3. Country life during the Tudor
period
A new breed of farmer emerged, called yeomen.
About 90% of the population earned their living from the land.
Life in the countryside was simple.
Country life was dictated by natural cycles; by the seasons, the weather and the
available daylight hours.
Every town of any size held a weekly market, where people from the
surrounding villages came to sell their wares and buy goods not available
locally.
4. Life in towns
Many peasants moved into towns to seek work as labourers for the growing
number of merchants and traders.
Towns were overcrowded and sanitation was poor. There were frequent
outbreaks of disease, such as plague and cholera.
Fresh drinking water in towns was difficult to obtain
One of the biggest risks in towns was fire. Most of the buildings were made of
wood, allowing the flames to spread easily.
The Great Fire of London started on 2nd
September 1666 and raged for five
days, killing nine people and destroying over 13 000 buildings.
5. Life of poor people
It is estimated that about half of the population lived in poverty.
Many resorted to begging, although it was illegal and they might be punished,
or even hanged, if caught.
Eventually almshouses were set up to help the poor, elderly and infirm who
could no longer support themselves.
Men and women in the poorer households all had to work and had their own
specific responsibilities.
6. Food and drink
The rich ate well with a vide variety of meats and vegetables, including potates
that were recently introduced from America but still very expensive. They
drank wine at table.
Poorer classes had a more restricted diet of dairy produce, bread, basic
vegetables and occasionaly meat, such as rabbit. They drank ale.
Swans were considered a great delicacy for the rich.
Alcohol was cheap and excessive drinking amongst the poor became a
problem.
7. Pastimes
Although people worked long hours, there were a lot of holidays when no-one
was expected to work
People played a variety of games for fun, such as hockey cricket and football.
Football was very different from today's game.
The theatre was popular, though women were not allowed to act and young
boys took women's roles
The greatest English dramatist William Shakespeare began his career.
Card and board games were very popular. Card games were both for pleasure
and for gambling.
8. Fashion
The rich spent a lot of money on clothes
Clothes for men were built up in layers for extra
warmth.
Both men and women wore jewellery.
9. Art and architecture
Great houses were usually built in brick.
Gothic ideals were rejected in favour of the rounded arches and domes of
buildings such as St. Paul's Cathedral in London, rebuilt by Sir Christopher
Wren after it had been destroyed in the Great Fire.
Portraiture first came to prominence under the Tudors.
10. Women and children
Tudor England was very much a male
dominated society in which women and children
had few rights.
Only children from wealthy families went to
school and then usually just boys.
11. Transport and science
Travel was very difficult and dangerous. Main roads were muddy and
impassable in winter months. Most people walked or wend on
horseback.
In towns the rich were conveyed in Sedan chairs that was carried by two
men.
There were many important discoveries in the field of science,
including research into human anatomy by William Harvey and into
physics and gravity by Sir Isaac Newton
