Social Class In The Elizabethan Era

upper class consisted of wealthy and well educated minor aristocrats they could vote and they held high public office

The second class was the plebeians which were lower class citizens. They were not allowed to take part in the senate. The third class was made up of slaves. Slaves were either war prisoners or plebeians who had refused to or were unable to pay taxes. Possibly Imperial Rome and Han China both had social classes because they kept the each class knew their role and performed it.

     To be in the highest class, one had to be born into it. This four percent of the population was known as the Noble class. The class was broken into two estates: the first estate and the second estate. They were the hierarchy of the church and well respected church officials. The second estate made up the other three percent and included the Royal family and other wealthy families that had inherited most of their income (Lough 98-105). Although these were the richest people in the country, they were

* The upper class was the highest of them all and the people who qualified to be in this category were very wealthy and proper people.

The best class to be in was the gentry because they were the richest of the rich. The people that made up the gentry included plantation owners (the Tidewater), merchants/business owners, ministers, royal officials, successful lawyers and wealthy artisans, such as goldsmiths. The gentry owned most of the land, were very powerful, were the most likely to hold office, and the men had the right to vote.

First are the Patricians which are the Elite class and gentlemen live by a code of behaviors and that did not have to work. Middle-class men work and

Unlike upper class they did not necessarily inherit their money but earned it off their own hard work. They could afford their own town house and servants to run the household. Over time these class of people grew more influential and eventually gained the right to vote in 1832. They were below the aristocracy but above the workers.

Pharaoh, viziers, high priests and nobles, priests, engineers, doctors, scribes, craftsmen, slaves and farmers, these are examples of how the existing order of social class in Ancient Egyptian. What’s the difference between the social class order we have today? Classes such as upper class, middle class, and the lower or working class still resemble the class order and theme of then in the Ancient Egyptian time. Social class could be managed as much in wealth and income, possession of goods and the way individuals are viewed after death are essential elements in social class. Social class has a noteworthy part to play in the lives, for example, the lives in Egypt to the lives that we live in the 21st century. Social class is something that is observed at but mentioned in different context. Social class in Ancient Egypt was not only a description of how people lived but also how they were views after death. And this how the pyramids and other monuments played a role in class and status ranking.

These people own the most land and as mentioned before, hold some sort of position in politics. They normally only socialized with people in their own class. The only way to become part of the upper social class, was to be born in to it. You couldn’t go from being part of the middle class and then upgrade to the upper class. Because of their social status, some people would think that they were barely affected by the Napoleonic war, but they couldn’t be more wrong.

The nobles consisted of priests and the emperor who was at the top, they were the most wealthy and powerful in government. The intermediate class consisted of artisans, and merchants. The commoners were the majority at the very bottom and they were mostly slaves. Women’s roles were limited to cooking and raising/ taking care of the children. The men farmed the land of their own or nobles.

The middle class and the low class were very different from the upper class. The middle class included free commoners. This class included a lot of the population in the civilization and included artisans of all kinds, lower-level officials, soldiers and police, servants and many farmers. Unlike the upper class, this class appropriated through a variety of taxes, were required to do labor and had to do tribute payments that supported the upper class. The people here did not wear any fancy clothing, live in huge palaces or have elaborate burials.

During this time the social class depended on how much land you owned. Royalty in your Kings and Queens was part of the upper class; the noble lords and vassals followed the

The most privileged of the three classes was the “Aristocracy” or high class. Those of

The social classes had many varying roles which were important to the different classes and their functions in society. Queen Elizabeth was at the top of the social pyramid (“The Social Structure in Elizabethan England”). Being the head of the country, the Queen was the most respected person in England. She had full control and governed everyone. Following the Queen, came the higher middle classes such as the nobility. The nobility were the fighters and knights, which many had died in the War of the Roses. The Queen saw this class as a threat and

In the book Star of the Sea, written by author Joseph O’Connor, he states “They had far more in common than either realised. One was born Catholic, the other Protestant. One was born Irish, the other British. But neither was the greatest difference between them. One was born rich and the other poor.” O’Connor summarises the idea of social class that has been a recurring idea since the dawn of time. Social classes is basically the division of society that is based on social and economic status. The people who were at the top of the social classes were thought to be the prestigious and most worthy people and the further you go down the chain the more common people you began to see. Many people demonstrate the social class system in literature. Shakespeare, especially, offers a challenge to what everyone thought they knew of the social class system.