Historical context week 1

What sense do you get of what life was like in Elizabethan England?

For poor people in the cities life in Elizabethan England was one of uncertainty, often people wouldn't know where their next meal was coming from and they relied heavily on a good harvest, something that could never be certain. This then led to Malnutrition in many people, illness wasn't uncommon in the towns and cities for the poorer people. The sanitation in elizabethan times was dire, there were no sewage systems which meant disease and illness spread rapidly, it was one of the main reasons the plague spread so rapidly. As well as this water was also not easily accessible, unless you had money, and people took water from rivers, including the thames, which, due to the lack of sanitation was unclean and unsafe. Crime was also a large issue for poor people in cities/towns in elizabethan times as '1/2 elizabethan population was under the age of 22' this meant an immaturity and 'lack of life experience' led to high crime rates. Most men carried a dagger or a sword and harsh measures had to be imposed in law to protect the people in the towns and cities. Like the cities the countryside was also a somewhat unsafe for poor people in elizabethan times, it's lack of light and unclear pathways led to it being a vulnerable place to be.

For the poor people in the countryside it appears to have been a very simple and basic life they led. Living off minimal food and tools their lack of money appears to be clear. It also appears to have been very family orientated as large families would share one house spending almost all of their time with one another.

For the people of wealth in Elizabethan England it was very much a materialistic life in my impression, they spent a great deal of time and money on their appearance and possessions. What they would dress themselves in was considered highly important and set your status in society. As well as this having their portraits painted to show their wealth was also commonly done.

Elizabethan England was a time of great change for the people living in it. New inventions and mass production brought a change to infrastructure across the country. Houses could now be built on two levels, due to the chimney, and the mass production of the brick makes this even more possible. People flocked to the towns, demolishing old houses and building new ones, showing off their wealth through using glass in their materials.  Literacy also improved during elizabethan England as books were published in english for the first time, it gave people the ability to move up in social class and was part of the ongoing social revolution. School also became more widely available for boys, teaching boys to read and write in Latin, improving literacy further and allowing new scientific discoveries to made as well as new exploration of the globe.