Women In The Elizabethan Era

As in most Eras in history, to be born female would have been a very different life as to how we, as women, live today. The Elizabethan Era proved this point.

A young woman was in complete submission to her father or older brother, and then to her husband. Although some did obtain licence for midwifery, most women worked within the home and had very little freedom when compared to today. Strangely enough, when a woman married, she became mistress of her own household which gave her a little authority over the servants and the household expenses. Whatever the wife had was really owned by her husband, but this also meant that her debts her husband had to pay for.

A great deal of marriages were arranged for financial or nobility reasons. Only the Poor could afford to marry for love, they had nothing to lose!

Childbirth was a normal part of a woman's life, and if she was lucky enough to live through the ordeal, as well as the ignorance of the doctors, to have ten or more children and / or pregnancies was not unknown. Mortality was high and, like the Tudor Era, it was amazing that as many women and babies lived as is recorded in the history books. As always, the richer the family the woman was born into, the easier the life for that woman.

It is strange to think that a woman very successfully ruled England at this time, and yet women, by Law, were not allowed very much freedom; no woman was allowed to go into Parliament, be a doctor, have her own business, or (possibly) even own her own house. Being so successful within her reign, Elizabeth 1st gave women hope that life could and would be very different one day!

The Elizabethan People

                                                                       THE PEOPLE
As with every Era in history, the People "made" the Era. The Elizabethan Era was no different. Queen Elizabeth herself had very few immediate family but was still surrounded by nobility and gentry, lords and ladies of the Court, some who had inherited their titles, others had 'aquired' them.

Of course, in the City of London and other cities throughout the country, there were the traders and merchants and townsmen. In the countryside, there were the husbandmen and farmers;
"A gentleman owns land, but does not farm it,
A yeoman does farm land, and might own the freehold of some of it,
A husbandman farms the land, but does not own it."

Then there were the Poor !
When a census was taken in 1570, it was found that about a quarter of the then population was poor. Some were able to make a little money whilst others were wholly impoverished. This Era was not kind to the poor and showed very little feeling or understanding of this social situation. Those who were mentally unstable were 'lunatic', others were disabled, still others just old. They were looked at as a burden on the community and very few wanted the responsibility of caring for the poor. The Law didn't help! If you couldn't "dress" well, you were an outcast and could even be hanged for just looking like a vagrant. Being Poor was never a choice back then, whereas today, some actually choose to separate themselves from normal society. Like today, some did feel the need to help the Poor, to help them to live better lives, and we have to admire them for rowing against the tide.
                                             "Could I have lived back then ?"

THE ELIZABETHAN ERA

                 An Era in Time which proved that a woman can rule just as well as a man.
An Era which changed society and which still affects our society today, hundreds of years later. A special time in English literature. A time for the discovery of lands. The fashion of the day still stands out in the pages of History and, like the buildings of the Tudor Era, we still have the theatres of "the Elizabethan Era" today.

"Could I have lived in The Elizabethan Era?" Like every other time in History, there were the rich and the poor, the master and the servant, and, in this particular Era, the Queen and her people. It is one of the most well-documented Era's and the information we have today seems almost overbearing. From the History books to the paintings to personal diaries, we are allowed to wonder through this Unique Era.

                                                  ELIZABETH 1                THE QUEEN

                                               
As we know, the Princess Elizabeth was the daughter of Henry V111 and Anne Boleyn. The death of her mother and her difficult childhood affected this Princess, making her mentally strong, confident in herself and extremely "sure" in how she wanted to rule. All of this shaped Elizabeth 1'st reign. This Queen learnt from both her mother and father's lives and was determined never to make the same mistakes ! She knew from an early age that the love of her "people" would increase the success of her rule. This Queen "listened" to her people and wanted to help make their lives easier and happier if she possibly could. In a man's world, it was a woman who held the highest position in England, and Elizabeth 1 kept this position for over forty years.

Elizabeth 1 was so well-loved by her people, both rich and poor, that a foreign visitor notes:
"The English esteem her not only as their Queen but as their God, for which reason three things are prohibited on pain of death. Firstly, none may enquire whether she is still a virgin, for they hold her too holy to admit to doubt. Secondly, no one may question her government or estates, so completely is she trusted. And lastly, it is forbidden on pain of death to make enquiries as to who is to succeed her on her decease, for fear that if it were known, this person in his lust for government, might plot against the Queen's life. For they love their Queen and fear her mightily, for she ruled her kingdom for so long and kept the peace against all schemes; nor can she bear any other person besides herself to be popular with the people.
Because Elizabeth 1 was "English" by birth, her subjects warmed to her. By birth, she was one of them.

Conclusion of the Tudor Era

One of the most well-known and well-documented of Eras in English history, we now marvel at how the Tudors lived, rich and poor. A life so different to our own today, we wonder how they could "live like that!" And yet with natural vegetables and fruit, milk and cheese, were the Tudors much healthier than us? An interesting question considering their medical practices --- it is quite amazing that any new-born babies lived at all !
So again I ask myself: "Could I have lived in the Tudor Era?"

The Tudor Kitchens At Hampton Court

In 1529, King Henry V111 extended the kitchens at Hampton Court. Covering 3,000 square feet, with fifty-five rooms, these kitchens were staffed by 200 people providing 600 meals a day, for the Royal Court.
The Spicery was filled with exotic spices imported from the Orient and Europe, as well as English mustard and herbs from the Palaces Herb Garden. The Office of Spicery was responsible for the huge quanities of fruit produced in the Palace Gardens, including apples and pears from two orchards.
The Great Kitchen had six fireplaces with spit-racks, only one of which remains. Liveried serving men would collect the finished dishes from the serving hatches at the far end and take them to the Great Hall.

In the Pastry House both sweet and savoury pies and pasties were prepared in four ovens.
Meat stock and boiled meat were produced in the Boiling House in a great boiling-copper which had a capacity of about 75 gallons.
In the Confectionary, delicate sweet dishes were prepared for the more important members of the Court.
There were three larders in the Tudor Kitchens:
1/ the flesh larder for meat   2/ the wet larder for fish   3/ the dry larder for pulses and huts.
Meat was supplied from various sources including the Palace's pheasant yard, rabbit warrens, and venison from the deer park. Fish (eaten on Fridays and during Lent) came from the Palace's pond gardens.

The Palace had three cellars. The Wine Cellar. The Privy Cellar was where wine and ale was kept for the sovereign. The Great Cellar where ale was stored.
Roasted meat graced almost every meal at the Royal Court as it was an expression of wealth. Fresh meat all year  was only available to the rich, who could afford to roast it before a fire, a technique which wastes most of the fuel, plus the rich had to pay the spit-boy who sat all day turning the spit. It was truly a dish fit for a king.
Most people would have eaten preserved meat or boiled meat.

Life For Women In The Tudor Era (Part two)

It is interesting how some upper class women were highly educated whilst others were not. Many of the subjects taught were reading, writing, music, dancing, needlework and languages such as Greek, Latin, Spanish, Italian and french.

Girls from poor families were expected to start working and adding to the family income from around seven years old. Even wealthy girls were not allowed to be idle, and although they were allowed some time to play, they were encouraged to weave or read suitable books, or find some other suitable occupation.
Most women married and became mothers. Life was extremely hard for spinsters. Marriage was usually arranged, with the very wealthy girl being married off at the very young age of twelve. The majority were married in their mid-20s. For the poorest girl, she could choose whom she married, maybe it was love, maybe she wanted to better herself, or maybe it just suited both of them --- the bride and groom.

Naturally children followed but child-birth was very dangerous, with no sanitation, cleanliness or knowledge of medicine. A lot of women died because of infection, often because the midwives knew very little about cleanliness --- their hands were sometimes dirty when seeing the mother therefore spreading infection. Poor women tended to give birth about once every two years. Rich women gave birth about once a year. The poor woman breast-fed her own child, the rich woman gave her child to a wet nurse. The obvious explanation is there : breast-feeding is a natural contraceptive.

Make-up in the Tudor Era was terrifyingly different to our day! The poor woman was usually sunburnt from working in the fields all day, she didn't waste her time with such vanity! The rich woman, however, wanted to have pale skin, it showed she never worked outside and she would use egg whites or "white lead", reddening the lips and cheeks with cochineal (a dye made from crushed beetles). Of course, the white lead ruined the skin.

How different life was for women in the Tudor Era when compared to our Era today !

Life For Women In The Tudor Era (Part one)

It has always been thought that women in this century were meek and submissive and whilst this may have been true of many, there were the exceptions. Some women were strong minded and had more influence than is sometimes imagined. For example, Henry V111 entrusted the kingdom to his Queen, Katherine of Aragon, when he went to war with France in 1513.

Women were not allowed in the professions, to be doctors or lawyers for example, but they were allowed to join some of the guild (tradespeople and skilled workers).However, female employment was often menial and low paid, Some women worked at spinning cloth, some were tailors, milliners, dyers, shoemakers and embroiderers. There were also washerwomen. Some worked in food preparation such as brewers, bakers and confectioners. They also sold food stuffs in the streets. A very common job for women was domestic service. Others were midwives. Most women were housewives and mothers and were kept very busy within the home. Most men could not have run a farm or a business without their wives help.

Within the Tudor Era, nearly all households (especially in the countryside) were largely self-sufficient. A house wife (with the help of her servants if she had any) had to :

1/ bake her family's bread   2/ brew the beer   3/ curing bacon, slating meat   4/ making pickles, jellies and preserves (they didn't have fridges or freezers)   5/ make the family candles   6/ make the family soap --- if she was a farmer's wife, she also 7/ milked the cows   8/ feed the animals   9/ grew the herbs and vegetables   10/ sometimes kept bees for honey   11/ took goods to the market to sell.
And on top of all of this, the wife had to cook, wash the family's clothes, clean the house and raise the children (unless she was extremely rich). This wife would need to have a knowledge of medicine and be able to treat her family's illnesses (only the very rich could afford a doctor). Even the rich woman was busy! She had to organize and supervise the servants and when her husband was away, this wealthy woman usually ran the estate. A merchant's wife would often do her husband's accounts, and in his will, the business would have been left to his wife, knowing it would be in good hands.

Only the wealthy woman had spare time, in which she would deer hunt and hares with dogs, hunting with falcons being a favourite, and enjoyed playing cards.

The education of women at this time was very different when compared with today. Having touched on this, the details of a girl's education in the Tudor Era are quite interesting :
Girls did not go to school! However, if a girl was born into a wealthy family, she was taught at home, usually by a tutor (or a governess). Middle class girls were taught by their mothers, usually reading, writing and arithmetic and skills like sewing. A merchant's daughter would have been taught her father's business. Some women were taught to read by their husbands or by the parish priest.

Food in the Tudor Era

For the rich, Food was a great pleasure in the Tudor Era. The common people (presumably citizens and yeomen) delighted in banquets and a variety of meat and food, and they excelled everyone in preparing them with an excessive abundance. They ate frequently and were fond of young swans, rabbits, deer and seabirds.

 There were no 'excessive abundance' in the homes of the labourers. Breads, bacon, cheese and beer and cider would have been the staple diet in a poor home, with meat once or twice a week --- if they were lucky!

Tudor Education

Education was a ladder to climb up the social scales. Wolsey, one of the most well-known men in the history books, was the son of a butcher and grazier. Thomas Cromwell had a father who was a blacksmith, brewer and innkeeper, extremely versatile for the time. The famous Bacon family had a shepherd among their forbears.

                                                                Thomas Cromwell

It was a tribute to the Medieval Era that there was so much free schooling available. Winchester and Eton, for example, had been founded for 'poor and needy scholars'. It is to their credit that these schools (or "colleges" as we now call them) are still in use today !

Boys were sent away from home, but more often to school and university to 'be educated' in the arts and sciences. Girls were taught at home, learning from their brothers if they were lucky. The boy would become a man who would rule the home, therefore needing Education. The girl would become a woman who would marry and have children, they would care for the home and bring up the children. It was apparently, not important for the girls to be Educated. This is quite difficult for us to understand, considering the woman would still need to understand accounts and measures of food and cloth in order to 'run' the home, not to mention knowing medicine and how her own body worked, as she was to have children. Some fathers stood out and had their daughters 'schooled' at home. Henry V111 himself had his two daughters schooled, Elizabeth had the same tutor as Edward (her half-brother) in certain subjects. This gave their daughters an advantage in life which must have helped them back then.

Thanks to the industry of W.Caxton who presses poured out a hundred books before the end of the 15th Century, books became plentiful in Tudor households. This also encouraged music making in the home as songs and madrigals became more cheaply and easily available.