How did troupes and acting become socially acceptable in Elizabethan England from being reviled in the Early Middle Ages?

by ehannon

Sort of a poorly phrased question but I'm wondering if there's any record of how actors rose in social status between these two periods. Was it simply due to Patronage or was there a culture shift in the attitude of the English people.

ddevlin

It's primarily the effect of the Office of the Revels that made theatre/actors "socially acceptable", although I'd note that the term doesn't really apply in the way you may think...theatre artists were still mostly reviled and look down upon, but performance troupes sanctioned and licensed by the Office of the Revels were under the guard of the Throne, and so experienced a slight stepping up in terms of social acceptability.