What are the social classes from the Elizabethan era?
At the top of the social ladder there was the monarch, in this case a Queen, although usually it would have been a King with a Queen below him. Next came the aristocracy, or Gentlemen of the Greater Sort – these were people with titles, and they had a hierarchy of their own for example; prince, duke, marquis, earl, viscount, baron etc. Of course there were also female counterparts; princess, duchess, marchioness, baroness etc. They had the right to sit in the House of Lords in parliament. You could only be a member of this of group if you had a title and you could only get a title through birthright, marriage or through an endowment from the monarch. Next came the Gentlemen of the Lesser Sort – they were a far larger group and far more difficult to define. Basically they came from the medieval caste of “those who fight”, these people were usually land owners, or engaged in trade of fine goods, such as silks. They had the right to bear arms (carry a sword), and had to have a family cres
