knowledge organiser 5

Question 1

what was the “merry England” interpretation?

Answer 1

imagined as a “golden age”, people wore fine clothes, everyone had plenty of food, people got on well with each other , cultural achievements such as William Shakespeares plays were enjoyed by all

Question 2

what popular pastimes did Elizabethan England enjoy

Answer 2

1.sports football which was played in the streets, was the most popular sport, bear-baiting, people betting on a pack of dogs attacking a tied up bear, was widespread,

Question 3

what other pastimes did they enjoy?

Answer 3

2.festivities, on saints days villages held parish ales, lasted 7 days, Christmas included eating and drinking and carol singing, lasted 12 days, May Day, people danced around the maypole and watched plays, harvest homes, celebrated once all the crops had been harvested at the end of August

Question 4

any other pastimes?

Answer 4

3. the alehouse (pub) the most common pastime for the labouring poor and the middling sort was going to the alehouse with friends to drink beer, also places for gambling and prostitution

Question 5

what was closed down? and why?

Answer 5

alehouses were closed down, parish ales stopped in many areas and maypoles were pulled down. the puritans

Question 6

why did puritans do this?

Answer 6

puritan ministers wanted people to live purer christian lives

Question 7

how did they clamp down on popular pastimes?

Answer 7

preaching sermons attacking festivities such as parish ales, persuaded justices of the peace to ban maypoles and introduce licences for selling ales

Question 8

what drove puritan ministers to attack popular pastimes?

Answer 8

1. protecting the sabbath, believed sundays should be for prayer and not drinking and dancing, 2. stopping pagan practices traditions such as may day were pagan and not christian, believed this distracted from the true christian religion, 3. preventing violent disorder crowds at festivals such as parish ales became drunk and violent, they believed this was not christian behaviour, 4. preventing sex outside of marriage, they believed that dancing and drinking at festivals such as may day led to the sin of sex outside of marriage

Question 8

how many theaters were there when Elizabeth became queen in 1558?

Answer 8

there were non

Question 9

how did actors preform when there were no theatres?

Answer 9

toured the country preforming in alehouses and parish ales

Question 9

why did puritan ministers oppose the theatres?

Answer 9

because plays encouraged unholy behaviour and distracted ordinary people from prayer and bible reading

Question 10

what happened after the government began arresting actors as vagrants?

Answer 10

they began forming theatre companies

Question 10

why did London city authorities oppose the theaters?

Answer 10

because they feared crowds of spectators would spread the plague or commit crimes

Question 10

popular playwright, popular plays and theatre?

Answer 10

shakespeare, romeo and juliet, macbeth, the globe

Question 11

where did the queen invite William Shakespeare to preform?

Answer 11

at the royal court

Question 12

why did the ordinary people love the theatre?

Answer 12

because it provided cheap entertainment

Question 13

what did the Elizabethans believe about witches?

Answer 13

could preform magic to cure illness, control the actions of others, or recover stolen goods

Question 14

how did people believe witches get their power?

Answer 14

came from the relationship with the devil

Question 15

what were witches believed to have?

Answer 15

familiars: small animals such as cats and toads that assisted with their evil acts

Question 16

what was the 1563 law against witches?

Answer 16

death by hanging for using witchcraft to kill, prison for damage to property

Question 17

how many cases of witchcraft was there in the 1580s?

Answer 17

166 cases

Question 18

how many cases in Essex during Elizabeths reign?

Answer 18

172 cases

Question 19

what interpretations do historians think were the reasons of witches?

Answer 19

1. tensions between villagers, power for the powerless: explains confessions, lots of unexplained terrible things happened, 2. attacks on women, 90% of the accused were women, patriarchal society, persecuting witches was a way to deal with women who did not have husbands to control them, 3. puritans, puritan ministers encouraged persecution to get rid of magical beliefs, Essex a hot bed of witchcraft was a highly puritan area

Question 20

What was the galleries?

Answer 20

was a covered raised area of seating entry was 6 pence

Question 21

what was the yard?

Answer 21

where the poor stood (known as groundlings) to watch plays entry was one penny

Question 22

what was the stage?

Answer 22

was raised and jutted out into the center of the theatre