Although the gentry did not work with their hands for a living, they did not belong to the titled nobility either.  Their status was based purely on their wealth and the gentry class grew massively in Elizabeth’s reign. 

 

Reasons for the growth of the gentry (SIM)

 

S – Suspicion of the ‘old’ nobility

The Tudors had granted few new titles and excluded the nobles from government.  This gap in society was filled by the gentry and they became politically very powerful.  Many of Elizabeth’s key councillors were promoted from the gentry i.e. Cecil and Walsingham.  The gentry also dominated the House of Commons and gained local power through their work as Justices of the Peace.

 

I – Increasing wealth

Gentry families were making more money through the growth in trade and exploration, rising prices and enclosure as well as the population growth.  They used this money to establish estates, build houses and to get educated.

 

M – Monasteries were dissolved by Henry VIII.

When the monasteries had been dissolved, their land had become available to purchase.  Their land had accounted for about 25% of the land in England so this created lots of opportunity to make money.