Elizabethan era
Tudor England's zenith
The Elizabethan era is the period of English history during the reign of Elizabeth I (1558–1603).
It's associated with a flowering of English drama and poetry—Shakespeare, Marlowe, Spenser—and with maritime expansion, including the defeat of the Spanish Armada.
Elizabethan theater, Elizabethan fashion.
The era often serves as shorthand for England's cultural golden age.
Historic circular London playhouse
- sonnetsFourteen-line rhymed poems
- soliloquyDramatic speech to oneself
- tragedyDisastrous or sorrowful event
- comedyWork meant to amuse
Hamlet · Othello · Macbeth · Romeo and Juliet · iambic pentameter · Stratford-upon-Avon · quarto · folio
European cultural reawakening
- humanismPhilosophy prioritizing earthly reason
- patronageSupporter's financial backing
- madrigalUnaccompanied Renaissance choral composition
- virginalUnsullied or inexperienced
lute · masque · miniature portraits · Spenser · poetry · embroidery · tapestry · ruffs
Rule by crowned sovereign
- courtiersRoyal court members
- nobilityTitled ruling class
- Tudor roseEnglish royal heraldic badge
- successionFollowing in order
Virgin Queen · royal court · heraldry · dynasty · Leicester · Essex · coronation · aristocracy
Extended journeys by sea
- New WorldWestern Hemisphere landmasses
- Spanish ArmadaDefeated invasion fleet
- Sir Francis DrakeTudor sea captain, explorer
- East India CompanyBritish colonial trading corporation
Sir Walter Raleigh · colonization · Roanoke · privateers · circumnavigation · galleon · Northwest Passage · sea dogs
Deadly epidemic disease
- povertySevere lack of resources
- guildsCraftsmen's mutual aid societies
- apprenticeshipLearning trade through employment
- merchant classTraders as social group
yeoman · gentry · ale house · public execution · witch trials · vagrancy · Puritans · treason
Globe Theatre
Historic circular London playhouse
- sonnetsFourteen-line rhymed poems
- soliloquyDramatic speech to oneself
- tragedyDisastrous or sorrowful event
comedy · Hamlet · Othello · Macbeth · Romeo and Juliet · iambic pentameter · Stratford-upon-Avon · quarto · folio · groundlings
Renaissance
European cultural reawakening
- humanismPhilosophy prioritizing earthly reason
- patronageSupporter's financial backing
- madrigalUnaccompanied Renaissance choral composition
virginal · lute · masque · miniature portraits · Spenser · poetry · embroidery · tapestry · ruffs · doublet
monarchy
Rule by crowned sovereign
- courtiersRoyal court members
- nobilityTitled ruling class
- Tudor roseEnglish royal heraldic badge
succession · Virgin Queen · royal court · heraldry · dynasty · Leicester · Essex · coronation · aristocracy · peerage
voyages
Extended journeys by sea
- New WorldWestern Hemisphere landmasses
- Spanish ArmadaDefeated invasion fleet
- Sir Francis DrakeTudor sea captain, explorer
Sir Walter Raleigh · East India Company · colonization · Roanoke · privateers · circumnavigation · galleon · Northwest Passage · sea dogs · navigation
plague
Deadly epidemic disease
- povertySevere lack of resources
- guildsCraftsmen's mutual aid societies
- apprenticeshipLearning trade through employment
merchant class · yeoman · gentry · ale house · public execution · witch trials · vagrancy · Puritans · treason · Tower of London
- BritainEngland, Wales, Scotland, London, Northern Ireland
- British historyWilliam the Conqueror, Victorian era, English Civil War, Tudor era, Oliver Cromwell
- English LiteratureShakespeare, Dickens, Jane Austen, Bronte, Chaucer
- ShakespeareRomeo, Juliet, Hamlet, Macbeth, Othello
- England originLondon, Thames, Big Ben, Tower of London, Buckingham Palace
- erasera, epoch, age, bronze age, period
Elizabethan eraVictorian era
Britain under its longest-reigning queen
modern era · Dark Ages · twenty-first century · Industrial Age · medieval period
Elizabethan eraIndustrial Revolution
Era of mechanized production
modern age · digital age · information age · Victorian era · 21st century