Elizabethan Times Overview

Slide 1: Elizabethan Times Religion, Medicine, and Superstition By: Amanda, Cathy, Melody, Ramsha, Teela

Slide 2: Introduction  Queen Elizabeth I ruled from the late 1500s to the early 1600s, it was know as the Elizabethan times  William Shakespeare was born around the same era  People were very religious and not very scientific

Slide 3: Religion General Information  Main religion was Christianity  Two major branches are Protestantism and Catholicism  Rivalries against each other  Queen Elizabeth I created religious policy to blend both of them together  The Act of Uniformity (1559) made attendance at church compulsory

Slide 4: Religion Protestants  Some protestants became puritans to purify England of Catholicism  Protestants disliked queen Elizabeth due to the religious policy (Elizabethan settlement)  Protestants separated from Catholicism in the 16th century  Queen Elizabeth was protestant

Slide 5: Medicine Treatments for Diseases  During the Elizabethan times which Shakespeare lived in, medical practices were bound with superstition  Treatments for illness are based on astrology, numerology, herb medicine, and the four humours  Most medicine did more harm than good, and the patient often died from treatments

Slide 6: Medicine The Four Humours  The doctors believed that a person’s health and personality was defined by the four humours:  Sanguine- blood: happy, generous, optimistic, irresponsible  Choleric-yellow bile: violent, short- tempered, ambitious  Phlegmatic- phlegm: sluggish, pallid, cowardly  Melancholic- black bile: introspective, sentimental

Slide 7: Medicine Common Illnesses  Fleas and lice were a problem, for they did not know any adequate treatments  Plague is a big concern during the Elizabethan times because there were no treatments for it  People sometimes died due to blood loss from dental treatments

Slide 8: Medicine Causes and Cures  The cause for most diseases was lack of sanitation and disinfections  Lots of breeding grounds for bacteria and bacteria carriers (rats, mosquitoes)  Cures were not available because the churches did not allow dissection of the human body until the mid 16th century

Slide 9: Superstition  Many daily activities were associated with superstition Ex: when a person sneezes, one has to say “bless you” in order to ward off demons  The four humours should be balanced in a person to stay healthful  They believed in balancing the good and evil

Slide 10: Superstition  Elizabethans believed in sympathetic magic to ward off diseases and evil  The laws of nature had to be equalized in order for good luck  The Romans, Saxons, Danes, and Celts contributed to the superstitious beliefs during the Elizabethan times

Slide 11: Superstition Miscellaneous Beliefs  Good Luck Breathed on by a cow  Spit in a fire  Touch a man about to be hanged  Iron, silver, fire, salt, and running water   Bad Luck “Widdershins” (stir a pot counter-clockwise)  Cats (black or otherwise)  Leaving a door open behind you 

Slide 12: Bibliography  Anderson, Linda. "Elizabeth Religion." Shakespeare's world choose your path. 05 Nov. 2005 <www.english.vt.edu/~Swenson/Shakespeare/backgrounds/background.intro/s.ba ckground.intro5.html>.  Andrews, John F. William Shakespeare His world his work, his influence. Toronto: Collier MacMillian, 1985.  CP library . 1 Sept 2004. Crocus Plains Regional Secondary School. 05 Nov. 2005 <www.brandsonsd.mb.ca/crocus/library/>.  Foss, Richard. "Superstitions of the Elizabethan Era." St. Ives Historical Society . 1992. 05 Nov. 2005 <www.saintives.com/essays/superstitions.htm>.  Kazlev, Alan M. "The Four Humours." Transformation, Evolution, Metamorphosis. 3 July 2004. 05 Nov. 2005 <www.kheper.net/topics/typology/four_humours.html>.  Ramsey, Lia. "Medical Beliefs and practices." Elizabethan England. 3 Nov. 2005. 05 Nov. 2005 <www.springfield.k12.il.us/schools/springfield/eilz>.