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The Elizabethan Era

The Elizabethan era is the period of English history when Queen Elizabeth I ruled England (1558-1603). This era is often considered the "Golden Age" of England because it was a time of immense progress, stability, and national pride. During Elizabeth's reign, England flourished politically and economically. The country also began extending its reach to the New World, solidifying its status as a world power. Protestant England became more unified than ever after the defeat of the Catholic Spanish Armada in 1588. The period is also considered one of the most prolific eras of the English Renaissance, which saw an outpouring of poetry and drama, most notably that of William Shakespeare . The Elizabethan era significantly shaped the future of England and culminated in the dawn of the British Empire.

Caffrey, Cait. “Elizabethan Era.” Salem Press Encyclopedia, Jan. 2023. EBSCOhost, research.ebsco.com/linkprocessor/plink?id=3b5a2c7f-b581-3f9e-8491-1944a0447d58.

 

Fitzsimons, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

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Where to Browse: Notable Dewey Numbers

Topic

Dewey Decimal Number Range
Religion 200s
Gender Roles 305.3, 305.4
Social Class: Jobs, Living Conditions, etc. 305s, 331s, 338s
Education and Schooling 370s
Superstitions, Beliefs around Death and Burial 393.9, 394.1
Marriage Customs and Traditions 392s, 392.5
Fashion and Clothing 391s
Medicine, Disease, Hygiene 610s
Food, Drink, Diet 641s
Sports, Entertainment, Music 780s, 790s
Elizabethan English Poetry 821.3
History of England 942

 

Search Tips and Strategies

Search Tips and Strategies

 

Topic Search Terms and Keywords Potential Database Subject Headings Other Helpful Search Tips
Religion Elizabethan religion, Church of England, Catholicism, persecution of Catholics, anti-Catholic laws Religion, Christianity, Protestantism, Anglicanism Use quotation marks around exact phrases
Food, Drink, Diet Elizabethan cuisine, Tudor food, Diet in the 16th century, feasts, famine, crops, agriculture, meals, dishes, recipes, ale, wine Culinary history, Historical recipes, Food, Cooking, Agriculture Search history or cooking databases for authentic recipes
Medicine, Disease, Hygiene Elizabethan medicine, Tudor remedies, Health in the 16th century, Black Death/bubonic plague, smallpox, typhus, malaria, childbed fever, hygiene, Barber Surgeons, apothecaries Medical history, Epidemics and plagues, Medicine, Diseases, Medical personnel Include era-specific terms like "ague" for malaria
Fashion and Clothing Elizabethan fashion, Tudor clothing, Dress in the 16th century, doublets, farthingales, ruffs, coifs, hose, gowns, fabrics, sumptuary laws Costume history, Textile industry, Clothing, Fashion Browse artwork and portraits from the era
Social Class: Jobs, Living Conditions, etc. Elizabethan social hierarchy, Occupations in the 16th century, nobility, gentry, merchants, laborers/peasants, servants, apprentices, living conditions Social history, Economic conditions, Social classes Include both formal titles and colloquial terms
Gender Roles Elizabethan gender roles, Women in the 16th century, Men's roles, patriarchy, women's roles as wives/mothers, women’s education, women’s legal rights Gender studies, Femininity and masculinity, Sex role, Gender inequality Consider comparing men and women
Sports, Entertainment, Music Elizabethan sports, Tudor entertainment, Music in the 16th century, jousting, bear baiting, hunting/hawking, dancing, theatre, music, instruments Performing arts, Leisure activities, Sports, Recreation Search theatre history resources specifically
Marriage Customs and Traditions Elizabethan marriage, Tudor weddings, Marriage rituals, arranged marriages, dowries, weddings, illegitimacy, divorce Family history, Customs and traditions, Marriage customs and practices Include religion as a factor
Education and Schooling Elizabethan education, Tudor schools, Learning in the 16th century, tutors, petty schools, universities, illiteracy rates, subjects studied Educational history, School systems, Education Search history of education resources
Superstitions, Beliefs around Death and Burial Rituals Elizabethan superstitions, Tudor beliefs, Death customs, witchcraft, magic, spells, Death and burial customs, funerals Folklore, Mortuary customs, Superstition, Death customs Browse primary sources like diaries and court records

Search Tips: Boolean Basics

General Search Tips: Boolean Basics

Constructing a good search is boring—well, the transitive verb form of “boring,” as in “boring a tunnel through the hillside.” Constructing a good search is also mining—extracting items of interest from a mass of material that, while potentially valuable, isn’t exactly what you need at the moment. Constructing a good search is boring and mining both bundled into a series of active operations. Faced with a heap of information, your job is to dig your way through and arrive on the other side, culling gems, jewels, ores, and fragments from the tunnel walls along the way. Boolean operators—AND, OR, and NOT—will help you as you go. (Just be sure to type them in all-caps to ensure they function properly!)

AND: Sometimes you’re looking for silver; sometimes you’re looking for gold. Sometimes you want both, and AND is here to make it happen (for example: silver AND gold). That said, silver and gold aren’t typically found in the same vein. When you busy yourself searching for El Dorado, you may ignore a city of silver just around the corner...

OR: Sometimes, you’ll have to include a fork in your tunnel, and that’s okay since OR lets you have it both ways (for example: left OR right). You don’t necessarily need to dig each route to completion—pursue one or the other, but just far enough to find (or realize that you aren’t finding) what you’re looking for. If you follow too many forks, you just might find yourself trapped in a labyrinth, so OR with caution!

NOT: Sometimes you’re only sure what you don’t want, and that’s where NOT comes in handy (for example: poetry NOT Shakespeare). That said, sometimes—perhaps more often than we’d like to admit—we’re sure we don’t want something until we do want it. Though it’s useful to know where not to dig, excluded areas very well may contain the slightest hint, the tiniest sliver, of whatever we’re clawing toward. NOT at your own peril!

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