Time+Period

=The Elizabethan Era=

The Elizabethan Era was time period in which Shakespeare lived. When Queen Elizabeth took the crown from her half-sister in 1558 she revolutionized England; transforming I from an insignificant medieval country to an important player in word affairs.

The first major thing that the new Queen did was settle the question of religion that plagued the country for years. Although she favored Protestantism, she reenacted Henry VIII's antipapal statutes which bestowed power over the national church in the Crown. All public officials had to pledge loyalty to the Church of England and her vision of an Anglican Church began to form.

England’s economy was also in shambles; there was a lack of scientific knowledge and industrial skill, the mines were in disarray and there were hardly any crops being produced. The one thing England did have was an excellent cloth industry. The only problem with the industry was they were only trading with Belgium. Once they realized that people wanted to by their cloth they expanded their trade and the economy exploded. Led by many religious refugees from the Netherlands and France, the rest of the industries grew as well. North America was one of England’s leading markets; for the people there had a huge demand for manufactured goods.

The society in England improved along with the economy. Men and women started wearing lavish outfits. Men wore and outfit consisting of “doublet, frilly collar, short round breeches, stockings, small pointed shoes or wide-mouthed boots, a hat with a feather, and a rapier and dagger.” (Elizabethan Age) Men also wore high-heels to separate them from lower class. Women wore outfits modeled after their beloved queen with a large ruff (a huge pleated collar) and the farthingale (any structure used under the clothes to enlarge the hips.) The people were not the only extravagant things in London; their houses were built with the finest materials, furnished with the finest furniture, the best of everything. The people who could afford it also enjoyed the most outlandish dishes.

One of the most important developments in the Elizabethan era was the advancement of literature. The development of printing established a century earlier, promoted both reading and writing. Most of the upper class populace also had a thorough grounding in Latin classics, and they enjoyed reading the adventure of people like Sir Walter Raleigh. Poetry also became popular. The Italian sonnet became the model for English poetry and writers tried to stretch the language to its limits.