Elizabethan Laws by Michael Thomas

1. Elizabethan Lawsby Michael Thomas • Laws based on social Class • Crime and Punishment of the Nobility • Crime and Punishment of the Commoner • “Poor Laws” • Sumptuary laws(laws restricting dress)

2. General Law • Most crimes are punished by death • Incarceration does not yet exist • Jails only temporary hold facilities • Authority's are trying to “clean up” the streets • Punishment was displayed as a public event for which many gathered

3. Nobility • People of High political standing, and wealth • Usual transgressions include: • Treason • Spying • Murder • And Witchcraft/Alchemy • Punished by either death(by beheading or burning) or torture • Sometimes received the highest punishment of being “Hung, Drawn and Quartered”

4. Commoners • Commoners where generally extremely poor by today's standards • Most crimes were out of desperation • Usual transgression include: • Begging • Theft • Fraud • Adultery • Death was the most common punishment for any of these • Stealing more that 5 pence resulted in hanging • Begging was address by public beatings

5. “Poor Laws” • Set up in 1601 • The first pseudo-welfare system • Categorized the poor into three categorizes: • those who would work but could not • those who were too old/ill/young to work • those who could work but would not • The first two revived finical or physical help • The third were punished, and made examples of

6. Sumptuary Laws • Laws that attempted to dictate what people could wear • Instituted to “maintain morals” • Thought to hopefully promote better spending of money • Generally punished by a fine • Laws were nearly impossible to in force

7. Punishments • High crimes met the Ultimate punishment described as: • “...drawing from the prison to the place of execution upon an hurdle or sled, where they are hanged till they be half dead, and then taken down, and quartered alive; after that, their members and bowels are cut from their bodies, and thrown into a fire, provided near hand and within their own sight, even for the same purpose." -William Harrison • Small crimes where usually punished be some form of death or torture: • Hanging • Burning • Whipping • The Pillory/Stocks • Boiling • The wheel • Starvation • Etc.

8. Elizabethan Renaissanceby Olivia Del Rio Duties & Responsibilities

9. Outline • Duties of Men • Duties of Women • Duties of Queen Elizabeth • Duties of the Noble Advisors

10. Duties of Men • Men: -in both lower and middle class men were in charge of the women and ordered them around -the men had various jobs and had to work -if a man was a farmer his lifestyle followed that of the seasons.

11. Duties of Women • Women: -upper class women had to get an education at home, not allowed in universities. -Poor women couldn’t get an education. -Poor women of society had to work and take care of children, this meant they didn’t have rights with men. -Both had to obey the males of the household and do as told -Both were told they were inferior to men and obeyed they’re husbands, so they did as told.

12. Duties of Queen Elizabeth • Queen Elizabeth’s duties and responsibilities: -she had to rule over England -she had to deal with religion in England. -she had to make England more stable. -she had to stop against threats from the Spanish Armanda.

13. The Role of Children in Elizabethan EnglandBy Brian Kennedy

14. Outline • Many card games were played, including ‘One & thirty’ (ancestor to our blackjack), ‘Ruff & Honors’ (a gambling game played with four players). Board games, such as chess, were played as well. Wrestling was popular, and so was Colf (their version of our Modern day golf). • Children started their education at home. These were basically just ‘table manners’, such as chewing properly, the proper way to eat morsels (a small piece of food), rising early in the morning to say prayers, etc. Petty-school education was for 5-7 year olds. This was not taught in a school, but in the home of the teacher. Grammar school was from ages 7-14. Children were taught, well, Grammar. This was usually paid for by the Guild. Unlike today, Religion was taught in schools. Students prayed before school, before meals, and after school. • Children and Adults were treated equally. For example, you may recall that in Romeo And Juliet, Romeo was 16 years old, while Juliet was only 14. The only difference between children and adults was height and weight. Children often started working at 7, and were paid with meals.

15. Games played by Children • Ruff and Honors • In Ruff, 52 cards are used, with 12 dealt to each player. Turning the top card over determines the trump suit. Honors is played in a similar fashion: 48 cards are used, and all the twos are discarded. The final card distributed is turned over to reveal the trump suit. • Hopscotch • Hopscotch then is the same way it is now, just drawn in dirt, not with chalk. You throw the stone onto one of the numbers and jump to the number.

16. Elizabethan Rightsby Emily Foster • The Rights of Lower Women • The Rights of Noble Women • The Rights of Royal Women • The Rights of Men

17. The Rights of Lower Women • Women were expected to obey the male members in there families without question • They were not allowed to vote • There were no schools for girls they were only taught how to do housewifely jobs • The only career women were allowed to have was marriage • Women were not allowed to enter the Army or the Navy • Women were not allowed to act in the theatre

18. The Rights of Noble Women • In the Noble class women were sometimes allowed the right to an education • In order to achieve this education women were sent away from home • Could not be heirs to their father’s title • Noble women could not become doctors or lawyers • Women were not allowed to vote or enter politics • Women could not enter the Army of the Navy • Women were not allowed to act in the theatres

19. The Rights of Royal Women • Even in royalty, women were subservient to their husbands and male family members • Royal women were allowed to be heirs to their father’s title • Women were prohibited from enter into the Army or Navy • Women of the court were allowed to perform in the Masques but were not allowed to act in any other theatre productions

20. The Rights of Men • What rights you had as a man depended mostly on what your status was in society, but one thing that all men had in common no matter their status was the fact that they were above women • Men of high social position had the right to vote • Men could work in the theatres • Men had the right to join the Army or Navy • They could also hold any occupation, which includes becoming a lawyer or doctor