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Topic 21- Society in elizabethan england: - Coggle Diagram
Topic 21- Society in elizabethan england:
A. Society: continuity and change
society remained aristocratically dominated during E1's reign, despite there being few hereditary titles, and she remained sceptical of handing out new peerages after all of the Dukes had been executed for treason
below dukes the other ranks of peerage sought to gain status through massive building projects e.g. Burghley house which were built on a grand scale- part of the motivation was to house the queen on her royal tours
E1 did not emulate this grandeur and instead chose to modify and maintain the many palaces her father had built
gentry remained difficult to define and ranged from knights and figures of importance (e.g. Sir Christopher Hatton) to lower gentry e.g. esquires who would be JPs
gentry class increased in size under E1, and the proportion who were seriously wealthy increased
the reign of E1 saw the start of a consumer society amongst the prosperous classes of society, which shows how the gap between the rich and poor widened massively under E1
landed incomes rose, especially after 1570
poorer sections of the society weren't any better off, they still found themselves at risk of enclosure and the persistent decline of real wages
population had risen to 4 million under E1, with the majority still living in the countryside- the only large city was London, where most people lived outside the city with a population of 150,000
largest provincial cities were Norwich and Bristol which had populations in excess of 5000
B. Poverty and Poor Relief:
the first administration to attempt to create a minimum level of subsistence for the deserving poor, which is a legitimate achievement
previous attempts by Tudors had failed as they failed to try to understand the problem and only dealt with the consequences rather than causes of poverty, homelessness and vagrancy
E.G. 1547 Act stated that any able-bodied person out of work for more than 3 days could be branded with a V on their chest for vagrant and put into slavery for two year- it was too harsh to put into practice and was repealed in 1550
treatment of the undeserving poor was very repressive and did not address the causes still
Key Acts for poverty relief for deserving poor during Elizabeths reign
1572 Act- established the principle that local ratepayers should be required to pay a rate for their own poor
Poor Law Act 1576- first attempt to create a national system of poor relief to be administered and financed locally- towns were required to make provisions for the employment of the deserving poor
Further acts 1597 and 1601- completed legislative process. Poor Law Act 1601- parish became designated as the institution required to raise the rates for, and administer, poor relief.
each parish was assigned an overseer of poor rates, and their responsibility was to relieve the impotent/deserving poor, and setting the able bodied to work and apprenticing poor children- assisted by JPs
Key Acts for the punishment of the undeserving poor under Elizabeth I
1572 Act- added branding to the punishments available to the authorities
1597 Act- first offenders should be whipped and sent back to parish of birth, repeat offenders could be executed
C. Problems in the region:
Wales:
the integration of Wales and england continued, and although Wales remained quite poor and there were big linguistic and cultural issues, the Welsh border was never really any trouble
the structure of the border remained the same, Council of Wales and marches remained in operation
welsh language disappeared as a medium of govt- but was preserved as a medium of religion with the bible and book of common prayer translated into welsh
poverty remained persistent, and although welsh gentry seemed to prosper under E1, the disproportionate amount of welshmen involved in Essex rebellion suggests a significant level of discontent towards the end of her reign
Ireland:
Elizabethan policy with the Irish revolved around a policy of 'Englishness'- Ireland was a constant source of trouble and this wasn't resolved until the death of E1, as Mountjoy wanted to return to attend the court of the new king, which left the unreliable Earl of Tyrone to maintain order (SYNOPSIS)
rebellions broke out in 1569-1573, 1579-1582, 1595-1603
The Third Rebellion:
the clan chief, the Earl of Tyrone rose up against E1 in 1595, with the Spanish attempting to exploit the situation by including the Irish in the aramada of 1596- this has failed but the way the Spanish had made clear their intentions made councillors uneasy
the rebels were victorious at the Battle of Yellow Ford 1598- as a result it looked like Tyrone would establish and independent and catholic Ireland that would gain Spanish support
E1 sent (in desperation) Essex to ireland as Lord Lieutenant in 1599- proved to be an error as Essex quickly disobeyed the queens orders
Essex had a large force but instead of confronting Tyrone he made a truce before leaving ireland against the queens orders and returning to court unexpectedly
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problems were made worse due to the brutality of the response to the second rebellion from the Lord Deputy of Ireland, Lord Grey of Wilton
Scotland and the North:
so long as scotland remained an independent state- the continuation of the borders of a lawless subculture which placed large emphasis on casual violence and rustling of sheep created problems for authorities on both sides
on the English side of the border administrative responsibility lay with the wardens on the three border marches
traditionally wardens had been appointed from the families of the great northern magnates, such as the Percies and the Dacres
E1 continued the strategy of Henry VIII by appointing wardens from the south- which was problematic as it was difficult for nobles without a local landed base to control either the northern landed families or the border clans
D. Social Discontent and Rebellions:
small discontent in cities:
food riots took place in London, as well as in Kent, Norfolk and Hampshire- however these were quite isolated incidents and weren't significant
even in mid 1590s, when a string of severe harvest failures, rising prices, and outbreaks of plague created desperate situations for many, social order broadly held up
although councillors and authorities did fear that vagabondage would cause issues with social order and so reserved severe treatment for the undeserving poor
Oxfordshire Rising 1596:
not really a proper rising at all- it was only an ill though out scheme by a tiny group of four men desperate by their experience of poverty to seize armaments and march on London
however the harsh and heavy-handed response of the authorities to this so called uprising reflected about social dislocation which did not reflect reality
Northern Rebellion 1569:
the only significant rising during E1's reign
causes:
Mary QoS arrival in England prompted response from English catholics- many believed her to be the rightful queen- this began a courtly conspiracy that Norfolk should marry Mary and depose E1 and be restored to the Scottish throne
also had political motives- the novels involved considered themselves dishonoured by having been displaced from their traditional roles of controlling norther govt
Events
Earls of Westmoreland and Northumberland raised forces in their localities and the rebellion started in November 1569 when the rebels marched on Durham
they seized durham on the 14th November with 6000 men and re-established mass in the cathedral
rebels marched on York, and camped just outside-made no attempt to capture the city and didn't move south to pressure the govt
instead they moved back to country durham and besiege the Crown's stronghold of Barnard Castle- fell to the rebels 14th Dec- when news reached the leaders a crown force was marching north the earls disbanded their forces and fled over to scotland
Northumberlands brother, Cumberland, restarted the rebellion only to be heavily defeated by a royal force at Naworth, led by Lord Hunsdon
reasons for failure:
it was disorganised (lack of clarity over the rebels' objectives), poor leadership, a lack of expected foreign support, and decisive actions by authorities
consequences:
the rebellion was geographically limited and showed their was no enthusiasm to get rid of E1- did highlight that E1 knew northing of differences between the north and the south
Council of the North Reconstituted in 1572, Earl of Northumberland and Duke of Norfolk both executed in 1572