What was Elizabethan society like, and how did England deal with the problem of the poor?
Elizabethan society and the problem of the poor: the social hierarchy, the causes of rising poverty and vagabondage, changing attitudes to the poor (the deserving and undeserving), and the Poor Laws.
A focused answer to Elizabethan society and poverty in Edexcel's Early Elizabethan England depth study, covering the social hierarchy, the causes of rising poverty and vagabondage, changing attitudes to the deserving and undeserving poor, and the development of the Poor Laws.
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What this dot point is asking
This is part of Key Topic 3 (Elizabethan society): the social hierarchy, the growing problem of the poor, and how attitudes and laws changed in response. You need the causes of rising poverty, the distinction between the deserving and undeserving poor, and the Poor Laws. The depth study tests this through Describe two features, Explain why and the 16-mark essay, so know the causes and the changing official response.
The social hierarchy
The causes of rising poverty
Attitudes to the poor
The Poor Laws
Try this
Q1. What was the difference between the deserving and undeserving poor? [Knowledge recall]
- Cue. The deserving poor (old, sick, orphaned) were seen as unable to work and worthy of charity; the undeserving poor (able-bodied beggars and vagabonds) were blamed for idleness and punished.
Q2. Explain why poverty increased in Elizabethan England. [Short explanation]
- Cue. A rising population, inflation, enclosure for sheep farming that cut farm jobs, the loss of monastery charity after the dissolution, and bad harvests all forced more people into poverty and vagabondage.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of Pearson Edexcel exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
Edexcel 20184 marksDescribe two features of attitudes towards the poor in Elizabethan England.Show worked answer →
The Paper 2 British depth study "Describe two features" question (4 marks). Reward two distinct features with detail.
Feature one. People distinguished between the deserving and the undeserving poor. The deserving poor (the old, sick and orphaned) were seen as worthy of help, while the undeserving poor (able-bodied beggars) were blamed for being idle.
Feature two. Vagabonds were feared and treated harshly. Wandering beggars were seen as a threat to order, so laws allowed them to be whipped, branded or sent back to their home parish.
Full marks. Two features, each with one detail. Two marks per feature.
Edexcel 202112 marksExplain why poverty increased in Elizabethan England. You may use the following in your answer: enclosure; the dissolution of the monasteries. You must also use information of your own.Show worked answer →
The Paper 2 British depth study "Explain why" question (12 marks) with two prompts plus your own knowledge. Reward at least three developed reasons.
Reason one (enclosure). Landowners enclosed common land for sheep farming, which needed fewer workers, so many farm labourers lost their land and jobs and fell into poverty.
Reason two (the dissolution of the monasteries). The earlier closure of the monasteries removed the charity and care they had provided, leaving the poor with fewer sources of help.
Reason three (own knowledge: rising population and prices). A growing population pushed up demand and prices (inflation) while wages lagged, and bad harvests caused food shortages, so more people could not afford to live.
Top band. Use both prompts plus an own point, each developed and tied to rising poverty.
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Sources & how we know this
- Pearson Edexcel GCSE (9-1) History (1HI0) specification — Pearson Edexcel (2016)