The Time Traveller's Guide to Elizabethan England by Ian Mortimer

Men could beat wives as much as they wanted so long as they don’t kill. Women had to clean, cook, look after children, make clothes. Men’s size was seen as proof – more diseases affect women only. Masters can punish servants.Įquality of the sexes – God created men and women unequal so men could control women.

Servant to a wealthy household – can’t refuse and leads to abuse (physical, emotional and sexual). Writer could have hand cut off, could be branded, no longer boiled.īaiting – bulls fight against packs of dogs.Ĭruelty to children – whipping at home, whacking at school, manuals recommend flogging. Hanging / beheading / burning / weighted down or crushed / hanging drawing and quartering.Ĭrushing is the punishment if you refuse to plead – inheritance passes intact to heirs. Elizabeth I Darnley Portrait 1575Ĭrime – half the population is under 22 years old, many carry daggers and/or swords – gangs who roam highways.ġ566 ‘A Warning for Common Cursitors’ was a book written about criminals. Elizabeth chooses Protestantism but not Puritanism.Įlizabethans all hate atheists, both Catholics and Protestants as God was a creator.ġ581 = Catholics could be accused of treason through informers. Puritans want a purer life – radical Protestants. Towns double in size on market day – boots ‘buskins’ / caps ‘biggins’ / breeches ‘slops’ – buy meat fish, cheese, eggs and clothes.Ĭhurches are at the heart of the community – have to attend at least every Sunday and on 19 feast days from the age of 14. Illegal to get meat on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, and at advent and lent, so meat is replaced by fish. People thought living next to the sea was unhygienic. No published maps until 1579 and are very expensive.ĭifferent speech patterns – modern people might not have understood = might not get to destination alive. Sir John Harrington builds the first flushing toilet and Elizabeth I installs one at Richmond. No toilets – against the law to throw toilet contents out of the window. Modern = 1600 people per sq mile, early modern = 60 people per sq mile. Ian Mortimer ‘Time Traveller’s Guide to Elizabethan England’ Modern sheep weigh 200ibs, early modern sheep weigh 40ibs. Not enough to raise a family.ģx as many sheep as people. Buys a small amount of ale a day, meat and fish for a week. Most people work on the land dawn until sunset.

Hierarchical society = rigid class system ordained by God.

Earth floor, one fire always lit, very smoky, holes in walls.Ĭandles were expensive – most only had a few possessions, pots and pan, a bench, a basket, a straw mattress. Dangerous.Ĭottages were dark – no light, very basic. Quarter of England was wild heaths, moors and forests – no roads, only paths.

The Time Traveller's Guide to Elizabethan England by Ian Mortimer