Structure of society
Elizabethan society was highly structured and everyone was expected to know their place in that structure. It was a strict A system triangular in shape; the higher up the triangle the fewer people there are, but they have more power, wealth or responsibility., which most believed was ordered by God.
Within this general structure could be added further layers. In Elizabethan England and Wales, the following would be below the nobles but above the peasants:
- the gentry – lesser landowners
- wealthy merchants and professionals
- A farmer who owned their own land. and A farmer who didn’t own their land but rented from a landowner.
- craftspeople
Life for the bottom 20 to 30 per cent of the population was very hard, with many constantly on the edge of starvation. It was made worse during this period by rising prices, poor harvests and unemployment.
Increase in wealth
Many nobles and merchants increased their wealth during this period for the following reasons.
- Many had bought land during Henry VIII's Between 1536 and 1541, Henry VIII closed all of the monasteries in England and Wales. All of their land and buildings were sold..
- The expansion of overseas trade in Europe and beyond.
- Investment in trading companies.
- The granting of A monopoly is the sole right to make and/or sell a product..
- Profits from the sale of wool.
