Tudor and Early Stuart Society

-Tudor and Early Stuart Society-

At the top of the society there was the Queen.
Next to the sovereign, in the social order, came the Nobility. Its members lived in luxury, with large estates and many servants; usually nobles where ambassadors, generals or members of the Upper House of the Parliament; some of them were also patrons of the arts, in fact the supported poets, musicians and other artists.
Next to the nobility, in the chain of order, came Knights; a man was made a knight by the sovereign or by her deputy.
Below the Knights there were the Gentlemen, who were men of good birth who owned some land and they weren’t employed in a profession; their education was based on the study of law, ethics and history; some of them were magistrates or member of the Lower House of Parliament.
Below them there were the Yeomen, farmers or merchants, which built the characteristic half-timbered houses.
After them, there were the Poor People, people without a stable home or a stable work; usually there were a sense of fear towards them and for that the Parliament created the ‘Poor Laws’ in 1601; with them, begging was forbidden and vagabonds were punished.

In the Family Life, the Father was the head of the family and its ruler.
Women had few rights, but when they decided to getting married, their goods passed into the possession of their husbands.
Most women died in childbirth and child mortality was very high.