Class system of the Elizabethan era. What titles did they have and what was their average wages

1 ANSWERS

1. amomipais82
   

   Hi,
   In Greenwich on 15 June 1574 Queen Elizabeth I enforced some new Sumptuary Laws called the 'Statutes of Apparel'. The reasons were to limit the expenditure of people on clothes - and of course to maintain the social structure of the Elizabethan Class system! Her reasons and proclamation for Enforcing the Statutes of Apparel can be read by clicking the following link:
   
   Enforcing Statutes of Apparel
   
   The words Queen Elizabeth uses in the Sumptuary Laws proclamation include excess, superfluity, unnecessary foreign wares, extremity, manifest decay, vain devices, wasting, allured, unlawful acts, abuses, decay of the wealth of the realm, the rigor of her laws, reform, offenses, commandeth, punishment, orders and Justices of Assizes!
   
   Queen Elizabeth I did not 'mince her words'!!
   
   By the early 1500's France, Holland and Germany had begun the cultivation of dye plants as an industry - contributing to the 'unnecessary foreign wares' being imported to England and a reason for the Sumptuary Law of Queen Elizabeth 1.
   
   Clothing and the Elizabethan Sumptuary Laws
   Elizabeth makes her proclamation  and Elizabethan Clothing is governed by the Elizabethan Sumptuary Laws! The materials and choice of colour was therefore, in part, dependant upon status, but in the main by the Sumptuary Laws.
   
   Elizabethan Sumptuary Laws - Clothing for Women
   Read the Sumptuary Laws relating to women's clothes and find out some interesting facts and information about the Elizabethan Clothing for women
   
   Elizabethan Clothing Law for Women
   Elizabethan Clothing allowed for Women
   
   
   Elizabethan Sumptuary Laws - The 'Get Out' Clause!!
   Even in the Elizabethan Sumptuary Laws there was a 'Get Out' clause!
   
   "Note also that the meaning of this order is not to prohibit a servant from wearing any cognizance of his master, or henchmen, heralds, pursuivants at arms; runners at jousts, tourneys, or such martial feats, and such as wear apparel given them by the Queen, and such as shall have license from the Queen for the same."
   
   The above clause ensures that upper class traditions and entertainment could continue! Royal servants could wear specific colors and styles normally prohibited. Contenders and heralds at jousts and tournaments were able to continue relevant armor and colors. And anyone with a license from the Queen was also exempt - the Elizabethan Acting Troupes and Actors!

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