The document provides information about life in Elizabethan England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I from 1558-1603. Some key points: - London was the largest city in England and one of the largest in Europe, growing significantly in population during this period. It was the political and economic center of the country. - Life was difficult for most, especially the poor. Sanitation was extremely poor, leading to diseases like the plague. Punishments for crimes were also very harsh. - Society was stratified with class determined by types of clothing and materials worn. Sumptuary laws regulated appropriate dress. - The theater flourished during this era with poets and plays celebrated. William Shakespeare wrote and performed

1. INTRODUCTION
T0 THE
Mrs Smith

2. W h e r e i s L o n d o n ?
ELIZABETHAN ERA is the time period is named after Queen
Elizabeth I who ruled England during this time.

3. Son of prominent town official

4. Son of prominent town official
E l i z a b e t h a n
A g e
Shakespeare lived and
wrote during what is
known as the English
Renaissance, which
lasted from about 1485
through the 1660s
This period was named
after Queen Elizabeth
who ruled England from
1558-1603.
Q u e e n
E l i z a b e t h
1

5. Son of prominent town official
During the Queen’s reign,
society celebrated poets.
The Elizabethans age would
become known for its theatre.
E l i z a b e t h a n A g e – A g e o f
e x p l o r a t i o n

6. Tudor England is famous for its
beautiful and ornate clothing,
particularly during the reign of
Queen Elizabeth I.
Purple clothing was a sign of
royalty.
C l o t h e s

7. They wore clothes made of silk and velvet. The
clothes of the wealthy were decorated with jewels
and embroidered with gold thread. Middle class
people like traders and craftsmen wore plainer
versions of these outfits.
C l o t h e s

8. Son of prominent town official
Certain fabrics,
textures, and
colours of clothing
indicated which
social class a
person was a part
of.
If a person dressed
out of his/her social
class, they would be
punished because it
was against the law.
C l o t h i n g / f a s h i o n

9. The street would have been so disgusting
that the people wore PATTENS.
These were worn over a normal shoe and
were effectively wooden clogs raising you
off the ground. They would elevate you
above the human effluent and the mess
that was in the streets.
S h o e s

10. Son of prominent town official
L i f e i n t h e E l i z a b e t h a n
E r a
A woman possessed very little
rights in choosing her husband.
Marriages were usually
arranged by the families of the
bride and the groom in order for
both sides to benefit from one
another.
Once married, women had
practically no rights. They could
not work outside the home.

11. Son of prominent town official
England was flourishing and London was
becoming one of largest cities in Europe.
Life was not easy for everyone.
• Catholics experiences religious persecution
• Most English people endured crowded living
conditions and an unsatisfactory diet
E l i z a b e t h a n A g e

12. At the heart of England was the capital city, London.
It was by far the biggest city in the country and one of the largest in Europe.
Between the time of the 1500’s and 1600’s, the population grew from just 50 000
to about 200 000.
London at on either side of the river Thames, a busy waterway filled with ferries
and boats bringing in goods from the ports of northern Europe.

13. London was the administrative and
political capital of England as well as its
trading and commercial centre. Its
bustling maze of streets was packed
with merchants, shopkeepers,
craftsmen, street sellers ,
theatre players
and pickpockets.

14. Glass was very expensive, so rich people would often have a lot of windows in
their houses to show how much money they had.
.
The RICH could afford more expensive clothes and
usually didn’t have to go to work.
The POOR would make money from selling crops
from land which they owned. The crops would be
grown by farmers who were allowed to live on the
land in exchange.
R i c h v s P o o r

16. F o o d
The main part of each meal was meat.
They ate:
 Beef
 Lamb
 Pork
 Poultry
 Rabbit
 Deer
 Goat
 Wildfowl
Rich people even ate swans!
Everyone, by law, ate fish, not
meat, on Fridays and during
Lent.

17. Son of prominent town official
• Punishment for crimes was VERY harsh
Robbers would have limbs cut off by a saw,
have fingers torn off or eyes dug out with hot
pinchers.
L i f e i n t h e E l i z a b e t h a n
E r a

18. Son of prominent town official
• Going to the dentist was
deadly.
• Women gossips had sharp
device put in mouth and, with
any movement, the tongue
would be cut or damaged.
• For adultery, one would be
attached to stool and
continuously dunked under
water until death.
L i f e i n t h e
E l i z a b e t h a n E r a

19. The streets of London would
have been very smelly and
slippery. Houses didn’t have
toilets so people would have
emptied their chamber pots
into the streets which would
attract rats that spread
diseases like the Plague.
In 1563, 17,404 people died
of the plague. This was one
person in every six who lived
there.
L i f e i n t h e E l i z a b e t h a n
E r a

20. Butchers took the off-cuts that could not be eaten in wheelbarrows down to the
Thames River. They dumped off a specially constructed pier in an attempt to put
them in the middle of the river, the fastest-flowing part.
Corpses would have been floating about in the river too.
Public toilets called PRIVIES were built over over the Thames River.
People would go and excrete straight in the water. It was seen as a handy way to get
rid of human waste!
T O I L E T S

21. I am sure you
will all agree it
was tough to
live in
ELIZABETHAN
TIMES if you
were not rich!