Coggle requires JavaScript to display documents.
Held land, property, titles that had been in their family for generations.
Heads of family were often members of the house of lords
2% of the Population was wealth and gentry.
Held 15% of wealth and property
total number was around 15,000, made up of 3000 higher and 12,000 lesser gentry
Controlled half of all wealth by gentry
Wentworth - became earl of strafford - held positions due to service to the crown.
Wealth varied - some held property in a single parish, other owned numbers
Some controlled the whole politics of the country - differing levels of social and political control
Became normal for second or thirds songs of gentry to enter a career in law - prerequisite for being a member of privy council or parliament.
As parliament became more important in build up to civil war - role of gentry enhanced
Most MPs were members of gentry and after personal rule Charles had no choice but to turn to them to help fight the Scots
Many officers who fought for parliament became high profile figures in the Republic - especially with abolishing the house of lords in 1649.
Peaked in the Interregnum as Cromwell run the government
Growth of major towns
Increased urbanisation
Liverpool and bristol grew
London - consumer boom after 1650 led to improved trading conditions.
Merchants often maintained connections with the gentry but were looked down upon by the landed elites.
Never able to have same respect and prestige as landed elite
Could not pursue education as had little leisure time.
In 1688 - 64,000 trading merchants had grown by 30,000 since 1580
Gentry would take part in trade - sons would start business careers with the help of their inheritance
Some Merchants could afford to buy land and enter public office as aldermen or become mayor.
Some owners of larger trading companies purchased earldoms to ensure their family's future in the aristocracy
Many received knighthoods for commercial success and public service rather than their family background.
allowed women take mens jobs
e.g. Brilliana Harley directed forces to defend her family's estate in Herefordshire
Lucy Hutchinson managed her husbands estate
Normal life resumed after Civil War and the changes reverse.
For widspread education
Grassroot school became influenced by Puritan morals and values
Advocated for religious structure where family was at the heart of worship - therefore women had to be able to read
Had the best chances for women to advocate their social position
Diggers advocated for male and female suffrage but levellers never pushed for women to have the vote
Quakers→believed that God's light was in every person and owmen could preach and give opinion - over 1% of the population were Quakers in 1680 and could flourish after the legal changes brought about by the Toleration Act - which would be restricted by the Quaker Act and then removed.
Plays→women could perform in plays lifted after the restoration
The Marriage Act→Passed by the Barebones parliament in 1653 allowed civil marriages although it was largely ignored.
The Adultery Act→both sexes could be sentenced to death under the Adultery Act of 1650 although mans were considered a lesser crime e.g. in Middlesex 24 women and 12 men were tried for adultly in the 1650s.