Nobility

Nobility

The nobles were a group of people that were in the highest social class. During the Elizabethan era, there were 4 social classes. They were divided up like this...
 * Nobles
 * Clergy
 * Merchants
 * Peasants

The nobles were the highest class and they were pretty much the knights, dukes, barons, etc. They were the ones who ruled at the time along with the royal family. During this era, these people were the richest and held most of the land. They had many loyal servants whom they payed and that was how the servants made their living.

The next group was the clergy. The clergy was the church and its members. The government was also full of these members. The members include the priests, bishops, etc. Back in the Elizabethan era, the clergy had a lot more power than it did nowadays. The bishops would stand by the prince and many times, the government made decisions based on the clergy's thoughts. Any opposition to the church would be considered heresy and would result in severe punishment from the church. Then came the merchants. The merchants were the traders and they held up their lives by exchanging items. The merchants would obtain their items from the direct source, including the ships that were docked by sea. They would then sell them for a higher price, therefore, including a profit. Now, depending on how much money the merchant had, that would result in how much money he would make. The merchants ran the economy at the time and they were the ones who would sell the goods that the everyday person would need. They would also have items in stock for upperclassmen such as gentlemen who needed some items for their studies.

The final group in the social classes was the peasants. The peasants were the lowest group and they were the everyday person. The majorities of peasants were poor and had lots of children to feed. Life was filled with poverty at the time because of many reasons. Invasions could devastate a peasant's life because the invaders could destroy the house and ruin the whole life of a peasant. Many peasants were farmers and farmers would make a living by farming. They would provide the food for themselves and sometimes sell the extra for some leftover money.

-Dino Okic

[|Story of London]

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