English+Life

**Life in England during Shakespearean Era** toc
 * [[image:wikispace_logo4.jpg]] ||

William Shakespeare as we know he is a English poet and playwright wrote the famous 154 //Sonnets// and numerous highly successful oft quoted dramatic works. During Shakespearean Era (16 century--17 century), it is also the English Renaissance (meaning Rebirth) which embraces a series of religious, economic, and political changes which ripple into areas of science, literature, and philosophy. During the Renaissance in England, which shall be our primary focus, the population of England was approximately 3.5 million. London was a city of approximately 160,000 residents, whereas today, the city boasts a population of greater than 8 million. Also, during that time, Tudor is the royal dynasty which dominate the England for lasted 118 years, beginning in 1485. =I.II Foods eaten =

What people eat in all times and places depend upon who they are, where they live and how much money they have. This was certainly true of the folks living in Shakespeare's England. Then, as now, it is almost impossible to relay what the "average" person ate at any one given meal. Choices varied according to season, year, location, and circumstance.

Food in Shakespearean era included a vast range of different meat. The meats included venison, beef, pork, veal, goat, lamb, rabbit, hare, mutton, swans, herons and poultry. Chickens were believed to have been introduced to England by the Romans.
 * Meat available**

Food in Shakespearean era also included a vast range of different fish. The range of fish included herring, salmon, eel, whiting, plaice, cod, trout and pike. Shell fish also featured in Tudor food and included crab, oysters, mussels and cockles.
 * Fish available**

Bread was the most important component of the diet and food in Shakespearean era. ● Manchet - Fine White Bread ● Cheat or wheaten bread - Coarse texture, grey in color ● Ravelled Bread - containing less of the pure substance of the wheat ● Brown or Black bread
 * Bread**

The term "vegetable" was used only rarely during Shakespearean era. Instead the term "herb" covered all green plants, roots and herbs.Food items which came from the ground were only are considered fit for the poor during the Shakespearean era. Only vegetables such as rape, onions, garlic and leeks graced a Noble's table. The food eaten daily by the average poor Tudor in England consisted of at least ½ lb. bread, 1 pint of beer, 1 pint of porridge, and 1/4 lb of meat. This would have been supplemented with some dairy products - vegetables were a substantial ingredient of soups.
 * Vegetables**
 * media type="custom" key="674043" || **Daily Food Consumption for lower classes**

Upper Classes in England differed considerably from the diet of the lower classes, they have not only beef, mutton, veal, lamb, kid, pork, cony, capon, pig, or so many of these as the season yieldeth, but also some portion of the red or fallow deer, beside great variety of fish and wild fowl, and thereto sundry other delicates.
 * Daily Food Consumption for the upper classes**

Some of the food introduced to the England from the New World were as follows: Tomatos—————Kidney Beans—————  Avocado Turkey—————---Pineapples——————-Cashew Potatoes—————Lima Beans——————Tapioca Vanilla——————Chilli peppers—————- Squash Pineapple————---Red peppers—————--Peanut ||
 * Foods from the New World introduced during Tudor Times**

=II.I Clothing Styles =

The Elizabethan age brought about a great development of culture in sixteenth century England. One way this great development of culture came about is through fashion and costume. Fashion in the Elizabethan age was a way of expressing one's self: the fashiotruly helped to reveal the general culture of the period. In the early stages of the Elizabethan era women generally wore clothes that covered them completely. The bodice or the top part of the gown was generally tight fitting with square shoulders. The yoke was usually of a dark color, and there was often some type of high collar. The collar would extend all the way to the chin and usually would ruffle at the top. The sleeves were usually full from the shoulder to the elbow and then more tight and form-fitting from the elbow to the wrist. At the wrist the sleeves would open wide into a large ruffle. The gown usually contained a v-shaped point at the waistline and then expanded into a sort of funnel shape reaching the ground. The shoes the women wore in this beginning period were not important because the gown reached to the floor; the shoes most often were not seen. As for jewelry, many woman in this period wore large pendants of gold around their necks. Earrings were not very common except among the very sophisticated, who would wear pearls. The headgear of the beginning of the Elizabethan period was an English version of the French hood. This "hood" was placed near the back of the head and was worn with a stiff base that was very close-fitting. Many women in this period also opted for small jeweled caps decorated with jewels, pearls, or lace. As the period went on, the women's style of dress saw a few changes. The bodice of a dress was still tight-fitting, but instead of a v-shaped waistline, the bodice was cut in a straight line around the hips. The sleeves also changed. Instead of ruffling between the shoulder and the elbow, they were tight-fitting all the way down to the wrist. The skirt became heavily embroidered, yet still remained long enough to drag the ground. The men's style of clothing was also very distinct during the beginning of this great period. The men wore embroidered vest-like shirts called jerkins, which had square shoulders and buttons down the front. The sleeves were often decorated and loose- fitting all the way to the wrists. The pants were loose-fitting and extended to about three to four inches above the knee. They were padded with horse-hair and slashed in order to show the knitted silk stockings underneath. The shoes of the men were generally made with the finest of leather. They contained a small leather heel and were often decorated with slashes. The headgear was either a small flat hat made of velvet or silk or a tall crown hat that was covered by fine fabric or feathers. Some of the more distinguished men wore small capes with big-edged collars. As the period continued, so did the development of men's fashion in this culture. Stockings began to be replaced by garters, and silk stockings were replace by horse hair trunk hose. The most distinguished men began to wear crowned beaver hats and wide cloaks held by a chain and a crucifix. The tailored stockings were plain. The pumps had rounded toes and closed at the ankles. The bonnet was trimmed around the edged and decorated with a plume on one side.The men also began to carry short perfumed gloves. There really isn't much to be said about the fashion of children in this age. They usually wore smaller versions of the adult fashions, and even the infant girls were required to wear long gowns. The boys generally wore miniature versions of clothing worn by the men. Their doublets and shirts had slashes in them, and they wore silk stockings of color underneath. The girls generally wore long braids in their hair; the braids would either be tied with ribbon or made into a crown. Throughout the Elizabethan period there was a great development of culture in England. The influences of this culture can be seen through the fashion and costume of the sixteenth century English people. =III. Employment =

During the 15th and 16th centuries the number of jobs available to people had not kept pace with the growth of the population. Bad weather had led to harvest failures which in turn had led to food shortages and high prices. The growth in sheep farming brought about an increase in unemployment for rural labourers. Whilst agricultural enclosures did not have a great effect in Herefordshire until the 17th century, Herefordshire did not have a thriving handicraft industry, nor were there mineral or mining industries. Bad roads and transportation made it difficult for people to sell goods outside the county at competitive prices. As a result there were many very poor people.
 * **Three types of poor people:**

● Those with just enough to live on. ● Those who could not work, disabled people. ● Sturdy rogues: vagrants and people who moved about looking for work. ||  ||

=<span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif">IV. Leisure activities =

<span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">**Life in the1500’s** In the 1500’s, people get marry in June because they took there yearly bath in May, and can still smell good by June. However, when they start to smell, the brides will be carrying a bouquet of flowers to hide the body odor. Till the custom today of carrying a bouquet when getting married.

In the 1500’s in England, there houses are not as strong as ours now back then. Thick stra piled high with no wood underneath, like such a house makes a perfect home for the little animals, so all the pets; dogs, cats and other small animals, mice, rats, bugs all live in the same roof. When it rained it became slippery, so sometimes the animals would slip and fell off the roof. Thus the saying-It rained cats and dogs.

As you see above, they never have a clean bathroom with all the bugs lying around, and the bedroom is even worse. So they found if they make beds with big posts and hang of sheet over the top it would prevent that problem. That is how those beautiful big 4 poster beds with canopies came from.

Imagine if you are one of them, every time when you step into the house, the floor is never clean. Only the wealthy had something beside dirt, that is where it’s saying “dirt poor” came from. The wealthy will have slate floors, which is good until the winter, they will get slippery when they are wet, so they started to spread thresh on the floor to help keep their footing. As the winter goes on, they would keep adding and adding it until whet the door in opened it will all start slipping outside. So they put a piece of wood at the entry way, called a “thresh hold”. In the kitchen, they will cook over the fire, they had a fireplace in the parlor that was seldom used and often will be placed in the master bedroom. They also had lead cups for them to drink ale or whiskey. The combination will sometimes knock them out for a couple of days. They will be walking along the road and here will be someone knocked out and they thought they were dead. So they will pick them up, take them home, and places them in the kitchen floor for a couple of days, the family will gather around and eat and drink and wait and see if they will wake up. That’s where the custom of holding a “wake” came from. Since England is so old and small, they started running out of places to burt people. So they started tp dig up some coffins and are to take their bones to a house and re-use the grave.

As you can see the informations above, next time when you are complaining life, just stop and think of the life way back in the 1500's. I guarantee that you will feel better! =<span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif">V. I  Politics =

<span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">**Type of government** At the time of Shakespeare, England was in the charge of the government of Elizabeth I(1533~1603). The England was a really structured place, and the government had a complex system, which included the national bodies of government, the regional bodies and the county and community bodies. On November 17, 1558, Elizabeth I became the queen of England, and England was in the charge of her untill her death, which is March 24, 1603. Elizabeth I was the last Tudor governor. Before her enthronement, England was really disordered because of the conflicts among different churches, but Elizabeth I did a perfect job to keep England peaceful and became the most powerful country in the world. To remember Elizabeth I, people call that time as the time of Elizabeth, as well as the Golden Time.

It was a great time for England at the age of Shakespeare. The navy of England was one of the greatest powers in the Western world. In 1588, the navy strengthened their position by defeating the Spanish Armada, the biggest naval force in the world at that time. But one year later, a bigger group of navy was beaten by Spainish. The powers of England and Spain were pretty similar, they got deuce at last. When Elizabeth I became the queen, the conflicts among different churches were really grievous, although Elizabeth I was a Protestant, she didn't want to destroy any other church. In 1570, the Roman Catholicism tried to make Mary take place of Elizabeth I, so she finally decided to kill Mary and resume the position of the Church of England. =<span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif">V<span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif">I. Works Cited =
 * Influence of military and church**

●<span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"> <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|http://www.the-tudors.org.uk/tudor-food.htm] - (Tudor Food in England) ● <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|http://www.william-shakespeare.info/] - (William Shakespeare) ● <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|http://www.smr.herefordshire.gov.uk/education/tudor/Tudor_The%20Poor2.htm] - (The poor in 16th centuries) ● <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|http://www.bardweb.net/england.html] - (Elizabethan England) ● <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|http://www.britainexpress.com/History/Elizabethan_life.htm] - (Elizabeth I and Elizabethan life) ● <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|http://www.britannia.com/history/monarchs/e1r/eliz_govt.html] - (Queen Elizabeth I-Power and Government) ● <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">[|http://history.wisc.edu/sommerville/123/123%20251%20Elizabeth.htm] - (Elizabethan government) ● <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">http://www.naute.com/stories/1500s.phtml - (life in the 1500's)