During the Renaissance in England, which shall be our primary focus, the population of England was approximately 3.5 million (which was considered crowded). London was a city of approximately 160,000 residents, whereas today, the city boasts a population of greater than 8 million.

 The society was extremely class bound in a rigid system which allowed little room for bettering one's position in life. In the entire population of 3.5 million, there were only 66 males which could be considered members of the nobility.

 Most English villagers were functionally illiterate. They might be able to recognize a few letters or numbers, but reading and writing were skills that basically belonged to members of the clergy and to nobility.

 This was an extremely male-dominated society. Women were expected to marry soon upon reaching child-bearing age, and their chief duties were to maintain a home and to bear as many children (preferably male) as possible. Infant and child mortality rates were extremly high. Also, the more children one had, the fewer helpers one had to pay to get work done.

 One very common misconception about the Renaissance Era is to confuse or group it with the Medieval Era in history. Outlined below are some of the primary differences in the two eras:

 

Medieval Period	The Renaissance
Collectivism Mentality	Exaltation of the individual.
Guild System for Trades at strongest	Pre-occupation with the Appreciation of life: art, dance, soul and death.
Feudalism	Nationalism
In wars, knights were rarely killed: unmounted foot soldiers made up the bulk of lost life.	Gunpowder was used in warfare. It killed knights and soldiers alike. It did not kill by class.
Church IN England - the Pope was involved with its politics.	Church OF England - England became a sovereign state.
Parliament's primary useage was to enforce the King	Parliament was utilized to enact was to grant funds to laws and support government policy.