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.