Life and Society in GA Spain Raquel Klammer

Lesson Plan: Life and Society in Golden Age Spain
By Raquel Klammer, BYU student

Date: 01/21/2008
Objectives:
Students will be able to recognize some important aspects of life and
society in Golden Age Spain (such as rules of behavior, clothing, food,
entertainment, etc).
Students will be able to understand the difference between their life
and that of a person living during Golden Age Spain.
Students will be able to understand how Golden Age Theater reflected
the society of Golden Age Spain.
Content:
Social hierarchy of Golden Age Spain (15th -17th centuries): At the
top was the nobility, followed by the rest of the Spanish populations
with the poor and homeless at the bottom. The minorities: Jews, Arabs
and gitanos (gypsies), were often regarded with mistrust and
discriminated against. People took great pride in having sangre
pura (pure blood), that is, a purely Spanish ancestry.
Rules of behavior: there were very strict rules of behavior,
especially when dealing with nobility. There were specific expressions
to be used, according to a persons social status such as excelencia
or vuestra merced. One was supposed to say t to somebody of a
much higher social standing, and vos to servants and vassals; kiss a
ladys hand and pedir los pies (offer to kiss the feet) of a lord. Honor
was a very important value in Golden Age Spain. If a man or woman
felt disrespected (for example, somebody did not treat them according
to their social status), this could lead to duels and other things.
Clothing: people dressed according to their social status. Noble

women wore a guardainfante, a very large round frame composed of
several wire rings, over which they wore the basquia, a long skirt.
They wore tight bodices with wide sleeves, a large, black shawl, an
abanico (fan) and lots of earrings and rings.
Men wore a leather coleto (vest), a ropilla, and a cloak. The gorguera
(fluffy collar) was replaced by a valona (a flat, shoulder-length, laced
collar) at the beginning of the 17th century.
Professions: Besides nobility, there were soldiers, students, scribes,
priests, doctors, merchants, craftsmen, farmers, servants, etc. Each
would dress according to their profession, so that it was easy to
recognize a persons social status and treat them accordingly.
Education: very few people could read in the Golden Age: clergy,
nobility, intellectuals (professors, lawyers, scribes, doctors, painters),
some merchants, government employees and servants of very
important houses. Books were very expensive. A person that had 20 to
30 books would have been considered a scholar. Some of the most
important Golden Age playwrights (Lope de Vega, Quevedo, etc) had
up to 300. Besides religious books, the most popular literature of the
time were the novels of knight errantry. A public reader would read
books for people who could not read.
Food: A normal meal started with fruits (oranges, green grapes,
cantaloupes, etc) and was followed by lots of different meat types,
olives and soup. The head waiter would cut the meat and serve it to
the person of highest social status, and then to the others. During the
meal servants would also serve almond milk with sugar, and lots of
wine, to offset the many spices in the food.
The dessert usually
consisted of preserves, nougat candy (turrones), and sponge cake.

After the meal it was usual for people from any class to use a toothpick
to clean the teeth.
Religion: Spaniards were very devout Catholics and the church was
the social center of the society.
Love: The strength with which the Golden Age man falls in love is
often portrayed in literature and theater. It was hard for a man to have
close contact to his beloved, since she was constantly and zealously
guarded by parents, siblings, and servants. Often a lover would send
a group of musicians to sing a serenata (serenade) for his beloved,
send her gifts and poetry.
Entertainment: The theater was the most popular entertainment, but
people would also go to the running of the bulls and dances.
Materials needed (pictures are attached at the end):
Picture of street scene in Golden Age Madrid
Picture of Golden Age clothing with names of different clothing parts
Picture of Golden Age professions
Picture of different foods
Picture of Golden Age theater
Picture of Golden Age Catholic Church
Picture of Golden Age Spanish lovers
Activities:
Time
0-05
05-10
Procedure
Warmup/Hook: What do you usually wear? Eat? Do for fun?
What professions are common in our society? Who is able to read
in our society?
Explain that Golden Age Spain was very different to our modern
society, but still similar in some aspects. Show a picture of a street
scene in Madrid, and ask students to speculate about the social
status and professions of the people in the picture.
10-15
15-20
20-25
25-30
30-35
35-37
37-40
Social hierarchy of Golden Age Spain. Draw the following

picture and tell them to order the people according to their
hierarchy:
king and queen, duke, marquis, knight, clergyman, doctor, farmer,

homeless person, etc.
Explain about the different minorities in Spain.
Rules of behavior: Ask them if there are rules of behavior in
our society. How are we supposed to treat the elderly, etc? Explain
how nobility was to be treated vs. the lower classes. What was the
most important value Spaniards defended? (honor)
Clothing: Show a picture of Spanish clothing with arrows
pointing to blanks. Give a copy of the picture to the students and a
list of the different clothing names with their description. Tell them
to fill in the blanks on the picture.
Explain that dress reflected the social status of a person.
Optional exercise: Ask them to draw a dama, a servant, etc.
Professions/Education: Show picture of different professions.
Have students guess what professions those are. Point out the
different professions in Golden Age Spain. Ask students: what
would you have liked to be if you had lived in Golden Age Spain?
Why?
Point out that only very few people could read. Ask students to
speculated who would have been able to read and why.
Food: Show a picture of different foods. What foods in this picture
do you think Golden Age Spaniards would have eaten? Explain.
Would you have liked to eat that? Have you ever tried it?
Religion: Show picture of church. What religion did Spaniards
profess? Explain the great influence of religion in daily life.
Love: Show picture of lovers. Ask students what people usually do
when they fall in love with someone. Explain about Golden Age
40-45
45-50
Source:
lovers.
Entertainment: What do you do for fun? Explain what
Spaniards did. Show picture of Theater. Explain that the theater
reflected the society of the time. Have you ever seen a Golden Age
play? If yes, what things of what we spoke about today, did you
see in the play?
Assessment: fill out crossword puzzle about life and society in
Golden Age Spain.
Theater: watch Outreach presentation and write down things you
saw in the entrems/convent play that we talked about in class.
(clothing, values, professions, religion, etc)
Daz-Plaja, Fernando. La vida cotidiana en la Espaa del Siglo de Oro, Madrid:
EDAF, 1994.
Street Scene in Madrid, Spain in 1676
Source:
EDAF, 1994.
Golden Age Clothing (Nobility)
Women:
Guardainfante: very large round frame composed of
several wire rings that goes under the skirt (to add
volume).
Basquia: long skirt that goes over the guardainfante.
Manto: large, black shawl, worn over the shoulders.
Abanico: fan
Men:
Coleto: leather vest that goes under the ropilla.
Ropilla: longer buttoned vest with or without sleeves
that is fastened at the waist with a belt.
Capa: cloak/cape
Gorguera: fluffy collar
Golden Age Social Hierarchy in Spain
Source:
EDAF, 1994.
Professions
Source:
EDAF, 1994.
Religion
Plaza de Obradoiro in Santiago de Compostela (Spain)

http://guia.ojodigital.com/albums/userpics/Santiago%20de%20Compostela%20%20catedral%20(OD).jpg
Golden Age Lovers

Spanish Golden Age Theater. BYU Production of La dama duende (2002)
Entertainment
Spanish Golden Age Theater. BYU Production of El muerto disimulado (2004)
Crossword Puzzle
1
2
1
4
3
2
3
4
5
6
Horizontal:
1 Religion of Golden Age Spain
2 One of the most important social values
3 One of Spain's minorities during the Golden Age
4 A popular profession
5 An accessory Spanish women would always carry
6 The most popular entertainment
Vertical:
1 Group at the top of the social hierarchy
2 Piece of clothing noble women used under their skirts
3 Piece of clothing men used under the ropilla
4 What lovers would sometimes do for their beloved
5 A popular drink in Golden Age Spain
Answer Key
Crossword Puzzle
Answers:
1 N
O
2 G
1 C A
3 G Y
H O L
4 S
3 C
2 H O N O R
E
R M E
5 W
5 A
C O
N
H E
4 F
D
E
T
6 T
A T
Horizontal:
1 Religion of Golden Age Spain
2 One of the most important social values
3 One of Spain's minorities during the Golden Age
4 A popular profession
5 An accessory Spanish women would always carry
6 The most popular entertainment
Vertical:
1 Group at the top of the social hierarchy
2 Piece of clothing noble women used under their skirts
3 Piece of clothing men used under the ropilla
4 What lovers would sometimes do for their beloved
5 A popular drink in Golden Age Spain

Life and Society in GA Spain Raquel Klammer

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Lesson Plan: Life and Society in Golden Age Spain

By Raquel Klammer, BYU student

Clothing: people dressed according to their social status. Noble

The dessert usually

consisted of preserves, nougat candy (turrones), and sponge cake.

Social hierarchy of Golden Age Spain. Draw the following

king and queen, duke, marquis, knight, clergyman, doctor, farmer,

Street Scene in Madrid, Spain in 1676

Daz-Plaja, Fernando. La vida cotidiana en la Espaa del Siglo de Oro, Madrid:

Golden Age Clothing (Nobility)

Golden Age Social Hierarchy in Spain

Daz-Plaja, Fernando. La vida cotidiana en la Espaa del Siglo de Oro, Madrid:

Daz-Plaja, Fernando. La vida cotidiana en la Espaa del Siglo de Oro, Madrid:

Plaza de Obradoiro in Santiago de Compostela (Spain)

Golden Age Lovers

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