Comapare and Contrast Elizabethan and Jacobean England

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Elizabeth I - Queen of England from 1558 till her death. Died childless and was last monarch of the Tudor dynasty. Heavily depended on a group of ministers led by Cecil and Burghley. She established the English Protestant Church The Elizabethan era is famous for the flourishing of English drama, led by writers such as William Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe Entertainment was extremely important to people, their lives were hard and the mortality rate was high due to frequent outbreaks of the Bubonic Plague (life expectation was low) Court entertainment was a nightly occurrence, combined with feasts, jousts, banquets and accompanied by music and dancing The poor enjoyed entertainment from acting troupes, tournaments, dancing, trained animals, plays and dancers Daily life in Elizabethan England varied according to status and location. It was the time of the Renaissance – new ideas in science and literature. The people not only believed in ghosts and witches, but in magic of every sort - alchemy was a common hobby. Astrology was highly thought of and everyone wanted their horoscope casted. There was also the belief in fairies, there was nothing unreal for them about the fairies in A Midsummer Night’s Dream apart from their size. Numerous superstitious rites were performed at births, christenings, weddings and on certain days of the year James I was King of Scotland and Ireland from 1567. Under James I the “Golden Age” of Elizabethan literature and drama continued with writers such as Shakespeare, John Donne, Ben Jonson and Sir Francis Bacon. It was during the Jacobean era that Shakespeare’s “Tempest” and “Macbeth” were written – tragedy and satire were at their peak He ruled at a time when the fallout from the Reformation was still having an effect on society, with rulers changing from one Church to another and insisting on religious
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