Elizabethan Social Classes Rinie & Harry

Contents Highest Level Second Level Second to last level Lowest Level Bibliography

Highest Level Gentleman They are the highest level in the social class, excluding the monarch. They are people who are born into their power. There are also sublevels of this level. Nobility Which is the first level, which is passed down through the eldest son. Knights Knights come after Nobility, a title which is not inherited. It was originally meant to be a military rank, but in Elizabethan times it became a mark of honour. This title must be received from a monarch or military leader. Esquires Then come the Esquires, also known as squires. They had knights in their ancestry. Clergy They are those who work in the church. It used to be a separate class, then became classified under gentlemen. Highest Level

Second Level Freeholders Are first. Their land is passed down through family, they never can be evicted, and they pay rent to the gentlemen. Commoners They do not actually own the land, the gentlemen do Leaseholders Live on land with tenancies. These tenancies were usually renewed after they expired. Although they could be completely terminated. Copyholders They simply lived on some land paying rent, like leaseholders, but without a lease. The rent could change at any time, and they could be evicted at any time.

Second to last level Townsfolk Were the people who lived in towns. Only male landholders could be considered citizens. most citizens were merchants or craftsmen. Yeomen & Husbandmen Were equal to leaseholders. They were independent farmers holding about 50 acres of land. They produced crops for themselves and their family, and sold a small amount on the market. They may work as hired labour in years of bad harvest. Masters & Journeymen Owned their own business in a trade or craft and take on apprentices or journeymen. After seven years, an apprentice might become a journeyman. they were free to sell their services in craft or trade. Apprentices Started their apprenticeship to a master in their teenage years, and learned a trade or craft.

Lowest Level Labourers Worked for others with a risk of becoming unemployed. Cottagers Grazed animals on public ground. Servants were like part of the family they were employed to. Service was often a temporary stage on the road to a better social position. The very last rung on the social ladder was the Poor and the Unemployed. They could be children, widows, abandoned wives, the elderly, and men coming back from war.

Bibliography speare/elizabethan_social_classes.htm -classes-in-elizabethan-era-nobility-and- gentry.html