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Elizabethan society in the Age of Exploration, 1558 to 88
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Elizabethan England saw new theatres and schools, a growing problem of poverty, and daring voyages of exploration.
Education and leisure
Wealthy children were taught at home by tutors. Boys could attend petty schools and grammar schools, then Oxford or Cambridge. Most girls were educated at home, if at all.
Pastimes: hunting, archery, football, bear-baiting and cock-fighting.
The first purpose-built playhouses opened, such as The Theatre in London in 1576.
Pastimes: hunting, archery, football, bear-baiting and cock-fighting.
The first purpose-built playhouses opened, such as The Theatre in London in 1576.
The 'problem' of the poor
Poverty rose because of population growth, rising prices, enclosure of land for sheep, bad harvests and problems in the cloth trade.
Vagabonds were feared. Attitudes divided the poor into deserving (old, sick) and undeserving (able-bodied who would not work).
Laws: the 1572 Vagabonds Act brought a compulsory local poor rate and harsh punishments for vagabonds. The 1576 Act provided materials so the poor could work, and houses of correction for those who refused.
Vagabonds were feared. Attitudes divided the poor into deserving (old, sick) and undeserving (able-bodied who would not work).
Laws: the 1572 Vagabonds Act brought a compulsory local poor rate and harsh punishments for vagabonds. The 1576 Act provided materials so the poor could work, and houses of correction for those who refused.
Exploration and Virginia
New ships (galleons), navigation tools and better maps helped exploration, along with the drive to expand trade.
Drake's circumnavigation (1577 to 1580) in the Golden Hind brought back huge treasure and won fame. He was knighted in 1581.
Walter Raleigh organised the colonisation of Virginia. The first settlement at Roanoke (1585) failed by 1586 because of poor supplies, conflict with local Native Americans and unsuitable settlers.
Drake's circumnavigation (1577 to 1580) in the Golden Hind brought back huge treasure and won fame. He was knighted in 1581.
Walter Raleigh organised the colonisation of Virginia. The first settlement at Roanoke (1585) failed by 1586 because of poor supplies, conflict with local Native Americans and unsuitable settlers.
Explain why poverty increased in Elizabethan England.
- The population grew, so there was more competition for work and food.
- Prices rose faster than wages.
- Enclosure turned farmland into sheep pasture, reducing jobs.
- Bad harvests made food scarce.
Answer: Population growth, rising prices, enclosure and bad harvests.
Education: petty and grammar schools, universities. Leisure: bear-baiting, The Theatre (1576). Poverty: population, prices, enclosure; deserving and undeserving; 1572 and 1576 Acts. Drake's circumnavigation 1577 to 80. Raleigh and Roanoke 1585 to 86.
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