Elizabethan Era, the Golden Age

The Elizabethan era is the era of English history characterized by Queen Elizabeth I’s reign, between the years of 1558-1603. Queen Elizabeth was the queen regent of England and Ireland from November 17th 1558, until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was referred to as “The Virgin Queen” or “Good Queen Bess.” Her rule is often considered to be the ‘golden age’ in English history. Her reign of 45 years was considered to be the height of the English Renaissance and saw the flowering of English poetry, music, literature, and theatre. As the art form of theatre flourished many famous works were written. Among these were the works of William Shakespeare, which broke free of England 's past style of plays and theatre and forever revolutionized the art form. The following era and success of the arts can be seen as a direct result of Queen Elizabeth’s religious agenda, profiteering of naval expeditions, and sponsorship of the arts that made the English renaissance possible.
To fully understand Elizabeth’s period of reign, the history of her family and the situations regarding her rule must be discussed. “The five sovereigns of the Tudor dynasty are among the most well-known figures in Royal history. Henry VII, of Welsh origin, succeeded in ending the Wars of the Roses between the houses of Lancaster and York to found the highly successful Tudor house. Henry VII, his son Henry VIII and his three children Edward VI, Mary I and Elizabeth I ruled for 118 eventful years (Lamb 2)”. Elizabeth or “Little Liz” as she was called in her younger years, was born in Greenwich on September 7th, 1533. As evident by her rule, Elizabeth learned much from her tumultuous childhood. Elizabeth was the daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, who was Henry’s second wife of six. Anne Elizabeth’s mother was beheaded for adultery when Anne was a mere two years old. Following this, Elizabeth was exiled from court, and sent to live in the country. Elizabeth received a distinguished education from her patron Catherine Parr, Henry’s sixth wife in her formative years. Elizabeth 's older half-sister Mary became queen in 1553. Mary and her agenda, included a plan to reestablish Catholicism in England. This marked Elizabeth and her Protestant ideals as a threat, and Mary had her imprisoned in the Tower of London in 1554 on suspicion of aiding a failed rebellion against her. After Mary’s death in November 1558, Elizabeth succeeded to the throne.
Upon being crowned, Elizabeth’s first priority was to return England to the Protestant faith. Elizabeth was responsible for creating a Protestant Church of England. To help her rule Elizabeth chose a set of stern leaders including William Cecil, Lord Burghley, and Sir Francis Walsingham. Her reasoning in appointing such a dictatorial leaders was due to the increased naval trade that occurred in the late 1500’s, with Sir Francis Drake became the first Englishman to circumnavigate the globe creating a need for an “iron grip on the reigns of the world now that it was growing (Rowse 43)”. In 1588, Phillip II of Spain launched his large fleet of ships, The Spanish Armada as it would be called, in an effort to remove Elizabeth from the thrown, and restore Catholicism. Due to Elizabeth’s superb speaking skills she united the country against this common enemy. While speaking to troops in Tillbury Elizabeth said “I know I have the body of a weak, feeble women; but I have the heart and the stomach of a king-and a King of England at that”. The English Navy defeated the Spanish Armada, due to superb leadership from Sir Francis Drake and poor sailing conditions. Elizabeth 's administration consisted of 600 officials administering the great offices of state. This number was larger than any previous head of country. “Elizabeth appointed and a similar of officials number dealing with the Crown lands Social and economic regulation, however law and order remained in the hands of the sheriffs at local level, supported by unpaid justices of the peace (Rowse 54)”.
The biggest cause of discourse in Elizabeth’s reign was a result of religion. Queen Elizabeth 's father, Henry VIII, directly opposed the Roman Catholic pope when he divorced Catherine of Aragon so he could marry Anne Boleyn. “His 1534 Act of Supremacy, made him the Supreme Head of the Church of England and required all clergy to swear an oath of fealty to himself, not the Pope. The Catholic Church retaliated by condemning and excommunicating Henry. Religious protests and uprisings targeted the monarchy. Heads rolled and Henry dissolved the powerful monasteries throughout his kingdom, seizing and redistributing their wealth (Lamb 27)”. Turmoil followed as the Tudor line as Edward, Henry 's successor, burned and destroyed all elaborate religious art, stained glass windows and statues in Catholic churches. Edward 's successor Mary I, the daughter of Catherine of Aragon, officially reinstated the Roman Catholic Church, burning Church of England officials and other Protestants at the stake, earning her the nickname "Bloody Mary." This was the religious battle zone Elizabeth I inherited when she assumed the throne in 1558.
The Elizabethan era represents a historical goldmine, as never before has a women held such power. “The role of women in society was, for the historical era, relatively unconstrained; Spanish and Italian visitors to England commented regularly, and sometimes caustically, on the freedom that women enjoyed in England, in contrast to their home cultures. England had more well-educated upper class women than was common anywhere in Europe (Greenblatt 17)”. Queen Elizabeth pointedly refused to marry, and thus her marital topic was a major discussion topic. However, it also inspired a cult of virginity. “In poetry and portraiture, she was depicted as a virgin or a goddess or both, not as a normal woman (Griffing)”. Elizabeth valued this quality of herself above all others, "And, in the end, this shall be for me sufficient, that a marble stone shall declare that a queen, having reigned such a time, lived and died a virgin".
Elizabeth restored the supremacy of the Church of England but “had no taste for the murderous zealotry of her predecessors. The "Book of Common Prayer," the vernacular liturgy of Elizabeth 's church, supplanted Latin Catholic liturgies. The crown required all people to attend church services using the vernacular liturgy every Sunday and holy day or face a stiff fine, so most complied. Initially, Elizabeth tolerated the practice of Catholicism, allowing Marian priests, holdovers from the Catholic reign of Bloody Mary Tudor, to say Latin Masses and tend to the Catholic faithful (Lamb 87)”. However, after it was discovered that Catholic Mary Stuart, Elizabeth’s cousin was a threat, the truce ended. After the Council of Trent, the Catholic Church began to plot to overthrow Elizabeth. This resulted in Parliament declaring conversion to Catholicism high treason, punishable by death in 1591.
“In Elizabethan England, doctrinal choices were never separate from questions of political loyalty. Religious life fragmented into factions under all the competing pressures. Catholic services were scattered and clandestine. Church of England services retained many trappings of Catholicism: elaborate ceremonial garb for priests and bishops; genuflecting and bowing in church and prayer; kneeling to receive communion; using the sign of the cross in baptisms; and ringing bells for church services. But reform-minded Protestants regarded this as papist decadence. Puritans, including Calvinists, Presbyterians and other Protestant faithful, worshiped in simple, stripped-down churches with no ornamentation (Alchin 22)”. Despite the bloodshed previously lost in this matter, The Church of England prevailed and was widely accepted. “Formal religion was not the only source of belief and ritual in Elizabethan England. As controversy and conflict re-shaped religious systems, old superstitions and practices flourished, especially among the common people. Shakespeare wrote stirring plays about witches, ghosts, fairies and spirits because many believed in them. Alchemy and astrology were considered sciences and even the queen consulted a noted astrologer to determine the most auspicious date for her coronation (Best)”. Despite the superstitious nature of citizens in Elizabethan England, Elizabeth and Parliament felt the need to assert necessity of the Protestant Religion. This led to The Act of Uniformity 1558 was passed, and called for a set order of prayer to be used in The English Book of Common Prayer. It also mandated that all person must attend church once a week, or be fined 12 pence. “By this Act Elizabeth made it a legal obligation to go to church every Sunday and thus secured the Protestant faith, and achieved her goal (Lamb 57)”.
The Elizabethan era was home to popular entertainment that included executions and cock-fighting. These violent entertainments were central to Elizabethan life, theatre was considered among them. “As drama shifted from a religious to a secular function in society, playwrights and poets were among the leading artists of the day. Toward the end of the sixteenth century, the popularity of plays written by scholars such as Christopher Marlowe, Robert Greene, John Lyly, and Thomas Lodge led to the building of theaters and to the development of companies of actors, both professional and amateur (Howard 66)”. These companies of theatre groups traveled across England, with a season comprising of the winter and the spring. Professional companies were also retained for the private entertainment of English aristocracy, such as Queen Elizabeth herself.
Despite their rabid popularity the Elizabethan theatre attracted criticism. This criticism led to many theatre sanctions and regulations, beginning long before the Elizabethan era. The plays of Elizabethan England were often filled with sex, language, and frequently made fun of individuals in power. The Puritan leaders of the Church of England considered actors to be of questionable character, and they “criticized playwrights for using the stage to disseminate their irreverent opinions. They also feared the overcrowded theater spaces might lead to the spread of disease. At times throughout the sixteenth century, Parliament censored plays for profanity, heresy, or politics.” (Albright 61)”. Elizabeth offered protection to the art of theatre, allowing it to survive. “To appease Puritan concerns, the Queen established rules prohibiting the construction of theaters and theatrical performances within the London city limits (Greenblatt 19)”. These sanctions were loosely enforced. This caused playhouses such as The Globe, The Rose, The Swan, and The Curtain to be constructed outside of London city limits. “These public playhouses paved the way for the eventual emergence of professional companies as stable business organizations (Howard 21)”.
“Elizabethan theaters were makeshift, dirty, and loud, but nevertheless they attracted audiences as large as 3,000 from all social classes (Alchin 32)”. However these run down building attracted large numbers of the Elizabethan population. There performances were given that entertained audiences lasting at least 3 hours. Seating in the Elizabethan theatre was determined by wealth and social status. The average fee of admission was one penny; however, for an additional cost a seas could be purchased in a box or seat more protected from the elements. This led to the separation of classes within the theatre. Honored guests of the theatre were given seats of honor on the edge of the stage setting them apart from the rest, holding them in esteem, it can be assumed that “Elizabeth any time in a theatre was honored in such a way (Best)”.
“The original Globe was an Elizabethan theatre which opened in Autumn 1599 in Southwark, on the south bank of the Thames, in an area now known as Bankside. It was one of several major theatres that were located in the area, the others being the Swan, the Rose and The Hope (Gurr 37)”. The Globe was main theatre that the Lord Chamberlain’s Men would perform at, and was William Shakespeare acting company. Most of William Shakespeare’s plays were staged at the Globe, including his most famed works of Julius Caesar, Macbeth, Othello, Hamlet, and King Lear. “The Globe was owned by many actors, who (except for one) were also shareholders in the Lord Chamberlain 's Men. Two of the six Globe shareholders, Richard Burbage and his brother Cuthbert Burbage, owned double shares of the whole, or 25% each; the other four men, Shakespeare, John Heminges, Augustine Phillips, and Thomas Pope, owned a single share, or 12.5%. (Originally William Kempe was intended to be the seventh partner, but he sold out his share to the four minority sharers, leaving them with more than the originally planned 10%). These initial proportions changed over time, as new sharers were added. Shakespeare 's share diminished from 1/8 to 1/14, or roughly 7%, over the course of his career (Hodges 9)”.

The Globe was built using scraps of timber from an earlier theatre. This theatre was “built by Richard Burbage 's father, James Burbage, in Shoreditch in 1576. The Burbages originally had a 20-year lease of the site on which the Theatre was built. When the lease ran out, they dismantled The Theatre beam by beam and transported it over the Thames to reconstruct it as The Globe (Hodges 43)”. The Globe theatre, like many of the day was lost due to fire. On June 29th, 1613 the Globe Theatre went up in flames. Ironically, a performance of King Henry the VIII was being performed. Historians attribute the cause of the fire to a cannon, that was set off during the performance that ignited the wooden beams of the ceiling. “According to one of the few surviving documents of the event, no one was hurt except a man who put out his burning breeches with a bottle of ale (Hodges 57)”. The mass amounts of playhouse fires also contributed to sanctions on theatres, that can be traced back to strict fire codes existing in theatres today.

Before being able to perform in such playhouses, actors traveled. Groups of actors, usually around 10 would roam across England in wooden wagons that were used as makeshift stages. This led to actors coming to audiences, and performing in courtyards and other public areas. The traveling acting companies often had the reputation of being shiftless vagabonds, largely because of the audiences that they attracted. Audiences ate and drank while they were watching the play, often becoming disorderly and creating problems for the local authorities. In addition, wherever large groups of people were gathered, pickpockets, beggars, prostitutes, and other “undesirables” were sure to follow (Greenblatt 22)”. There is a surviving document where Elizabeth is discussed speaking to officers regarding their cruel treatment of the traveling actors, asking them to have mercy. Her treatment of them, when otherwise she ruled with a stern hand proves the soft spot Elizabeth fostered for theatre.
“In order to gain protection and social acceptance, acting companies began to seek the sponsorship of noblemen and royalty in the late 16th century. These sponsors showed their support to the acting companies by giving them their name, not financial support. From 1594 to 1603, Shakespeare’s company was sponsored by Lord Hunsdon and then by his son, who held the position of lord chamberlain in the court; therefore, the acting company was called “Lord Chamberlain’s Men.” Later, when King James I sponsored Shakespeare’s company, it changed its name to “the King’s Men.” These acting companies performed their plays in playhouses, such as Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, and private theatres (Hodges 11)”. Life for the Elizabethan actor was hard. Gaining protection was arduous due to laws like the Vagabond Act of 1572, and other sanctions. These sanctions were an effort to moralize theatre. Instead, it gave a small group of individuals a monopoly over the stage. This sanctions included: censorship, creation of the master of the revels, theatre construction sanctions, and an atmosphere that would suggest an unfriendly environment to the arts.
Despite the fact that theatre was an entertainment for all social classes, in 1642 it was closed. “The Puritan Parliament closed the theaters and forbade stage plays in an edict that argued that theater distracted the fragmented nation from its efforts to ‘appease and avert the wrath of God’. When King Charles II took the English throne in 1660, the theaters were reopened, and the arts were again celebrated. His reign became known as the Restoration, but the greatest period of England theatre had already run its course (Gurr 88)”. This quote summarizes the Elizabethan Era. Despite the many sanctions the social and economic climate of England was conducive and allowed for some of the greatest works of theatre to be created during this era. All of theatres success in this era can be attributed to one women, Queen Elizabeth I. Historians have called her the secret patron of the arts, who “without her theatre as we know it today would cease to exist (Greenblatt 42)”.

Works Cited
Albright, Victor. The Shakespearian Stage. New York: Columbia University Press, 1926.
Alchin, L.K. "History of the Elizabethan Era." Elizabethan Era. 04 MAR 2008. Elizabethan Era. 11 Nov 2013 .
Best, Michael. "Elizabeth’s Life and Times." Internet Shakespeare Editions. 2005. University ofVictoria:Victoria. 01 Nov 2013 < Gurr,
Greenblatt, Stephen. "Shakespeare 's world." Norton Shakespeare. New York: W.W. Norton and Co.,1997.
Griffing, Jessica. "Looking at Elizabeth." 2006. 09 Nov 2013 .
Gurr, Andrew. The Shakespearean Stage, 1574-1642: 1574-1642. Cambridge University Press, 1992.
Hodges, Walter. The Globe Restored. New York: Coward McCann Inc.,
Howard, Jean. The Stage and Social Struggle in Early Modern England. New York: Routledge, 1994.
Lamb, Sidney.The Background and History of the Tudor Dynasty. Foster City CA: IDG Books Worldwide, 2000.
Rowse, A.L. The Elizabethan Renaissance. New York: Charles Scribner 's Sons, 1972.

Cited: Albright, Victor. The Shakespearian Stage. New York: Columbia University Press, 1926. Alchin, L.K. "History of the Elizabethan Era." Elizabethan Era. 04 MAR 2008. Elizabethan Era. 11 Nov 2013 . Best, Michael. "Elizabeth’s Life and Times." Internet Shakespeare Editions. 2005. University ofVictoria:Victoria. 01 Nov 2013 < Gurr, Greenblatt, Stephen. "Shakespeare 's world." Norton Shakespeare. New York: W.W. Norton and Co.,1997. Griffing, Jessica. "Looking at Elizabeth." 2006. 09 Nov 2013 . Gurr, Andrew. The Shakespearean Stage, 1574-1642: 1574-1642. Cambridge University Press, 1992. Hodges, Walter. The Globe Restored. New York: Coward McCann Inc., Howard, Jean. The Stage and Social Struggle in Early Modern England. New York: Routledge, 1994. Lamb, Sidney.The Background and History of the Tudor Dynasty. Foster City CA: IDG Books Worldwide, 2000. Rowse, A.L. The Elizabethan Renaissance. New York: Charles Scribner 's Sons, 1972.