Class System In London In The 16th And 17th Century

London was very interesting in the 16th and 17th century, the social classes, punishments, education, and living situations of the citizens all had a very distinguishing flare to them. There is much people do not know about London during the 16th and 17th century, it was certainly different from the London people know and see today. Social classes seemed to define everything, where people worked, lived, and went to school. The class system in London during the 16th and 17th century was very interesting indeed. At the top, there was the Monarch and the Nobility, then at the bottom there was the servants, the beggars and the flat out poor. Many know of, or have heard about those at the top and/or bottom of the class system, but who they have not heard of, are those in between, such as the Gentry, Yeoman, …show more content…
The Gentry were often thought of as or considered a lower form of nobility (Coss). The Gentry were, also very highly educated, had a family coat of arms, and never had to do any manual labour (Lambert). Merchants were business owners, who bought, sold, and traded things to sell to the community around them. The Merchants were not originally respected, but when the 1600’s came around people saw that trade was becoming of increasing importance and therefore started to pay Merchants some respect (Lambert). Now, the “Yeomen were comfortably off, but they often worked alongside their men” (Lambert). The Yeomen were pretty big farmers, whose sons normally served in the army. Unlike Yeomen, “Husbandmen were small farmers” (Abrams). Husbandmen usually farmed on land they had to rent and to their dismay, earned very little (Abrams). Then, there was the servants, who did anything their masters/mistresses asked of them. Lastly, the beggars who begged and pleaded and did anything they could for money or food and were typically illiterate. In case any did not