8-3London



What was London like in Elizabethan England?
// Answer prepared by Meredith J. // Many different things were happening and progressing during Elizabethan England. Daily life in Elizabethan England depended on a person’s location as well as status in that domain. In this time, Elizabeth I was ruling over England. She gave the people of England a sense of security because she never married or brought anyone from the outside in to change the ways of the country. This was a time of the introduction of theater, poets and playwrights. Education was becoming more prominent, and many of the famous schools and colleges that we know now were being created during this time. Linda Alchin, has told us from a website about the daily life of Elizabethan England, that grammar schools were open to the middle class and more pamphlets and books were being published due to better printing. Like printing, there were many new concepts and ideas which improved the lives of the people in England.

The city lifestyle in London was growing in popularity. London consisted of two parts, the actual city of London and Westminster. These two parts were connected by the Strand, a very wealthy street of town near the river bank. Most people would walk through town doing their weekly errands. Unpaved streets were surrounded by the shops of shoemakers, bakers, carpenters, blacksmiths, grocers, innkeepers, barbers, and printers. The workers’ shops were usually the first floor of their home. Many did not receive enough money from their job, so they rented out rooms in their house for extra cash. Water was not very clean, but people did try not to make a lot of trash and they also recycled. People enjoyed music, stories and going to plays in their leisure time. A popular attraction in the city was the Globe Theater where the lord Chamberlain’s Men performed. Families would visit the Globe as often as they could, when the parents were not working and the children were not at school. Children and women had a very different lifestyle than the average man. Women were supposed to be in the household. They had to be obedient to their husbands, and if they were not, they were punished. Surprisingly according to Kathryn Hinds, from the book, City Life, twenty to thirty percent of children didn’t make it past the age of ten. Many children died at birth because medical care was not sufficient. Parents would push their children to grow up at a very fast pace. Children were taught to be well mannered and polite. Boys would go to school and study law. After law school, some would continue to study law and others would become apprentices to craftsmen to learn how to open up their own shops. Girls did not often go to school, and if they did get schooling, it was usually done at home. Although the city life was busy and full of work, village life was very different.

Village life was very self-sufficient; it was unlike the hustle and bustle of London. A weekly market would provide citizens with food and necessities. People did not have much money so they would barter for their goods instead of paying. They would work and live in family units, by passing special skills from one generation to the next. Many jobs included carpenters, builders, blacksmiths, farmers, and roofers. A work day could start as early as three in the morning. The women would be found cooking, making or mending clothes, caring for little animals, or taking care of the children. There was not a lot of time for play, but when they did have time, they would love to talk and play board games. The decline of agriculture led to the end of village life during the Elizabethan period. More and more people were moving to the city, which made it hard to earn a living by selling goods. Alchin, Linda. "Elizabethan Daily life." //Elizabethan Era//. 20 March 2008. May 2009 . Hinds, Kathryn. //The City//. New York: Marshall Cavendish Benchmark, 2008. Print. Hinds, Kathryn. //The Countryside//. New York: Marshall Cavendish Benchmark, 2008. Print.
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