Mystery Plays - Popular with Catholic were replaced by secular plays which were shown in purpose-built theatres, such as Red Lion and Rose

• Comedies - Performed by professionals and funded by noblemen including being sponsored by the Queen and the Earl of Leicester

• All social classes were able to enjoy theatre

What was Music and dancing like in Elizabethan England?

• Elizabethans played many instruments including: lutes, spinets and harpsichords

• Musical performances were very popular and often paid to play at official functions or public events

• Wealthy families would employ their own musicians to play during meals and feasts

• Music was also written to accompany plays

• Dancing remained popular however lower and upper classes didn’t dance together

What were the 2 types of poor in Elizabethan England?

• Impotent poor - those who couldn’t help themselves

• Idle poor - those who could work but chose not to

How was poverty classified during Elizabeth’s reign?

• Spending more than 80% of your income on bread

• Being unemployed or ill, so you could no longer provide for yourself or your family

• Being unable to afford the rising cost of food

• Needing financial help (poor relief) or charity (alms)

Who were vagrants?

Vagrants were people without a settled home or regular work. Many vagrants were seen as vagabonds - idle and dishonest people who wandered from place to place committing crimes

What types of people were poor?

• Widows or women abandoned by their husbands or families

• The sick and elderly - unable to work

• Orphaned children - 40% of poor under 16 years old

• People on low wages

• Vagrants and Vagabonds

What were the reasons for poverty in Elizabethan England (population growth)?

• The population of England grew from 3 million in 1551 to 4.2 million in 1601. This increased demand for food while increasing labour supply so ordinary people could no longer provide

• This caused towns like London to grow which drove up the cost of rent while food prices also continued to rise

• Also, as population increased more people needed land which also then drove up rent prices which many people could not afford to pay

What were the reasons for poverty in Elizabethan England (Farming)?

• Bad harvests in 1562, 1565, 1573 - farmers (who ate what they grew) reduced food supply and increased prices

• Sheep farming - growth of wool trade meant that many farmers preferred to farm sheep instead of food

• Increased sheep farming meant that less labourers would be needed since sheep needed less attention than crops so there would be less jobs

What were the reasons for poverty in Elizabethan England (enclosure)?

• Where land was divided up into fields for sheep farming and arable farming or both

• This meant that less jobs would be available since sheep farming required less people

• Sometimes the common land in a village was enclosed which meant that people who lived off of what they grew would be in trouble and may go into poverty

What were the reasons for poverty in Elizabethan England (Trade recessions)?

Caused by trade embargos such as involving Spain in the Netherlands caused unemployment

Why did attitudes towards the poor change during Elizabethan times?

• The fear that poverty lead to disorder and a possible rebellion

• The cost of dealing with the poor, especially poor rate

• Populations changes and enclosures meant poor people were now more visible

• Changing economic circumstances e.g. bad harvests and enclosure, forced the authorities to develop more constructive views of poor people

What were the various policies towards the poor which were continued during Elizabethan times?

• Poor rate - Local tax organised by JPs with proceedings spent to improve the lives of the poor

• Charity - Funded by local wealthy people who gave their name to the foundation

Which new policies were brought during the Elizabethan times that progressed the attitudes towards the poor?

• Statute of Artificers, 1563

  • Anyone who refused to pay poor rates would be imprisoned

  • Officials failing to organise poor rates could be fined £20

• Poor Relief Act, 1576

  • JPs would provide able bodied poor with raw materials and wool so they could make things to sell

  • Those who refused work were sent to Houses of correction funded by poor rates

What was the policy that went against the changing attitudes towards the poor?

Vagabonds Act, 1572:

• 1st offence = vagabonds have hole drilled through each ear and were to be whipped

• 2nd offence = imprisonment

• 3rd offence = death

• In addition, it established national poor rate

• JPs were to keep a register of poor

• Towns and cities given responsibility to find work for able bodied poor

How did expanding trade affect exploration?

• Trade was expanding quickly in New World

• English merchants needed new trading opportunities since war in the Netherlands had damaged their wool and cloth trades

• It was vital to find new markets and new products

What new navigational technology was discovered to encourage exploration?

• Quadrants and astrolabes - used the position of stars to make accurate mathematical calculations about the position of a ship - making navigation simpler

• Journeys were now recorded and mapped out so others could follow the same routes

• Printed books detailing voyages were becoming increasingly available

• Mercator map - used lines of longitude and latitude to create a much more realistic picture

• Printing made these maps widespread and easy to obtain

What improvements were there in ship design that encouraged exploration?

• Galleons - allowed more supplies and larger cargoes to be carried on journeys

• More stable ships - Galleons also included lower bows and sterns so the ship was more stable in heavy seas

• Different sail types - traditional square sails on fore masts for speed and Lateen sails to make the ship easier to manoeuvre. More masts enabled longer, faster and more accurate journeys

• Better fire power - Galleons had gun decks running the length of the ships so cannons could fire from the sides, bow and stern

How did private investors encourage exploration?

• Private investors funded many of the journeys

• It was risky but the rewards could be enormous

• Increased of both the Crown and the nobility

How did the idea of adventure encourage more exploration?

• Some young Elizabethan men undertook voyages of discovery and exploration

• Published accounts of voyages encouraged others to explore and venture into the unknown

What was the triangular trade?

• Iron goods and guns could be sold in West Africa

• In return you could buy slaves

• These slaves could be sold in the New World in exchange for: sugar, spices and tobacco

• This could then be sold in Europe to make a profit

When did Sir Francis Drake circumnavigate the world?

1577-80

Why did Sir Francis Drake circumnavigate the globe?

• His main purpose was to raid Spanish colonies in the Pacific

• Revenge - Spanish had attacked Drake’s fleet at St Juan de Ulúa and most of his men had been killed

• Loot, booty and trade meant there was huge profits to be made from Drake’s journey so people (incl. Elizabeth) were willing to invest in Drake

What was the significance of Drake’s circumnavigation of the globe?

• English began to trade elsewhere: India and Africa

• It brought conflict between the Pope, who had allocated North America to Spain and Spain themselves since they had many trading posts on the Eastern Pacific

• This is was especially seen when Drake was knighted on the Golden Hind

• England’s reputation as a sea fearing power increased

• England continued to see its navy as being the best means of protecting and extending their trading interests

• Nova Albion was claimed as English leading to encouraged of further exploration and trade in the new world to form new colonies e.g. New England

Who was Sir Walter Raleigh and what did he do?

• A nobleman and courtier who became an explorer during Elizabeth’s reign

• In 1584, Elizabeth gave Raleigh a grant to explore and settle lands in North America

• Raleigh need to raise a lot of money and convince people to leave their homes and settle in a land many knew little about

• He did not lead the colonists but was significant for the reasons mentioned in the above point

What were the events of the colonisation of Virginia?

• 1584 - Raleigh plans colonisation of North America and sends team to explore and report back

• 1585 - English colonisation of Virginia begins: 107 men

• 1586 - Surviving colonists abandon colony since they were struggling to feed themselves and faced hostile Native Americans

• 1587 - New colonists return to Virginia and set up a colony at Roanoke (3 years later they all had disappeared)

Why was Virginia colonised?

• Trade - colonists able to barter cloth and knives in exchange for gold and animal skins that could be sold at a profit. Colonists could also produce sugar cane and tobacco

• England would be less dependent on Spain, France and Italy if it could produce imported goods in Virginia

• Welcoming and friendly natives - Wancheze and Manteo had come back to England to encourage them to go there

• Raleigh was able to presuade investors that the trip would be profitable

• Colonising Virginia would provide a base to attack Spanish colonies

• A successful colony in Virginia would make it easier to fund other ventures

Who went to Virginia?

107 men led by Richard Grenville which was mostly made up of: soldiers and sailors but there were some craftsmen, landowners, merchants and farmers

What did the colonists take with them?

• Food and salt for preserving it

• Fresh water

• Tools and equipment including ploughs and seeds - to farm and build

• Weapons to protect themselves

Why did the colonisation of Virginia fail (lack of food)?

• First colonist left England too late to reach Virginia in time to plant crops, so they would soon abandon the colony without being able to provide for themselves

• The Tiger leaked, ruining the food it was carrying

• Climate was hot and humid and mosquitoes were everywhere leading to food rotting quickly

Why did the colonisation of Virginia fail (Poor leadership)?

• Leader of the 1st expedition, Richard Grenville, was hot headed and didn’t get on with Ralph Lane, governor of the country

• This meant that those involved in both expeditions had little direction or purpose

• Which would explain the decision to abandon the expedition in 1586

Why did the colonisation of Virginia fail (Lack of skills and experience)?

• Both expeditions lacked the experience and skill sets needed to make it a success

• Merchants and landowners lacked physical capacity for manual work

• There was a lack of stone so the colony was vulnerable to an attack

• Soldier would not farm the land

Why did the colonisation of Virginia fail (Native American attack)?

• In 1586, after he had been angered by the many food handouts Algonquian Chief Wingina attacked the colonists

• The attack was beaten off but led to the colonists abandoning the colony

• Wingina believed that the English had superpowers that could kill his people without even touching them since after the English left a settlement people would die from strange causes

• It is possible the second expedition was wiped out by an attack

Why did the colonisation of Virginia fail (War with Spain)?

• From 1585, England was effectively at war with Spain

• This meant that few ships were able to visit or resupply the colony since they were focused on the threat of the Armada

• Colonists became increasingly isolated and vulnerable to attacks

What was the significance of the attempted colonisation of Virginia?

• It lay the roots for what would become the British Empire since it provided them an opportunity to learn from their mistakes

• Undermined Spain as England hoped to rival Spain

• Served as a template for future settlements including Jamestown in 1607