8-4ClassDistinctions

What was the class system in Elizabethan England? //Answer Prepared by Maddy E. // All of my sources including, multiple links from the website __Elizabethan Era__  and the webpage "Social Classes in Shakespeare's England" stated that, in Elizabethan England there was a strong sense of class distinction. There were four main classes; the nobility, gentry, yeomanry, and the poor. The people of Elizabethan England were not free and had to follow the Elizabethan Sumptuary Laws. These rules controlled what a person wore according to their class. The lower class was not allowed to wear the latest fashions. This way it was easy to identify what class you were in and it helped keep people in line. The penalties for breaking these laws could even be as harsh as a death sentence. One could easily break these laws by wearing the wrong color or too nice of fabric for their class. The lower class might break these laws because they want to look nicer for something special. The different classes were an important part of Elizabethan England because for different classes you had different privileges.

The top two classes in Elizabethan England never worked with their hands and they lived a very high quality of life. The highest class was the nobility. Although by the time of Queen Elizabeth the nobility did not completely control England they still had a major influence over society. There were only around 55 noble families during Shakespeare’s time. According to the website Everything2, Shakespeare knew the Earl of Southampton, Henry Wriothesley. He was Shakespeare’s patron, or someone who helped pay to get Shakespeare’s writing published. At the head of each noble family there was a duke, baron, or earl. These men were very powerful and rich. They had huge households to house the many people of that certain royal family. The only way that you could become nobility was by birth or by a grant from the King or the Queen. Grants to become noble did not happen often because the Kings and Queens felt threatened by other noble families. They were afraid that the noble families would become too powerful and may overthrow them. Nobility passed from generation to generation from father to eldest son like the throne did. Every citizen dreamed of being noble so that they could be wealthy and dominant. The gentry were the most important class of people in Shakespeare’s England. Although they only made up 5% of society their numbers were growing. This class was made up of knights, squires, gentlemen, and gentlewomen. Gentry were people who did not work with their hands for a living. They were still very rich but they didn’t have the same status in society as the noble family.

The two lower classes did not have the same quality of life that the nobility and the gentry did. The yeomanry was in between the extremely rich and the poor and was what a person would call the middle class. They were usually literate and had apprentices. Yeoman could be richer than gentry but they preferred living a simpler lifestyle. There were more poor in Elizabeth’s reign than any reign before and the English Parliament decided something must be done about them. They came up with the Poor Laws, laws that sponsored welfare programs for the poor. The poor tax was also issued to help out the poor. The Poor Law’s three goals were to put those into hospitals or orphanages that could not care for themselves, men who couldn’t fine jobs were put to work, and the final goal was to discourage unemployment. The Elizabethans felt bad for those who could not find work but looked at some in disgust who chose not to work. Living conditions were poor in Elizabethan England because of a lack of hygiene. Few people washed their hands, brushed their hair, or even took baths. Disease spread this way, especially in the lower classes. During Elizabethan England people felt a strong sense of class and that class often determined people’s job, where they lived, and their clothes – each class had a very different lifestyle. Works Cited "Elizabethan England." __Elizabethan Era__. 4 Apr 2009 <[]>.

"Elizabethan Sumptuary Laws." __Elizabethan Era__. 6 Mar 2009 <[]>.

"Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton." //Everything2//. 15 Apr 2009 <[] arl%2520of%2520Southampton>. "Social Classes in Shakespeare's England." 6 Mar 2009 <[]>.