10 interesting facts about the elizabethan era
1)
Most people were living on farms or in the country. A farmer’s wife would milk the cows, make her own butter and cheese and then sell some at the markets. She would brew her own ale or beer, as the water was very dirty. Women would also attend to the garden to grow herbs and vegetables.
2)
For jobs some of the Elizabethan’s worked as servants to families. The richer your master was, the more they thought that they could treat you how they wanted. The servants were very young, they started young so they could get enough money to maybe start a small business or could start a trade. There were different roles of servants, you could be a cook or housemaid or even a footman.
3)
In the Elizabethan age, men and women were very conscious about their clothes. They always wanted to look artificial, stylized and striking. Both genders always wanted to wear the newest clothes. The women would like their dresses to have puffy sleeves and lots of frills. Women also used different types of clothing to make themselves more petite than what they actually were.
4)
For the food, obviously the poor didn’t have as much as the upper class. The lower class’s food would consist of bread, cheese, milk and sometimes fish and ale as a drink. The upper class’s food would include a lot more meat such as lamb, beef, mutton, pork, bacon, rabbit and more. The rich also had more fruit and vegetables than the poor. You would usually get food from the markets. Sometimes, a peacock would be cooked and its feathers would be used to decorate.
5)
Marriage was planned by the families to bring some wealth or prestige into the family. Women were taught that the men were far more important and that they had to cater to their husbands every need. They were also taught that men were more intelligent that women. Lots of couples didn’t even meet until their wedding day, which their family would prepare.
6)
Education in the Elizabethan era was mainly for boys who were middle to upper class. It would start off at ‘petty school’, which was a school for boys aged 5-7. This was a low fee school run by a well-educated housewife. The education would consist of learning to read and write English, and lessons in behavior.
The boys would then go to ‘grammar schools’. They learnt Latin, religion, literature and sometimes Greek. School life was strict and it wasn’t uncommon to be hit by the cane 50 times as a punishment!
7)
For fun, the Elizabethans would go to watch plays. That was the most popular activity but they also did a lot of other stuff including, dances and sing-alongs with everybody at the local pub. The rich would even have tournaments of fencing and other sports. Chess and checkers were played as a quick activity. Tennis was extremely popular back then as well. Reading was also very popular and the well-educated people could read a book in more than one language.
8)
Childbirth in the Elizabethan era was very dangerous. More than occasionally women would die in childbirth and sometimes the baby would die too. Dying in childbirth was so often that expectant mothers would arrange for another women to look after their child in the event of dying.
The Elizabethan midwife would usually be an experienced mother who was a friend of the expectant mother. Sometimes the midwife got too carried away and would pull the baby out to make the birth quicker. This hurts the limbs inside the baby and the mother.
9)
Laws and punishments were strict and harsh in the Elizabethan era. Stealing anything over 5 pence resulted in hanging. This is a terrible punishment for the poor people who were starving. Punishments also depended on what time of the day the crime was committed. For example, poaching during the night led to death, where as poaching during the day did not. Executions were held in public for anyone to watch. Executions could be being burned to death or an axe in extreme cases would chop off the head.
10)
During the Elizabethan era, people looked forward to holidays because opportunities for leisure were limited, with time away from hard work being restricted to periods after church on Sundays. For the most part, leisure and festivities took place on a public church holy day. Every month had its own holiday like Valentines Day, Halloween and Christmas. They also had their own different holidays like Lady Day, May Day and many others.
Most people were living on farms or in the country. A farmer’s wife would milk the cows, make her own butter and cheese and then sell some at the markets. She would brew her own ale or beer, as the water was very dirty. Women would also attend to the garden to grow herbs and vegetables.
2)
For jobs some of the Elizabethan’s worked as servants to families. The richer your master was, the more they thought that they could treat you how they wanted. The servants were very young, they started young so they could get enough money to maybe start a small business or could start a trade. There were different roles of servants, you could be a cook or housemaid or even a footman.
3)
In the Elizabethan age, men and women were very conscious about their clothes. They always wanted to look artificial, stylized and striking. Both genders always wanted to wear the newest clothes. The women would like their dresses to have puffy sleeves and lots of frills. Women also used different types of clothing to make themselves more petite than what they actually were.
4)
For the food, obviously the poor didn’t have as much as the upper class. The lower class’s food would consist of bread, cheese, milk and sometimes fish and ale as a drink. The upper class’s food would include a lot more meat such as lamb, beef, mutton, pork, bacon, rabbit and more. The rich also had more fruit and vegetables than the poor. You would usually get food from the markets. Sometimes, a peacock would be cooked and its feathers would be used to decorate.
5)
Marriage was planned by the families to bring some wealth or prestige into the family. Women were taught that the men were far more important and that they had to cater to their husbands every need. They were also taught that men were more intelligent that women. Lots of couples didn’t even meet until their wedding day, which their family would prepare.
6)
Education in the Elizabethan era was mainly for boys who were middle to upper class. It would start off at ‘petty school’, which was a school for boys aged 5-7. This was a low fee school run by a well-educated housewife. The education would consist of learning to read and write English, and lessons in behavior.
The boys would then go to ‘grammar schools’. They learnt Latin, religion, literature and sometimes Greek. School life was strict and it wasn’t uncommon to be hit by the cane 50 times as a punishment!
7)
For fun, the Elizabethans would go to watch plays. That was the most popular activity but they also did a lot of other stuff including, dances and sing-alongs with everybody at the local pub. The rich would even have tournaments of fencing and other sports. Chess and checkers were played as a quick activity. Tennis was extremely popular back then as well. Reading was also very popular and the well-educated people could read a book in more than one language.
8)
Childbirth in the Elizabethan era was very dangerous. More than occasionally women would die in childbirth and sometimes the baby would die too. Dying in childbirth was so often that expectant mothers would arrange for another women to look after their child in the event of dying.
The Elizabethan midwife would usually be an experienced mother who was a friend of the expectant mother. Sometimes the midwife got too carried away and would pull the baby out to make the birth quicker. This hurts the limbs inside the baby and the mother.
9)
Laws and punishments were strict and harsh in the Elizabethan era. Stealing anything over 5 pence resulted in hanging. This is a terrible punishment for the poor people who were starving. Punishments also depended on what time of the day the crime was committed. For example, poaching during the night led to death, where as poaching during the day did not. Executions were held in public for anyone to watch. Executions could be being burned to death or an axe in extreme cases would chop off the head.
10)
During the Elizabethan era, people looked forward to holidays because opportunities for leisure were limited, with time away from hard work being restricted to periods after church on Sundays. For the most part, leisure and festivities took place on a public church holy day. Every month had its own holiday like Valentines Day, Halloween and Christmas. They also had their own different holidays like Lady Day, May Day and many others.