Royalty+and+Class

http://todaysmeet.com/royaltyclass

Current happenings(1500s)
 * By 1500 Europe an society was structured around militarism and eager for internal and external conquest. It was, moreover, now armed with impressive and effective gunpowder weapons and the naval and land technologies to deploy them.
 * After Edward III utterly defeated the French at Crecy in 1346, the English long-bow had been a symbol of the English military. However, by the time of Elizabeth's reign, the long-bow had begun to be replaced by firearms.

Currently found things > http://www.euratlas.net/history/europe/1500/1500.jpg
 * gunpowder was widely used Europe
 * castles going out of style being replaced by forts (not as big and more specialized)
 * weapons used by England's military (mostly guns, bows, and cannons)
 * Middle class guilds
 * All the classes and their order
 * Life as a soldier
 * Joining the military

After Edward III utterly defeated the French at Crecy in 1346, the English long-bow had been a symbol of the English military. However, by the time of Elizabeth's reign, the long-bow had begun to be replaced by firearms. Although many experienced soldiers were reluctant to give up the bows that had been such a source of national pride, Sir Roger Williams, the supposed model for Shakespeare's Fluellen in //Henry V//, wrote in 1590: "God forbid, we should try our bows with their muskets and calivers. . . 500 musketeers are more serviceable than 1500 bowmen." Certainly, muskets did replace bows, and it was much easier to train musketeers than it was to train bowmen, which could take years. These new soldiers may have been poorly disciplined and poorly trained, but as Falstaff remarks to Prince Hal, they "fill a pit as well as better" (//Henry IV, Part One//, 4.2.65) While cannons had already been in use for more than a century when Shakespeare was born, smaller firearms were still being developed. During Queen Mary's time, soldiers who were being trained to use guns found that their weapons often broke after being fired a few times, and that the ignition of the gunpowder could burn them; consequently, many soldiers took to averting their heads while firing, thus missing their targets. Like many institutions at the time (and since), Guilds were divided into hierarchies with Masters at the top, Journeymen in the middle, and Apprentices at the bottom. When in his early or mid teens, a boy would often be apprenticed to a Master who would be paid by the boy's family to care for him and educate him in his trade. After seven or eight years, the boy, then a young man, would graduate to the rank of Journeyman. Journeymen were paid for their work, and were allowed to work for any Master. After a Journeyman acquired sufficient experience he would create a "masterpiece," this work would be judged by other Masters within his guild, and if he passed their scrutiny he too would become a Master. All men between the ages of 16 and 60 were eligible to serve and had to appear at musters, where unlucky individuals would be selected for service. Moreover, these men were not necessarily trained: about twenty percent of the army was selected for training, while the rest were simply given equipment and expected to learn how to be a soldier while in the field. As might be expected, the common soldier's lot was often an unfortunate one. As Pistol suggests by demanding of King Henry (moving amongst his troops in disguise), "Discuss unto me, art thou officer; or art thou base, common, and popular" (//Henry V//, 4.1.48), a soldier's military rank often dictated whether or not he would live or die. The untrained, low ranking, disenfranchised common soldier often ended up as cannon fodder -- "food for powder, food for powder" according to Falstaff ( //1 Henry IV// 4.2.65) -- because the better trained more professional army was considered too valuable to send to a possible death overseas, and was held in reserve for England's defense. In fact, in 1601, Lord Mountjoy, Elizabeth's commander in Ireland, allowed his defeated enemies to enlist in foreign armies because, he claimed, "it has ever been seen that more than three parts of the four of these countrymen do never return, being once engaged in any such voyage."

The Nobility*
("gentlemen of the greater sort")
 * * **The King**
 * Dukes
 * Marquesses
 * Earls
 * Viscounts
 * Barons

The Gentry*
("the second sort of gentlemen")
 * Baronets*
 * Knights*
 * Esquires*
 * Gentlemen* ||

The Commonalty (1)
("The middle people of England")
 * * Citizens and Burgesses*
 * Yeomen*

**Professionals***
 * Merchants
 * Lawyers
 * Administrators
 * Clergy*

The Commonalty (2)
"The fourth sort or class"
 * Small merchants or retailers
 * Day-labourers*, husbandmen, artisans...
 * The poor, infirm, and unemployed* ||

Membership in the governing class depended upon eligibility to hold office rather than the actual position held; thus, out of from 15 to 20 thousand eligible persons, only about 2500 held offices from the Crown. The ruling elite (nobility and gentry) comprised a mere 2.5% to 5% of the total population of England and Wales. Society was divided between those who governed (the "gentle") and those who served (the "base" or "knaves"). A mutually interdependent hierarchy was the accepted teaching of the time--though the governors did not always respect those under them.

Elizabeth I (r.1558-1603)

Elizabeth I was born at Greenwich on September 7, 1533, the daughter of Henry VIII and his second wife, Anne Boleyn. She was then third in line behind her Roman Catholic half-sister, Princess Mary. Roman Catholics, indeed, always considered her illegitimate and she was almost executed after a failed rebellion against Queen Mary in 1554. Her 45-year reign is generally considered one of the best in English history. During it a secure Church of England was established. Its doctrines were laid down in the 39 Articles of 1563, a compromise between Roman Catholicism and Protestantism. Most of her subjects accepted the compromise as the basis of their faith, and her church settlement probably saved England from religious wars like those which France suffered in the second half of the 16th century.

Elizabeth I (r.1558-1603)." //The Official Website of The British Monarchy//. The Royal Household © Copyright 2010/11, 2011. Web. 30 Sept. 2011. .