1. Improve your knowledge – Elizabethan England 1568-1603: Life in Elizabethan Times.
1572
Parliament passed a law which said that actors were to be punished as vagabonds if they were not licensed. 4 years later the first purpose built London theatre opened. The Curtain opened in 1577, The Rose in 1587, The Swan in 1596 and The Globe in By 1603 there were 7 major theatres in London and 40 companies of actors.
Francis Drake captured £40,000 worth of Spanish silver travelling from Mexico and Peru and captured the Spanish port of Nombre de Dios in Panama.
1576
‘Act for setting the poor on work’ placed the responsibility for finding work for the poor in the hands of the local authorities while the national policy still focussed on punishment.
1574
Statutes of Apparel was passed. This was a new Sumptuary Law which strictly controlled the clothes people were allowed to wear depending on their social rank.
Drake was the first Englishman (and the 2nd human) to circumnavigate the globe. Returned with over £400,000 of Spanish treasure (£200m today) to give to investors, the queen and leaving £10,000 for himself.
1582
Queen Elizabeth sent Ralph Fitch to India and the Far East and when he returned he told the queen that profitable trade was more than possible.
1584
Elizabeth gave Sir Walter Raleigh permission to explore, colonise and rule any land that was not already ruled by a Christian. Had to give the queen 1/5 of all gold and silver that he found.
Bad harvests leading to food shortages and deaths due to starvation = poverty crisis.
c. 1594
Shakespeare’s plays begin to be performed in London theatres.
1597
Poor Law, amended in 1601 and titled the Act for the Relief of the Poor. This stated there was a third class of poor: those who were able bodied and genuinely unable to find work. Everyone had to pay towards the Poor Rate or face penalties/imprisonment.
1598
Act on Husbandry and Tillage: a law introduced by the government to slow down the trend for enclosure to protect rural jobs.
1601
Poor Laws were passed in 1597 and Under these laws, the poor rate became a national system of compulsory taxation. It was collected locally by the official called the Overseer of the Poor.
1600
London’s populations increased from around 60,000 in 1500 to over 200,000 in 1600.
East India Company was established to oversee this trade.
Timeline of key events
Henry VIII had dissolved the monasteries and sold of most of their land. They had performed important social functions, including support for the poor, ill and disabled people.
1542
Henry VIII began to debase coinage as economic problems increased and the cost of war was great. This damaged trade and jobs and led to inflation.
1556
Outbreak of flu killed around 200,000 including many workers who were involved in producing food.
Population had increased from around 3 million to at least 4 million people during Elizabeth’s reign. This led to an increase in food prices as production couldn’t keep up with the increase in population.
Jan-May 1559
In her first Parliament, Elizabeth I created a new Protestant Church by restoring Royal Supremacy over the Church of England (Act of Supremacy).
1560s
John Hawkins made three voyages to the Caribbean, trading slaves he had captured in West Africa with the Spanish Colonies.
The government passed a Poor Law which introduced a tax to raise money for the poor (known as poor rate) as voluntary donations were no longer sufficient to fund the poor.
1563
Statute of Artificers placed wage limits on skilled workers to slow down the rate of inflation.
1564
Francis Drake and John Hawkins kidnapped several hundred West Africans and sold as slaves to the South American coast with permission from Elizabeth.
1566
During every Parliament Elizabeth was pressured by Parliament to marry. During the third Parliament, Elizabeth lost her temper for daring to raise the issue of marriage. Parliament was not allowed to discuss her marriage ever again.
1567
Thomas Harman published a very popular book that drew attention to some of the scams and tricks used by the ‘undeserving poor’. This hardened attitudes towards the poor.
1569
Ipswich introduced a licensing system for beggars and increased support for the poor. It became the first town to open a hospital specifically to help the old and sick who couldn’t afford treatment. A youth training scheme was introduced to help children learn a trade. The first town to build a house of correction.
1570
Norwich conducted a survey which found that 80% of the population lived in poverty. They separated the poor into two categories: ‘idle poor’ and ‘unfortunate poor’.
Focus
Elizabeth’s culture was influences by the Italian Renaissance. Political stability, the rise of the gentry and competition among the nobility all helped to develop a cultural ‘Golden Age’. New styles of architecture appeared, particularly in house building (Hardwick Hall). Elizabeth and her minister encouraged the development of the theatre and Shakespeare became the most successful and enduring playwright. Government censorship meant that cultural output was very closely controlled. Government propaganda, particularly portraits, created a ‘cult of personality’ around Elizabeth as ‘Gloriana’ and the ‘Virgin Queen’. This was a period of massive population growth and high inflation. About ½ of England’s population were poor. Many people were moving from the countryside to the towns. Elizabethans drew a distinction between the ‘deserving poor’ and ‘undeserving poor’. At the time people believed that there was a poverty crisis. Poverty was a threat to social order, and many feared a large-scale rebellion. Various laws came together in the Elizabethan Poor Law of 1601, which remained in place until the 19th century. Goods from the Far East were in high demand in Europe but difficult to transport. New ideas and inventions prompted a wave of European exploration. Spain and Portugal dominated and colonised areas of the New World. Elizabethan ‘sea dogs’ were pirates and privateers who stole from Spanish ships and ports. Francis Drake was the most famous Elizabethan explorer, circumnavigating the globe. The achievements of Elizabethan explorers contributed to the idea of a ‘Golden Age’. Elizabethan exploration triggered Britain’s rise as a global superpower.

2. Lord Chamberlain’s Men
Key terms
Apprenticeships
Poor children were given apprenticeships which usually lasted at least 7 years.
Alms
Charity given to the poor. Alms houses are houses provided for poor people to live in.
Arable land
Land used for growing crops.
Astrolabe
An instrument used by navigators to calculate latitude.
Censorship
To block something from being read, heard or seen, usually by the government.
Census
A population count
Circumnavigation
To travel all the way around the circumference of the world.
Colony
An area ruled over by another country.
Cult
A system of devotional worship directed towards a particular figure.
Dearth
When food is so scarce and expensive that it threatens famine.
Debasement
To reduce the amount of precious metal in a coin
Enclosure
The division of land, including the village common land, into separate field with hedges, allowing a change from arable to sheep farming.
Deserving Poor
People who wanted to work, but weren’t able to find a job in their home town or village.
Flax
A plant used to make linen.
Hemp
A plant that could be used to make rope.
Helpless Poor
Unable to support themselves – young orphans and elderly, sick or disabled.
Humanism
Intellectual branch of the Renaissance, drawing on classical texts and stressing the dignity of mankind.
Inflation
Rising prices.
Lord Chamberlain’s Men
The only company to perform Shakespeare’s plays and became the leading London playing company.
Monasteries
The religious houses occupied by monks, dissolved by Henry VIII between 1536 and 1540.
New World
A sixteenth century term for North and South America, newly discovered at this time by Europeans.
Ottoman Empire
A Muslim empire centred on Turkey that was rapidly expanding at this time, extending across North Africa, Arabia and Eastern Europe.
Patent
A licence that gives a person sole right to do, make, use or sell something.
Plantation
A type of colonisation involving the establishment of a government-sponsored settlement of emigrants.
Poor Rate
Compulsory tax which was used to provide hospitals and housing for the elderly, sick and disabled.
Printing Press
Invented in the 15th century in Germany, it allowed the mass production of books and images.
Privateers
Pirates licensed by the government to attack and loot enemy ships.
Propaganda
Something that spreads a message in order to encourage people to think or behave in a particular way.
Rack Renting
Charging extortionately high rent.
Recoinage
To stabilise the currency, old debased coins were melted down and new coins issued.
Tavern
A public house serving alcohol and good as well as providing accommodation for travellers.
Vagabonds
A homeless vagrant, wandering from place to place who would beg and steal.
Vagrant
A homeless, unemployed person who wanders from place to place and begs.
Undeserving poor
Under the Poor Laws of the 1590s, the undeserving poor were to be publicly whipped and then forced to return to their home parish. Repeat offenders could be sent to prison. They were seen as a serious threat to society. (beggars, criminals and people who refused to work).
Workhouse
Institutions set up by the Poor Law to provide shelter for the ‘impotent poor’, providing work for the ‘able-bodied poor’ and ‘Houses of Correction’ were to detain the ‘idle poor’.
Key People
William Shakespeare
From Stratford-upon-Avon. Received a grammar school education but did not go to university. Moved to London to be an actor, joining the Lord Chamberlain’s Men. Wrote at least 37 plays, mostly during Elizabeth’s reign, creating 2 a year on average. His style and vocabulary has had a lasting impact on the English language: ‘mum’s the word’, ‘a heart of gold’ and ‘a wild goose chase’. Part of the partnership who built the Globe Theatre. Retired during the reign of James I and died in 1616.
Christopher Marlowe
The son of a shoemaker in Kent. Awarded a degree from Cambridge. A poet and playwrite who was a major influence on Shakespeare, who became better known after Marlowe’s mysterious death in 1593 (stabbed to death, allegedly in a drunken brawl). Arrested and questioned by the Privy Council in The reason is not recorded.
Sir Francis Drake
The puritan son of a Yeoman farmer from Devon. Took part in transatlantic voyages of his cousin Hawkins in 1560s. Became famous as a captain and privateer after his successful voyage of 1572 when he returned with considerable stolen goods. Circumnavigated the globe between 1577 and Regarded as a hero to the English but was hated by the Spanish. Knighted in 1581, he became an MP in the 1580s. Played a crucial role in the defeat of the Spanish Armada in His later campaigns were less successful. He died of dysentery in 1596.
Sir Walter Raleigh
A landed gentleman, poet and soldier from a Protestant family in Devon. At Court he rose rapidly to become a favourite of Elizabeth. Elizabeth granted him a royal charter to explore new lands. He played a key role in exploring the New World and colonising North America. He introduced potatoes and tobacco to England. Knighted in 1585 and an MP on several occasions. Dismissed from court in 1592 for marrying without Elizabeth’s permission but was soon in Elizabeth’s favour again. Served as Governor of Jersey from 1600 to Imprisoned under James I but released to lead another expedition. Eventually executed under Spanish pressure in 1618.