English Society at Elizabeth's Accession

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English Society on Elizabeth's Accession
- General hierarchy
  - 90% of England's population worked in the countryside
  - The monarch was the top of the scale with the rest of the nobility
  - The gentry came next. Yeomen were simply lower gentry - owning a small amount of land.
  - Tenant farmers rented land from the Yeomen or the gentry and farmed it.
  - Lastly came the poor who owned no land and the homeless.
- Hierarchy in the Towns
  - Hierarchy here was based on your work and your wealth.
  - Wealthy merchants were at the top followed by professionals.
  - Next came the skilled craftsmen like carpenters and tailors - these were business owners.
  - Craftsmen followed, these usually were skilled employees and apprentices.
  - Finally the unskilled labourers and unemployed came at the bottom of society.
- There was no police force or army to keep order but instead there was a hierarchy.
  - Society was very strict and you were expected to know where you stood.
- You were supposed to respect those above you in society and care for those below you in the hierarchy.
- Households were similar with the father/ husband at the head of the house and his wife and children obey him.
There was no police force or army to keep order but instead there was a hierarchy.
- Society was very strict and you were expected to know where you stood.

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