BBC Teach - Class Clips - 2-Who were the rich in Elizabethan England?

Based on Ian Mortimer’s popular ‘A Time Traveller’s guide to Elizabethan England’ series, these worksheets provide a useful note taking scaffold for KS3 and KS4 students. The set of resources could be used as a useful overview to the Edexcel 9:1 GCSE - Elizabethan England 1558 - 88 supporting the syllabus topics: Challenges to Elizabeth’s rule & Life in Elizabethan England. Each film clip is around 10 minutes in duration making them an ideal flipped learning task, starter or plenary activity based upon the BBC Class Clip:

Search - BBC Teach - Class Clips - History KS3: Who were the rich in Elizabethan England?

The historian, Ian Mortimer, journeys back in time to find out who the rich were in Elizabethan England. He discovers an emerging new class of people who were becoming very wealthy in their own right. They were known as the landed gentry and held positions of increasing influence such as magistrates, sheriffs and MPs. On his travels he explores the everyday lives of the gentry including their homes, hygiene and travel. While they were comfortably well off they also had a lot to lose. Elizabeth I demanded the absolute loyalty from her subjects and had an extensive spy network designed at uncovering her enemies. Once discovered, she showed no mercy as her cousin Mary Queen of Scots and the Babington plotters discovered to their cost.