Sociedad De Shakespeare

Society

Shakespeare lived during the Elizabethan period in England. In this time, daily life was based on social order.
-The monarchs were at the top of the social ladder
-Followed by the nobility.
-Then came the Gentry as third rank
-Merchants as fourth
-Yeomanry as fifth and
-Laborers as sixth

Monarchs:
Elizabethan period was a time of many changes and developments, and it wasbest known as the Golden Age in English history.
This era was led by Queen Elizabeth I, who ruled the country for 45 years and is considered by many as England’s best monarch.

The government of Elizabethan England was centralized, well organized and very efficient.

The Divine Rights of Kings gave the monarch the image of being a Demigod, so in fact going against the monarch wasconsidered a sin.

The queen had the power to send one to prison and order execution. Even with all of this power, the monarch was not above the law, and she could also be brought before the court.
All laws required the queens consent in order to be passed, she could not write and pass laws herself. She had to draw up a Bill and put it forward to Parliament for consideration and approval. However, thequeen could make Royal Proclamations without Parliament’s consent.

Nobility
Nobles were rich and powerful, and had large households. Within the nobility class there was a distinction between old families and new. Most of the old families were Catholic, and the new families were Protestant. During Shakespeare’s time there were only about 55 noble families in England.
A person becomes a memberof nobility by birth, or by a grant from the queen or king.
Noble titles were hereditary, passing from father to oldest son. It took a crime such as treason for a nobleman to lose his title.
Many nobles died during the War of the Roses, a series of civil wars fought during the 15th century. The Tudor monarchy, Elizabeth, her father Henry VIII, and her grandfather Henry VII rarely appointednew nobles to replace those who died. They viewed the nobility class as a threat to their power and preferred to keep the number of them small.
Nobles were expected to serve in an office, such as being an ambassador to a foreign country.
Gentry
The Gentry class included knights, squires, gentlemen, and gentlewomen who did not work with their hands for a living. Their number of gentries in Englandgrew during Queen Elizabeth’s reign.
Sir Walter Raleigh, who led the way to the English colonization of America, was a member of the gentry class. Also two of the queen’s chief ministers, Burgley and Walsingham were products of the gentry.
They went to Parliament and served as justices of the Peace. They combined the wealth of the nobility with the energy of the sturdy peasants from whom theyhad sprung.

Yeomanry
This class included the farmers, tradesmen and craft workers. They took their religion very seriously and could read and write. This class of people was prosperous and sometimes their wealth could exceed those of the gentry, but the difference was how they spent their wealth. The yeoman’s were content to live more simply, using their wealth to improve their land and expandit.
Laborer
Artisans, shoemakers, carpenters, brick masons and all those who worked with their hands belonged to this class of society. Under Queen Elizabeth I, the government undertook the job of assisting the laborers class and the result was the famous Elizabethan Poor Laws which resulted in one of the world’s first government sponsored welfare programs.

Gabriel – Economics
During the16th century the population of England increased considerably. More people meant more demand, and food prices rose about 75%.
The Government tried ineffectually to preserve social stability. They also attempted to make men to stay in the locality where they were born and to do the same work as they fathers.
Apprenticeships were to last seven years and justices of the Peace were to fix wages....