Social Structure of Tudor England
The Social Order of Tudor
England
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The top of category #1 was the
ruler who acquired his throne
through primogeniture and ruled
by divine right. Under the king was the peerage,
consisting (in order of precedence) of dukes,
marquesses, earls, viscounts, and barons. The average
annual income of a peer was £1000. Harrison put
some non-peers also in category #1: knights, esquires,
and gentlemen. These men derived their wealth from
land and disdained manual labor.
Category #2 consisted of
wealthy individuals who had
to work for their living.
A Citizen was a tradesman or
merchant with certain specified business
privileges; a burgess was an eminent citizen
who had served his town politically.
In category #3 yeoman usually owned or
leased a farm of 100 or 200 acres, and because
they were at least 40 s. freeholders they were
entitled to vote in parliamentary elections.
Husbandmen farmed rented land of about 30
acres.
Category #4 consisted of those whom Harrison
said had "neither voice nor authority in the
commonwealth, but are to be ruled and not to
rule others."
The social order of Tudor England under William Harrison's categorization encompassed gentlemen, citizens, yeomen, and artificers/laborers, each with distinct roles and status based on birth and occupation. The hierarchy ranged from the ruling monarch, through the peerage to commoners, reflecting a stratified society dependent on lineage and economic activity.
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Presentation Transcript
The Social Order of Tudor England
In his 1577 Description of England, William Harrison listed four separate social categories, each with numerous subdivisions: 1) gentlemen, 2), citizens and burgesses, 3) yeomen and husbandmen, and 4) artificers and laborers. In all the orders, a woman's status depended on that of her father when unmarried and her husband when married. http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1577harrison- england.html#Chapter%20I
The top of category #1 was the ruler who acquired his throne through primogeniture and ruled by divine right. Under the king was the peerage, consisting (in order of precedence) of dukes, marquesses, earls, viscounts, and barons. The average annual income of a peer was 1000. Harrison put some non-peers also in category #1: knights, esquires, and gentlemen. These men derived their wealth from land and disdained manual labor.
Category #2 consisted of wealthy individuals who had to work for their living. A Citizen was a tradesman or merchant with certain specified business privileges; a burgess was an eminent citizen who had served his town politically.
In category #3 yeoman usually owned or leased a farm of 100 or 200 acres, and because they were at least 40 s. freeholders they were entitled to vote in parliamentary elections. Husbandmen farmed rented land of about 30 acres.
Category #4 consisted of those whom Harrison said had "neither voice nor authority in the commonwealth, but are to be ruled and not to rule others."
