Unit 4: Question 1- Setting The Scene – Life in Elizabethan England

The Time Travellers Guide to Elizabethan England is a documentary that first aired on the BBC in 2013. It gives insights into life in Elizabethan England. Below is a link to a series of clips on the BBC website which you should watch to gain an insight into life in this period. As you watch the clips and make notes bear in mind the question below.

QUESTION: What sense do you get of what life was like in Elizabethan England? Try to include information on: The population, entertainment, religion, superstition, money, jobs, medicine, theatre.

Elizabethan England

• In 1958, Elizabeth was just crowned Queen.
• Elizabethan England was dominated by the rich and powerful, but this was only a few people in England. Many people were poor and lived in the countryside.
• Most of the people who lived in the countryside, were poor and face a great hardship.
• Kent was an open heath and this is the type of area, many people lived.
• Kent was classed as one of England's wastelands as it was full of many fields and hills.
• In 2017, some people may call this place scenic, quiet and relaxing, however in the Elizabethan era, it was dangerous. There were no roads and the area was full of muddy tracks and was classed as horrific.
• In the countryside there were small thatched cottages which is were a family would live, maybe of 7 or 8 people. Some cottages were over 100 years old.
• Inside was very basic- there was one room with an earth floor, in the middle was a fire which caused thick smoke to fill the room. To prevent suffocation, there was a small opening in the top of the roof and there were small windows in the wall, that hardly let in any light.
• Objects in the house was very minimal; a basket, a few pots, ladles, spoons, a straw mat and a bench.
• Most people spent a lot of time outdoors, this was because of the dark, smoke-filled house they lived in.

It's true that many people who lived in the Elizabethan era, pay attention to things more than people today. They listen differently. Perhaps they listen to the raindrops outside more, or listen to the fire burn or the baby sigh quietly in the corner. Society in the Elizabethan era was divided by class. 

• Yeoman- owns and rents his farm & employs workers. 
• Husbandman- rents the land that he works on
• Laborers- works on other peoples farms.

An unknown, poor person looking for work is limited. Their best bet was to probably travel from farm to farm working as a laborer. The yeoman or husbandman may employ them and allow them to sleep in the barn- which would be quite a hard night. A laborer would earn one groat for a day's work. This is 2.1 grams of pure silver. It is equivalent to 4 pence. In the Elizabethan era, four pence was the price of a chicken and a lemon was 3 pence. Now, if a chicken or a lemon meant as much to us as it did to Elizabethan people, it would cost £100 for a chicken or £75 for a lemon.

A loaf of bread, a small piece of butter and cheese everyday. 4 small meat & 3 small fish per week. Ail to drink- because water was polluted- is 6000 calories, which is enough to feed a man and his wife. But this doesn't leave anything for the children, the fireplace, rent or clothing. Getting married and creating a family would not have been as easy or even possible, like it is today.