Order of Hierarchy
The society of 16th
century was organized according to a pyramidal hierarchy. The sovereign was on
the top; only Privy Councillors had the right of access. Nobles were very rich,
they had great proprieties and servants but also many responsibilities. They
had to serve the State but they became
members of the upper House of Parliament. Below the nobility, there were
the knights, made by the sovereign or by her deputy, like a general on a
campaign. Below them, there were the gentlemen, born in well-to-do families and
had a complete education. Indeed they were magistrate, members of parliament.
The Yeomen were landowners who began to devote themselves to the creation of
industries of coal, iron, clothing. Then there were the poor people whore
condition became worse when the landowners began to enclose the common land.
The crowning crops were substituted by the pasture of the sheep, so the people
were compelled to beg until beginning became prohibited. The man was the ruler
of the family. The women had very few rights indeed after the marriage, the
women's goods passed to their husbands. The women after died prematurely
because 8 to 15 children. However the unmarried women suffered most: before the
reformation they could became nuns but, with the Tudors, they were compelled to
be servants in rich houses or, if they were lucky, they remained in their
families.
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