Social Classes
There were many social castes during this time in England. Here is a list and a brief description of each, in order from lowest to highest social class.
In the mid-15th century, slaves were introduced to England. They were taken from Africa, did not own land and were forced to work for the lord without payment. They lived completely off of their lord's donations. Cottagers did not own land either, but the lord provided them with a hut to live in, a garden, and a small portion of the lord's harvest. Villeins rented small houses, and spent their time farming the lord's and their own land. Unlike the other lower classes, they all had to pay their share of taxes and fees. Taxes were based on the value of their lands and holdings, and fees were usually paid in the form of food rather than money. One of the difficult things in a villein's life was when it was time to harvest, he had to harvest both the lord's land and their own. Men and women usually had different duties, but when it was time to harvest, the whole family participated. When there was war, there was a chance that the law would allow villeins to fight for their lord's land and property.
By the 15th and 16th centuries, there was a major decline in the population of these lower classes as society became urbanized.
The middle class consisted of yeomen, who were prosperous farmers. Some of them even rented off land to gentleman landowners. It was difficult to distinguish between them and minor gentry (which will be mentioned later on), but they remained yeomen because it was a cheaper lifestyle. They owned about 100 acres of land, and when necessary, they joined the militia. Some of the wealthier yeomen could afford to hire people to work under them.
Going up the social ladder after yeomen, are gentry. They generally did not need to support themselves financially, but some had jobs in law, politics, or as priests. They rented out their land to tenant farmers. Those who didn't hold a coat of arms or were not knighted were the lowest type of gentry. A knight was the highest type of gentry, and around 1560 the title was simply one of honour, and was completely unrelated to military services.
The peerage, a system of titles, consisted of five ranks. In order from highest to lowest ranking, the titles were Duke, Marquess, Earl, Viscount and Baron/Lord. Many held more than one of these hereditary titles. If this was the case, the eldest son would be able to use one of his father's titles as a "courtesy title", though he wouldn't actually hold it as his own. Those who held titles owned a large amount of land, and lived off their assets. They held court and sometimes played a role in it depending on the circumstances.
A royal was a member of the royal family, for example a prince or a close relative of the reigning king or queen. They had the good fortune of living a life of luxury compared to the majority of the population.
The Monarchy
King Henry VIII was the first king to have complete control over the Church. This was because he wanted a divorce with his wife Catherine. The pope did not approve of this, so the only way King Henry could get a divorce was by taking the Church into his own hands. When his son King Edward VI succeeded him, Protestantism was established for the first time in England.
More than a decade later, the great Queen Elizabeth took the throne. Her reign witnessed a golden age, when English drama flourished, seafaring adventurers circumnavigated the globe, and scientific discoveries were made. Britain also celebrated a great victory against the Spanish, known as the Spanish Armada. Sometimes historians view her as a short-tempered, indecisive ruler, though her people enjoyed her seemingly lenient ways. Her successor, King James I witnessed the continuation of the golden age during his reign.
The king that followed James was King Charles I. He was a firm believer of the Divine Rights of Kings, that kings had power from gods. The English Civil War took place during King Charles' last days, when the Scottish and English Parliaments were against him. He continually struggled for power with the Parliament of England, and due to oppressed laws without the Parliament's consent, he was eventually executed.
Philosophers, Religious Icons, Scientists
John Locke was an English philosopher who stated that the mind was a blank slate, or in Latin, tabula rasa. It is the belief that humans are not born with certain ideas, but gain knowledge through their experiences in life. He also had a theory called the "social contract" which implied that one of the human rights were to overthrow a leader that broke the Rights of Englishmen, which consisted of basic rules like no taxation without representation, or the right to rebel. A few years later, the American Declaration of Independance would be partially based on Locke's beliefs, specifically his ideas of liberalism, (individual freedom, free markets, and limited government).
The Protestant Reformation posed as a severe threat to the Roman Catholic Church. Between 1536 and 1541, as head of the new Church, King Henry VIII ordered his Chancellor Thomas Cromwell to send men to destroy the monastery buildings and seize all their land and treasures. When King Henry VIII died, his son Edward VI, only nine years old, was a firm believer in the Protestantism, where it was believed that church services should be simpler and Christianity should follow the Scripture instead of the clergy's interpretation of it. Thomas Cranmer (1489 - 1556) was a leader of the English Reformation and Archbishop of Canterbury. He contributed to the more direct and simple translation of the Christian faith through the English Bible, the Book of Common Prayer and the Book of Homilies.
A few notable discoveries were made during this period, especially in science. Sir Isaac newton (1643 - 1727) was a famous man of many fields; mathematics, astronomy, natural philosophy, alchemy and theology. But he is best known for his achievements in the world of science. He discovered the refraction of light by an experiment that required white light to shoot through a glass prism. Newton's theory of colour states that colour is the product of objects interacting with already-coloured light. He also wrote a book titled Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica, now known as the Principia. In this he stated the three universal laws of motion and the law of universal gravitation. He used the Latin word for weight, gravitas for what would later be known as gravity. A philosopher and scientist named Francis Bacon always wanted a planned procedure for investigations of natural things, so he developed the Baconian method, which would later develop into the scientific method, widely used today.
