The divine order- The chain of being
Elizabethans believed in a divine hierarchy that had been created by God. This hierarchy, called the chain of being stretched from God himself at the top all the way down to plants and elements, everything on earth had its place and to maintain order. Challenging ones place in this chain disrupts it and can lead to chaos. People were expected to respect there position in the hierarchy, everyone that obeyed this order were rewarded in heaven. Women were always considered to be lower in this order than men with the exception of Queen Elisabeth I, it was believed that monarchs were chosen by God and so they held a divine right to their position.