Since roses have been being hybridized for hundreds of years I would imagine the Elizabethans did indeed hand pollinate roses. I know there is a great deal of information available in books and on line about the history of roses.

It may have occurred, but not to any great extent. Henry Bennett, who raised cattle and definitely knew about genetics of them, raised and released 10 scientifically bred "Pedigree Hybrids of the Tea Rose" in 1879 which he deliberately "bred" using his knowledge of animal husbandry. Initially, he was dismissed because the "common knowledge" wasn't that one could deliberately cross pollinate roses as the usual practice was still to raise open pollinated seeds. If you desired a cross between two roses, you planted them in the same hole or very close together and hoped for a cross pollination. As he began in 1879 and is one of the first to openly practice deliberate breeding, it would put him in the Victorian Era. So, if it was practiced in Elizabethan times, it wasn't common knowledge nor have I found any record of it. Kim

Here is a link that might be useful: Henry Bennett

Given the extremely small number of pre-Napoleonic cultivars, I'd say definitely not. Something happened early in the 19th century to start a landslide of new cultivars (who were the spinossisima guys? They were the first ones I can think of to introduce a lot of new roses)