Unit 2: Study in Depth
Elizabethan England
Did Elizabeth Preside Over a
Divided Society?
Name_______________________________________________________________Teacher____________
_____ Class ___________________
Target Grade:
In what ways was
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Elizabethan England: Did Elizabeth Preside Over a Divided Society?
Elizabethan England Divided?
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What were the Causes of Poverty in Elizabethan England?
Task - Use the information around the room to complete the table below. For each factor you must give some details about
what is is/what is means AND you must also explain how this factor caused poverty.
Factor
Details
How it caused poverty
Encolsure
Henry VII
Henry VIII
Population
Growth
Harvests
Welfare
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What was poverty like and why did it cause problems?
Task – Look at the statements in the middle of the page, can you draw a line to match each of them up to the correct picture?
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Elizabethan England: Did Elizabeth Preside Over a Divided Society?
In Tudor England, one of the most infamous types of criminal was the sturdy beggar. These were tramps and vagrants who
wandered around the country either looking for work… or looking for goods to steal or people to trick so they didn’t have to work at all. One writer reckoned there were over 10,000 of them out of a population of around five million. Gangs of sturdy
beggars roamed England looking for ‘victims;; to rob or trick. In fact, many people at the time described themselves as ‘living in
terror of the tramp’! So how exactly did sturdy beggars operate? What con tricks did they try? Why did the number of sturdy
beggars suddenly increase in Tudor England? And how were they punished if caught?
We saw on page 4 why the number of poor people increased in Tudor England. All of those factors led to an increase in the
number of poor people wandering the streets looking for food and shelter. These vagabonds, as Tudors called them, were a
mixture of unemployed soldiers and farmers, women and children, the old and the sick. A small minority, who were fir enough
to look for work, found that crime was an easier way for them to make a living. In Tudor England, this rough, tough, devious
bunch of vagabond con men were also known as ‘sturdy beggars’. In 1567 a man called Thomas Harman wrote a best-selling book warning against the dangers of sturdy beggars. He described 23
different types of these tricksters; five of them can be seen on the previous page. Below are four more examples from Harman’s book; can you draw a picture to go with them like the examples on page 5?
The Cutpurse
The Angler
A pickpocket who would secretly creep up
behind you, cut a hole in your pocket or bag and
steal the contents.
Fixed a hook to a long stick and stole clothes
from washing lines.
The Drummer
Rufflers
Pretended to be deaf and dumb, hoping people
would feel sorry for him.
Ex-soldiers who beat people up to get their
purses.
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So what was the problem?
The issue of poverty troubled all of the monarchs of the Tudor
period. Henry VIII, Elizabeth I’s father, had granted licences to beggars. Only those with a licence were allowed to beg. Those
without were punished severely. Edward VI, Elizabeth I’s brother, took a firmer position on the poor. He declared that he
would have the tongues of those considered to be idle poor
branded and they were given as slaves to the rich for two years.
The children of beggars were taken away from them and forced
to become domestic servants. How a king or queen dealt with
the poor was a signal to their people about what was acceptable
and what was not.
The very structure of Elizabethan society meant that poverty
was an accepted part of the fabric of life. The poor kept the rich
in riches by toiling for them and paying taxes. The charity of
the rich to the poor was also an accepted part of life. Many of
the rich felt that it was their moral obligation to help the poor
and for some it allowed them to feel, and be seen to be, superior.
They often left money in their wills for those
needing assistance and built rows of almshouses for the poor to live in.
The social, religions and economic conditions
specific to Elizabeth I’s reign very much dictated how she and her government behaved
towards her poorer subjects. (see sources A-D)
Whilst some felt a moral obligation to help the
poor the Elizabethan government feared that
groups of poor could leaf to a threat to law and
order.
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Task – Re-read the information on the previous page, including the sources, and answer the following questions in
the space provided.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
What pressure do you think rich people would begin to feel as the number of poor people increased?
Explain why the Elizabethan government felt that increasing poverty was an issue of law and order?
Do you feel sources A & B show similar or different attitudes towards charity for the poor?
Re-write source C in your own words.
How can you use source E to explain what is happening in source D?
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writing and reading tudor documents
From about 1500 to about 1650 the main style of handwriting used in
documents and letters was called ‘Secretary’
‘Be it enacted that Alle and everie Parson and Parsones what so ever theye be beinge
above the age of xiii yeres beinge hereafter sett for the by this Act of parlament to be
Roges, Vacabonbes or sturdie Beggers,,And be at any tyme after the feaste ofSaint
Bartholmew the Appostle nexte comynge taken begginge in any parte of this Realm, or
taken vagrant wandringe and misorderinge them seofes contrarie to the puporte of this
present Acte of parlament in any part of the same shall yf such parsone or parsons be
duelie convict of his of her rogishe or vacabondes trade of liefe be grevouslie whipped and
burnte throughe the gristle of the right eare with a hott yron on the compasse of an ynche
abought, yf such parsone or parsons be duelie convict for a thyrd tyme he or she shall be
hanged’
Spelling - Until the 14th century English was a spoken rather than a written language. The idea
of being accurate in spelling is a relatively modern idea brought about largely be the
development of printing so people tended to spell phonetically.
Adding or removing an ‘e’ at the end of a word – e.g ‘losse’ for ‘loss’ or ‘mak’ for ‘make’
Doubling or halving consonants – eg ‘ allways’ for always or unles ‘ for ‘unless’
Doubling or halving of vowels, especially ‘e’ or ‘o’ – e.g. ‘shee’ for ‘she’ or ‘thre’ for ‘three’
Changing vowels such as ‘o’ for ‘ou’ e.g. – ‘wold’ instead of ‘would’, ‘i’ with ‘y’ or ‘ie’ e.g – ‘fyrst’ instead of ‘first’, and ‘u’ with ‘w’, e.g. ‘yow’ instead of ‘you’
Changing consonants such as ‘t’ with’c’ – e.g. ‘gratious’ instead of ‘gracious’
Changing the letters ‘u’ and ‘v’ and ‘i’ and ‘j’
Punctuation - Full stops and commas were hardly used. New sentences sometimes start with a
capital letter but capitals could also be used anywhere in a sentence
Numbers - Roman numerals were used
i =1 ij = 2 iij = 3 iiij = 4 v = 5 vj = 6 vij = 7 viij = 8 viiij = 9
X = 10 L = 50 C = 100 M = 1000
Task – considering all of the rules above, can you read the paragraph at the top of the page and re-write it in modern English. In
the space below.
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Extension Task – From your version of the paragraph above, can you use the ‘Secretary’ key on page 10 to write this in Tudor text?
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How were the poor classified and group together?
Task – Fill in the missing details for each of the groups of poor below.
The
poor
People fell into this category if they…
These people were considered to be deserving /
undeserving poor.
The
poor
People fell into this category if they…
These people were considered to be deserving /
undeserving poor.
Rogues and V
People fell into this category if they…
These people were considered to be deserving /
undeserving poor.
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How did ‘The Poor Law’ of 1601 help the poor?
Attitudes towards poverty changed throughout the Tudor period. Charity became more and more selective and les
unconditional. This was linked to religious beliefs, social understanding and, or course, the increasing number of poor people.
There was no established police force and following the Rebellion of the Northern Earls, the threat of further unrest was great.
Elizabeth I was also a great believer in conformity and control by the state as she had showed with regard to religion.
The government were forced into action and passed laws to deal with the whole issue of poverty. Some laws were enlightened
and other incredibly harsh. Some related to the punishment of the underserving poor while other related to those responsible for
the care of the poor. All the laws passed differentiated further between the ‘idle poor’ and the ‘ deserving poor’. The measures were largely a reaction to the conditions at that particular time, but together show progressive attitude towards the issue of
poverty throughout Elizabeth I’s reign, culminating in the 1601 Poor Law Act. An overview of how laws and attitudes towards the Poor
changed during the Tudor Period.
A summary of the various laws introduced by
Elizabeth’s government regarding the poor. 13
Elizabethan England: Did Elizabeth Preside Over a Divided Society?
Task – Using the information from the board, summaries what was offered to each group of poor from the 1601 Poor Law Act.
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Elizabethan Poverty Exam Practice
Answer the following questions related to the sources on the next page.
An engraving from 1577 of punishments being carried out in Elizabeth’s reign
1. Explain why thse people are being punished in these ways. Use the source and your
own knowledge to explain your answer.
The poor are increasing in numbers because for the most part the children of
the poor are not taken from their wandering parents and brought to honest
labour for their living, but follow in their idle footsteps.
From a book written in 1594
2. How far does this source explain why there were so many poor people in Elizabethan
England?
There shall be appointed carefully chosen women to supervise idle women and the poorest
children, whose parents are not able to pay for their learning, to work or learn letters. They are to
be made to work and learn during the hours appointed by the bridewell. They shall be able to live
from their own work with their families as others do.
Paid to those who are very sick £2 7s 3d [£2.36p]. Paid for nursing a young infant left in the
parish 1s 8d [8p]
Extracts from the Norwich city records during Elizabeth’s reign.
3. Does the source prove that Elizabeth’s government began to undertsand how the problem of poverty needed to be dealt with?
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Teacher Feedback
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How was Elizabethan England culturally divided?
The Tudor period was one of great cultural change but there was a particularly significant development of culture
during the reign of Elizabeth I. Popular culture grew where people enjoyed watching punishment such as
executions and taunting people in the stocks. They also enjoyed bear baiting, fairs and markets and watching
processions, such as the Queen’s progresses. Elite culture grew also but this was the preserve of the select few. Architecture developed its own unique style, composers such as Thomas Tallis enhanced music and manners and
social refinement were developed at the court of Elizabeth I. The growth of elite culture and popular culture
overlapped with a flurry of plays, poetry, ballads and the building of theatres during Elizabeth I’s reign,
Elizabeth I, like her father, was a huge patron of the arts. In part, this was an attempt to raise her profile with her
people.
Task – Fill in the diagram below with examples of aspects of Elizabethan culture.
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How was the Elizabethan theatre designed?
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How did Elizabethan society react to the theatre?
The development of elite culture and popular culture overlapped with the growth of drama plays. Strolling plays and players
had been popular for centuries. Entertainers performed in inn yards and open spaces where they could attract a crowd. The
Elizabethan period saw the building of purpose-built, open-ait theatres in London. The first named theatre was built in
Shoreditch in 1576 by James Burbage. It was called the Theatre. Another theatre, the Curtain Theatre was built nearby in 1577
and soon after others were built across the Thames or outside the city walls, such as the Globe Theatre and the Fortune Theatre.
By 1600 there were eight theatres operating in London. The theatres were round and hand no roofs. The stage jutted out.
Theatre-goers could stand near the stage in ‘the pit’ for one penny (such people were known as groundlings), or pay more to sit
in the covered seats in the galleries. Low-ticket prices meant that many Londoners could regularly go to the theatre. Theatres
such as the Globe were also bear pits, brothels and gambling houses.
An Elizabethan trip to the theatre was not as ordered as it is today. People moved around continually to buy food and drink and,
as some people were not literate enough to understand the play, they would talk all the way through it. If the audience did not
like the play, the would throw rotten fruit at the actors. (The actors were all male with boys acting in the female roles.)
Many playwrights became famous at this time, such as Christopher Marlowe, Thomas Kyd and Ben Jonson. However, the
Elizabethan period is commonly referred to as the ‘age of Shakespeare’.
William Shakespeare was a prolific playwright meeting the ever increasing demand for new play. Many of his plays were
watched by Elizabeth I.
The Governments reaction
Elizabeth I was worried that the theatre could be used to spread propaganda. One theatre could house an audience of 3000; the
population of London at the time was 200,000 making this 1.5% of the population in one place at one time. Elizabeth feared
that the audience would hear religious or political messages against the state and be encouraged to rebel leading to a collapse of
law and order. Of particular concern to the government were the theatres springing up outside the city walls where they had less
control. They also feared that many people closed together would cause the spread of infections diseases.
In order to combat this threat Elizabeth introduced censorship laws and systems in 1572. The Lord Chamberlain was put in
charge of censorship of plays and granting licences to organised acting companies. All play scripts had to be submitted before
they were performed to the Lord Chamberlain’s assistant, the Master of Revels. He would check there was no inappropriate language used, no religious or political messages, and no inappropriate references made to the royal family. Punishments for
breaking any of the censorship laws or performing without a licence could be mutilation torture or imprisonment.
Elizabeth’s concerns about the gatherings of people in the theatres and their potential to spread messages of propaganda turned
out in some cases to be real. Thomas Nashe and Ben Jonson’s play The isle of Dogs was supressed by the Master of Revels. It
was never printed as the authorities felt it was an attack on Elizabeth’s courtiers. The playwrights were imprisoned and the Privy Council banned all plays in London for the rest of the year.
The leading actors of Shakespeare’s play Richard II were interrogated. The play had been commissioned by the Earl of Essex
who was attempting to rebel against the Queen. The play Sir Thomas More by Anthony Mundy and others was also supressed
and never granted a licence. It was censored by the Master or Revels, Edmund Tilney, in the 1590’s. His marks and deletions can be seen on an original of the manuscript. Tilney deleted anything that would incite the people to unrest as the text was
understanding of the plight of the poor.
< Locations of
Elizabethan
theatres in
London, 1596.
The government
banned theatres
within the city
walls. ALL
theatres were
closed down
several times to
contain the spread
of plague.
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Task Answer the following questions in the space provided.
Briefly describe what an Elizabethan theatre looked like. [5]
Briefly describe the behaviour of audiences at Elizabethan theatres. [5]
Briefly describe why the Elizabethan government felt that the Theatres were a problem. [5]
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Explain how the Elizabethan Government attempted to solve the problems created by theatres. [7]
‘During Elizabeth’s reign the theatre was a popular and harmless source of entertainment? How far do you agree with this statement?
Explain your answer. [8]
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Teacher Feedback
How did Elizabethan society react to the theatre?
The violence and lawlessness of the theatre was reason enough for complaint. However,
the church felt that the theatre and theatre-going was far more of a threat to the moral
behaviour and salvation of the people. The church felt it was sacrilegious for men to
dress up as women for the female parts in plays. As the plague was able to spread in the
tight crowds of the theatre, the Church often claimed it was therefore God’s punishment for such pastimes. When an earthquake occurred in the 1580’s, an outbreak of plague the following year, and then a freak accident with some scaffolding outside a theatre, many
were convinced that God was not pleased with the development of the theatre.
The Puritan Church felt that the theatre’s teachings were Popish and could be dangerous by spreading Catholic ideas and thoughts at a time when Elizabeth I was making a new
national Church based on the Protestant religion.
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Additional Exam Questions for your Revision
Briefly describe how the authorities dealt with the problem of vagrants.
Briefly describe the activities of vagabonds.
Briefly describe the activities of vagrants in Elizabeth’s reign. Explain why there were many poor people in Elizabethan England.
Explain why the number of poor people increased during Elizabeth’s reign. Explain the different ways in which the authorities dealt with the poor during Elizabeth’s reign.
'By the end of the reign the authorities were dealing successfully with the problem of poverty.’ How far do you agree with this statement? Explain your answer.
‘The poor posed a greater threat than the theatre to Elizabeth’ How far do you agree with this statement? Explain your answer.
'Elizabeth's governments dealt with Catholics more successfully than they dealt with the poor.' How far do
you agree with this statement? Explain your answer.
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