Elizabethan England

1
Elizabethan England

• Why is it called Elizabethan?
• Queen Elizabeth I reigned from 1558-1603 (45
  years)
• William Shakespeare was born in 1564

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Elizabethan England

• People were smaller
• Average man 56
• Average woman 48

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Elizabethan (Shakespeares) England

• Life was not as glamorous
• No indoor plumbing.

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Elizabethan EnglandAt Home

• Roofs were straw thatch.
• Pet dogs and cats, mice, rats, and bugs lived in
  the roof.
• If it rained the roof got slippery and it rained
  cats and dogs.

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Elizabethan EnglandAt Home

• Nothing to stop animal droppings from landing on
  ones bed
• Attached posts with a sheet on top, creating a
  canopy to catch the animal doo-doo.

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Elizabethan EnglandAt Home

• Folks slept in beds cross-wise
• Anne Hathaway, had a queen-sized bed she shared
  with two sisters and six servant girls before she
  married Will Shakespeare.

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Elizabethan EnglandAt Home

• Anne Hathaways 6 brothers shared their room with
  30 field workers. They all slept on the floor
  wrapped in blankets.
• There was no indoor heating beyond the ambient
  body heat.

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Elizabethan EnglandAt Home

• The floor of most thatched houses was dirt. Only
  the wealthy could afford slate flooring.
• Everybody else was dirt poor.

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Elizabethan EnglandAt Home

• Slate floors slippery when it rained.
• Spread thresh (straw) to keep from slipping.
• A piece of the wood at the door kept the thresh
  from slipping out, acting as a thresh hold.

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Elizabethan EnglandAt Home

• People cooked over a fire in the fireplace.
• They hung a kettle over the fire and everyday
  added stuff to the kettle.

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Elizabethan EnglandAt Home

• Mostly folks ate veggies. Meat was scarce.
• They ate stew and then the leftovers stayed in
  the pot for as long as a month.

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Elizabethan EnglandAt Home

• Once in awhile they got some pork. Theyd display
  the luxury bacon on a rack in the parlor to show
  it off.
• Sign of wealth if someone could bring home the
  bacon

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Elizabethan EnglandAt Home

• Bread was divided according to status. Workers
  got the burnt bottom, family got the middle, and
  guests got the upper crust.

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Elizabethan EnglandAt Home

• Lead drinking cups caused a powerful reaction
  with whiskey or ale
• Knocked out the drinker for days.
• Couldnt tell if the unconscious person was dead
  or alive.

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Elizabethan EnglandAt Home

• They laid out the unconscious person on the
  kitchen table to see if they would wake from
  it. They held a wake.

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Elizabethan EnglandAt Home

• England is old and small. They started running
  out of places to bury people.
• So they dug up old graves to reuse. They noticed
  some of the old coffins had scratch marks on
  the inside. OOOPS!

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Elizabethan EnglandAt Home

• Tied a string to the corpses wrist that was
  attached to a bell topside.
• Someone had to sit near the grave in case the
  bell rang, in essence doing a graveyard shift.

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Elizabethan EnglandHygiene

• People usually bathed once-a-year, in May.
• Men first, then women, then the kids in the
  same water.

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Elizabethan EnglandHygiene

• As the water got dirtier, and dirtier, they had
  to be careful not to throw out the baby with
  the bathwater.

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Elizabethan EnglandHygiene

• Most weddings were in June, when couple and the
  guests were still relatively body odor-free.
• It was believed baths caused illness.

21
Elizabethan EntertainmentMusic

• Folks were expected to be musical, to be able to
  read and play music. Almost everyone could play
  the recorder or lute and sing in 8-part harmony.
• Barbers kept lutes customers could play while
  they waited for a new do.

22
Elizabethan EntertainmentFashion

• Fashion was a major pastime. Most Elizabethans
  wore their fortunes on their backs. Theyd rather
  be well-dressed and penniless than rich and
  poorly dressed.
• Most folks dressed in the clothing of the social
  class above them.

23
Elizabethan EntertainmentCards

• People loved playing cards and frequently bet on
  the outcome.

24
Elizabethan EntertainmentTennis

• Tennis was played on a walled court with a roof
  and was very popular when it arrived as an import
  from France.

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Elizabethan EntertainmentBear Baiting

• Bull- or Bear-baiting was popular.
• Dog turned loose on a tethered bull or bear.
  People bet on the dog or the bear.

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Elizabethan EntertainmentPublic Executions

• Public executions were hugely popular and drew
  large audiences.

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Elizabethan EntertainmentRooster Fighting

• Rooster fighting was the rage! People bet in the
  fights between specially-bred roosters with
  sharpened beaks and metal spurs.
• School boys were encouraged to bring their birds
  to school for fights. People bet on the fights.

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Elizabethan EntertainmentHuman Competition

• Sporting opponents thumped each other with clubs
  and similar weapons (very bloody).

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Elizabethan EntertainmentFootball

• Opposing sides tried to get a leather ball from
  one end of town to the other, while fighting each
  other. Fights resulted in broken bones and
  damaged businesses.

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Elizabethan England

• This was life during the time of Shakespeares
  early pieces of literature.