SOCIAL STUDIES – SUMMARY

THE TUDORS
The Tudors were a family of kings and queens. They ruled England for over a hundred
years and made the country rich and powerful.
Henry VII The period begins when he, Henry Tudor, a Lancastrian, defeated King
Richard III at the battle of Bosworth Field in 1485 ending the Wars of Roses which took
place between the Yorkists and Lancastrians. To make his claim to the throne stronger he
married his fourth cousin Elizabeth of York (from the other side). Henry VII became a very
rich man through heavy taxation and although not popular he was well respected for
bringing peace to England.
Henry VIII In 1509 Henry VII died leaving a strong and safe crown to his eleven-year-
old son Henry VIII. This fierce, patriotic Englishman grew to be a merry, jovial monarch
loved by the common man but at the same time was a very cruel, ruthless and greedy man
who spent all his father's money fighting wars against France. He was a great lover of
music and never went anywhere without harpists and trumpeters, fiddlers and pipers. He
loved extravagance and in order to impress the French king would stage a brilliantly
decorated pageant known as "The Field of the Cloth of Gold". He had six wives in his
attempt to have a son to inherit the throne of England.
Edward VI Henry VIII's only son Edward, at age 9 became known as Edward VI 'The
Boy King' when Henry died in 1547. Edward's uncle, the Duke of Somerset and later the
Duke of Northumberland ruled England in his name. As his father had closed all the
monastery schools new grammar schools were started to teach reading and writing and the
most important subjects at that time were Latin, Greek and Mathematics. The monastery
hospitals had also disappeared so Edward commissioned four Royal hospitals be built in
London. Edward was never a healthy child and died in 1553 at the age of fifteen.
Lady Jane Grey While Edward was still alive his ministers persuaded him to make a
will naming Lady Jane Grey his successor to the throne. She was a Protestant and ruled for
only 9 days before Mary, Henry VIII's eldest daughter had her arrested and executed.
Mary I Mary I, known as 'Bloody Mary' was a strong Catholic and never forgave
her father, Henry, for divorcing her mother and ignoring her at court. She was determined
to return England to the old religion and burned nearly three hundred Protestants at the
stake when they refused to give up their religion. Mary married King Philip II of Spain and,
living with him for less than a year, produced no children.
Elizabeth I The prosperous Elizabethan Age began when Mary’s sister Elizabeth
became queen upon Mary 's death in 1558. Known by her people as 'Good Queen Bess',
Queen Elizabeth I was an intelligent, courageous and determined woman. For most of her
reign she would be seen accompanied by her childhood friend Robert Dudley, Earl of
Leicester. The crown had very little money left and England was being threatened by
Scotland, France and Spain. The Tudor period ended with the death of Queen Elizabeth I
on 24th March 1603 after 45 years on the throne. She had no husband or children to
succeed her.
TUDOR PERIOD: 22 Aug, 1485 - 24 Mar, 1603

HENRY VIII AND HIS SIX WIVES

“Divorced, Beheaded, Died, Divorced, Beheaded, Survived.” His portrait: a fat, large
individual, wearing clothes set with jewels and a neat red beard. In his youth, he was
handsome and athletic, the most eligible prince in Europe. Henry was also a complex man:
intelligent, boisterous, flamboyant, extravagant, athletic, musical, a poet. Ruthless,
arrogant, passionate.
Henry’s desire for a male heir lead him to divorce two wives and have two wives beheaded:
it led to religious revolution and the creation of the Church of England, the Dissolution of
the Monasteries and the Reformation. The decisions that Henry made during his reign were
to shape modern Britain.
The second son of Henry VII, Henry was only 17 years when he became king in 1509. He
was 6 feet 2 inches tall, with a pale skin and auburn hair. He was athletic, a man of action
and enjoyed all kinds of sport: hunting, jousting, real tennis, riding. He was also a
musician; he played the flute, the lute and the organ. He wrote poetry. An avid reader, he
owned a library of almost a thousand books. He wrote a treatise against the Protestant
Martin Luther and was rewarded by Pope Leo X who gave him the title, “Defender of the
Faith”, which the British monarch retains to this day, albeit a different faith! In 1546, Henry
founded Trinity College, Cambridge. It can be argued that Henry founded the modern
English nation. In 1536, the Act of Union between England and Wales brought Wales into
union with England. The unification of Ireland was also achieved during his reign. Henry
increased the role of the Parliament, particularly regarding taxation.
Thomas Wolsey was Henry’s trusted advisor and friend. Wolsey was the son of an Ipswich
butcher, a highly intelligent man who became rich and powerful, rising to the position of
Lord Chancellor and Cardinal in 1515. Henry VIII had not expected to become king: his
elder brother Arthur had died. Henry had therefore received little tutoring in politics and
government, and was happy to rely on his friend Wolsey to advise him.
The six wives of Henry VIII
In his search to secure the continuation of the Tudor line, Henry married 6 times. One
divorce caused a split in the Church in England from Rome, 2 were imprisoned and
executed in the Tower of London, and only 2 outlived Henry. And only Jane Seymour (3rd
wife) gave birth to a boy.
 Catherine of Aragon (m. June 1509 CE) – Daughter: Mary (b. Feb. 1516 CE)
 Anne Boleyn (m. Jan. 1533 CE) – Daughter: Elizabeth (b. Sep. 1533 CE)
 Jane Seymour (m. May 1536 CE) – Son: Edward (b. Oct. 1537 CE)
 Anne of Cleves (m. Jan. 1540 CE)
 Catherine Howard (m. July 1540 CE)
 Catherine Parr (m. July 1543 CE)

Catherine of Aragon (1485-1536) was the youngest daughter of King Ferdinand II of

Aragon and Queen Isabella of Castile. Catherine had married prince Arthur (b. 1486), the
eldest son of Henry VII in 1501 but Arthur died the next year of illness. Henry VII arranged
for Catherine to marry his other son and now heir, Henry. Thus, Henry married Catherine
on 11 June 1509 and two weeks later he was crowned Henry VIII in Westminster Abbey.
Catherine was regarded as a beauty in her youth, and she was also well-educated. The
marriage was a happy one initially and produced 6 children but only one survived in
infancy, Queen Mary of England I (1553-1558). Meanwhile Henry had an illegitimate son,
Henry Fitzroy, Duke of Richmond, with a mistress, one Elizabeth Blount. When the queen
reached 40, Henry’s eyes had been caught by Anne Boleyn. The problem was to have his
marriage annulled since the Catholic Church did not allow divorce (the king’s great matter).
Henry wrote a letter to Pope Clement VII in 1527 suggesting that the lack of a male heir
was God’s punishment for marrying the wife of his late brother, a point supported by the
book of Leviticus in the OT. The king argued his marriage should never have been
permitted in the first place. The Pope would not agree despite the best persuasions of
Thomas Wolsey (Henry’s Lord Chancellor), after replaced with Sir Thomas More in 1529.
Henry’s third choice for Lord Chancellor was Thomas Cromwell, the king took a much
more radical approach, splitting the church in England from Rome, declare himself its head
and so sanction his own divorce.
A new archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer, duly annulled Henry’s marriage on 23
May 1333. The Act of Succession (30 April 1534) declared her daughter Mary illegitimate
and Catherine was forbidden from using the title ‘Queen of England’, she had to
instead use ‘Princess Dowager’. The Act of Supremacy of 38 November 1534 declared
the king head of the Church and so the English Reformation began. Catherine, meanwhile
had been separated from her daughter and confined to her residence, she died at 50 on 9
January 1536.

Anne Boleyn (1501-1536) was a former lover of King Henry. She was well-educated and
had grown up in the royal courts of the Netherlands and France; in 1522 she joined Henry’s
court. In 1533 Anne became Henry’s 2nd wife, and she is often known as ‘Anne of a
thousand days’ for her brief reign as queen of the king’s heart. She was dark-haired, slim,
and beautiful. She refused to sleep with the king until they were married. Anne, perhaps
seeing a baby as the best way to rid herself of her rival Catherine, did sleep with the king
and became pregnant. It now became imperative Henry married Anne in order to make his
children with her legitimate heirs. Consequently, the pair married in secret on 25 January
1533, several months before the official annulment of the first marriage. Anne was crowned
Queen of England on 1 June 1533. Their daughter and future Elizabeth I was born on
September 7 1533.
The royal relationship deteriorated with the headstrong Anne openly insulting the king at
court. She was accused of adultery, arrested, and confined to the Tower of London on 2
May 1536, she also was accused of incest, affairs, murder, and witchcraft; but she denied
all of the charges. She was found guilty anyway. Her marriage to Henry was annulled on 17
May, so Elizabeth and her half-sister Mary were declared illegitimate, and the queen was
sentenced to execution at the Tower of London. Anne offered to retire to a nunnery if
Henry would show mercy, but he did not. On 19 May 1536 she proclaimed: The king has
been good to me. He promoted me from a simple maid to a marchioness. Then he raised me
to be a queen. Now he will raise me to be a martyr.

Jane Seymour (1509-1537) married Henry on 30 May 1536. Jane was well liked at court
although she seems to have been a ‘plain Jane’, hardly able to read or write, with a large
nose and chin, she was the opposite of Anne Boleyn. This was her attraction to a king who
now wanted a submissive wife after 2 turbulent marriages. Jane did finally give the king a
son, Edward, born on 12 October 1537, the future Edward VI of England. Jane died shortly
after (24 October 1537).
Anne of Cleves (1519-1557) for his 4th wife, Henry returned to ties with a diplomatic
advantage and arranged to marry Anne of Cleves, the eldest daughter of John, Duke of the
German Duchy of that name. The match was orchestrated by Thomas Cromwell as England
needed Protestant allies against the Catholic superpowers of Europe. Anne immediately
displeased the king in her looks, personal hygiene, loud voice, and brash manners. Henry
and Cromwell had been flattered her portrait before they had met Anne in person. The
painting was, like many other portraits of the period, not so realistic. Henry, not the dashing
figure of his youth anymore, married Anne anyway on 6 January 1540. He soon changed
his mind. Anne’s planned coronation in February was cancelled and the pair divorced by
mutual consent on 9 July 1540. Henry gave her two manors, one castle and a very generous
allowance of 4,000 pounds a year, certainly enough to live the high life until her death on
16 July 1557.

Catherine Howard (1523-1542) was a teenager, cousin of Anne Boleyn and had once
been maid-of-honor to her predecessor as queen. Henry and Catherine married on 28 July
1540, referring to Catherine as his ‘rose without a thorn’. Ultimately, she was accused of
having an extramarital affair with a member of the court, Thomas Culpeper. Never mind
that Henry had himself started to have an affair with Catherine while he was still married to
Anne of Cleves. Catherine was executed by beheading in the Tower of London on 13
February 1542.

Catherine Parr (1512-1548) was the daughter of Sir Thomas Parr. They got married on
12 July 1543. She was attractive but already a 2time widow. She had planned to marry
Thomas Seymour but Henry had blocked it so he might have her for himself. In her thirties
she was a more mature lady and bc of this, the marriage was a success and the family home
a happy one. Catherine was well-educated, and she personally undertook the education of
her 3 adopted children.
Henry VIII’s health declined rapidly and he suffered a badly ulcerated leg and was so
overweight he had to be pushed around on a wheeled contraption. The king died on 28 Jan
1547 at Whitehall Palace in London; he was 55 y/o. Henry was buried in Saint George’s
Chapel at Windsor Castle, next to his late third and favorite wife, Jane Seymour. Catherine
outlived Henry but died from complications of childbirth on 7 September 1548 following
her fourth marriage the year before to Thomas Seymour. Catherine was buried at Sudeley
Castle in Gloucestershire.

LIFE CONDITION IN MIDDLE AGES

Little is known about the life of women in the Middle Ages, but it was hard. The Church
taught that women should obey their husbands. It also spread: they should be pure and hole
like the Virgin Mary; and that, like Eve, they could not be trusted and were a moral danger
to me. Marriage was usually the single most important event in the lives of men and
women. But the decision itself was made by the family, not the couple themselves. This
was because they could improve its wealth and social position. Everyone, both rich and
poor, married for mainly financial reasons. A disobedient wife was usually beaten. It is
unlikely that love played much of a part in most marriages.
The first duty of every wife was to give her husband children, preferably sons. The wife of
a noble had other responsibilities. When her lord was away, she was in charge of the manor
and the village lands, all the servants and villagers, the harvest and the animals, she also
had to defend the manor if it was attacked. She had to run to the households, welcome
visitors, and store enough food, including salted meat. She was expected to have enough
knowledge of herbs and plants to make suitable medicines for those in the village who were
sick. She probably visited the poor and the sick in the village.
Most women were peasants, busy making food, cloth and clothes. They worked in the
fields, looked after children, the animals. The family home was dark and smelly.
A woman’s position improved if her husband died. She could get control of the money her
family had given the husband. But she might have to marry again: men wanted her money
(or land), and it was difficult to look after it without the help pf a man.
Language and culture: with the spread of literacy, cultural life in Britain naturally
developed also. In the cities, plays were performed at important religious festivals. They
were called “mystery plays” because of the mysterious nature of events in the Bible, and
they were a popular form of culture. In the larger cities some guilds made themselves
responsible for particular plays, which became yearly events. The language itself was
changing, French had been used less and less by the Norman rulers during the 13th century.
In the 14th century Edward III had actually forbidden the speaking of French in his army. It
was a way of making the whole army aware of its Englishness.
After the Norman Conquest English (Old Anglo-Saxon language) continued to be spoken
by ordinary people but was no longer written. By the end of the 14th century, however,
English was once again a written language, because it was being used instead of French by
the ruling, literate class. But ‘Middle English’, the language of the 14 and 15 centuries, was
very different from Anglo-Saxon. This was partly bc it had not been written for 3000 years,
and partly because it had borrowed so much from Norman French.
Two writers, above all others, helped in the rebirth of English literature. One was William
Langland. A mid-14th century priest, whose poem Piers Plowman gives a powerful
description of the times in which he lived. The other, Geoffrey Chaucer has become much
more famous. His most famous work was The Canterbury Tales, written at the end of the
14th century, it describes a group of pilgrims travelling from London to the tomb of Thomas
Becket at Canterbury, a common religious act in England in the Middle Ages. Collections
of stories were popular at this time because almost all literature was written to be read out
loud. The stories themselves are not Chaucer’s own. He used old stories but rewrote them
in an interesting and amusing way.
By the end of the Middle Ages, English as well as Latin was being used in legal writing,
and also in elementary schools. Education developed enormously during the 15th century,
and many schools were founded by powerful men. One of these was William of Wykeham,
Bishop of Winchester and Lord Chancellor of England, who founded both Winchester
School (1382) and New College, Oxford. Like Henry VI’s later foundations at Eton and
Cambridge they have remained famous for their high quality. Many other schools were also
opened at this time, bc there was a growing need for educated people who could administer
the government, the Church, the law and trade. Clerks started grammar schools where
students could learn the skills of reading and writing. These schools offered their pupils a
future in the Church or the civil service, or at the universities of Oxford and Cambridge.
The universities themselves continued to grow as colleges and halls where the students
could both live and be taught were built. The college system remains the basis of
organization in these two universities.
The Middle Ages ended with a major technical development: William Caxton’s first
English printing press, set up in 1476. Caxton had learnt the skill of printing in Germany.
At first he printed popular books, such as Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales and Malory’s Morte
d’Arthur. This prose work described the adventures of the legendary King Arthur. Almost
certainly Malory had in mind the destruction of the English nobility in the War of the
Roses. Which were taking place as he wrote.
Caxton’s printing press was s dramatic for his age as radio, television and technological
revolution are for our own. Books suddenly became cheaper and more plentiful, as the
quicker printing process replaced slow and expensive copywriting by hand. Printing began
to standardize spelling and grammar, though this process was a long one. More important,
just as radio brought information and ideas to the illiterate people of the twentieth century,
Caxton’s press provided books for the newly educated people of the fifteenth century, and
encouraged literacy.

MARY I
Mary I, also called Mary Tudor, byname Bloody Mary, (born
February 18, 1516, Greenwich, near London, England—died
November 17, 1558, London), the first queen to rule England
(1553–58) in her own right. She was known as Bloody Mary for
her persecution of Protestants in a vain attempt to restore
Roman Catholicism in England.
Mary was the daughter of King Henry VIII and his first wife,
the Spanish-born princess Catherine of Aragon. Henry separated from Catherine in 1531
and had his marriage to her annulled in 1533. Mary was declared illegitimate, and she was
stripped of the title of princess.
Mary’s early years were spent as a diplomatic tool of her father, as she was promised as a
wife to several potential allies. After Henry married Anne Boleyn in 1533, Mary was
forbidden from seeing her mother and restricted in her access to her father.
She became godmother to Prince Edward, Henry’s son by Jane Seymour, the third queen.
Mary was now the most important European princess. Although plain, she was a popular
figure, with a fine contralto singing voice and great linguistic ability. She was, however, not
able to free herself of the epithet of bastard, and her movements were severely restricted.
Husband after husband proposed for her failed to reach the altar. When Henry married
Catherine Howard, however, Mary was granted permission to return to court, and in 1544,
although still considered illegitimate, she was granted succession to the throne after Edward
and any other legitimate children who might be born to Henry.
Edward VI succeeded his father in 1547 and, swayed by religious fervour and overzealous
advisers, made English rather than Latin compulsory for church services. Mary, however,
continued to celebrate mass in the old form in her private chapel and was once again in
danger of losing her head.
Mary as Queen Despite being placed back in the line of succession, Mary’s living
situation following Henry’s death once again became dangerous. Although Mary
maintained land holdings during her brother’s reign, particularly in East Anglia, she still
faced opposition at Edward’s court due to her religious beliefs.
By the spring of 1553, King Edward VI’s health began to rapidly deteriorate. Determined to
ensure that the throne was not passed to his Catholic sister, Edward created a latent patent
entitled, “My Device for the Succession.” This document
excluded both Mary and their sister, Elizabeth, from the
succession on the grounds that they were born illegitimate.
Instead, the throne would be passed to Lady Jane Grey, the
granddaughter of King Henry VIII’s sister.
Upon the death of Edward in 1553, Mary fled to Norfolk, as
Lady Jane Grey had seized the throne and was recognized as
queen for a few days. The country, however, considered Mary
the rightful ruler, and within some days she made a triumphal
entry into London. A woman of 37 now, she was forceful,
sincere, bluff, and hearty like her father.
The Privy Council turned against Jane Grey and proclaimed
Mary as Queen on July 19th, 1553.
Insensible to the need of caution for a newly crowned queen, unable to adapt herself to
novel circumstances, and lacking self-interest, Mary longed to bring her people back to the
church of Rome. To achieve this end, she was determined to marry Philip II of Spain, the
son of the emperor Charles V and 11 years her junior, though most of her advisers
advocated her cousin Courtenay, earl of Devon, a man of royal blood.
When in 1554 it became clear that she would marry Philip, a Protestant insurrection broke
out under the leadership of Sir Thomas Wyatt. Alarmed by Wyatt’s rapid advance toward
London, Mary made a magnificent speech rousing citizens by the thousands to fight for her.
Wyatt was defeated and executed, and Mary married Philip, restored the Catholic creed,
and revived the laws against heresy. For three years rebel bodies dangled from gibbets, and
heretics were relentlessly executed, some 300 being burned at the stake.
Being burned at the stake was typical punishment for heresy
It’s important to understand that heresy was considered by all of
early modern Europe to be an infection of the body politic that
had to be erased so as not to poison society at large. All over
Europe, the punishment for heresy was not only death, but
also the total destruction of the heretic’s corpse to prevent
the use of their body parts for relics. Therefore, most heretics
were burned and their ashes thrown into the river and Mary’s
choice of burning was completely standard practice for the period.

As consequence the queen, now known as Bloody Mary, was hated, her Spanish husband
distrusted and slandered, and she herself blamed for the vicious slaughter. An unpopular,
unsuccessful war with France, in which Spain was England’s ally, lost Calais, England’s
last toehold in Europe. Still childless, sick, and grief stricken, she was further depressed by
a series of false pregnancies.
Mary had a fragile constitution and suffered a series of illnesses throughout her life. She
also had at least two false pregnancies, the last of which, beginning in April 1558, would
mask the ultimate cause of her death. She was succeeded by her half-sister Elizabeth I.

Bloody Mary: Bloody Mary is a legend of a ghost, phantom, or spirit conjured to reveal
the future. She is said to appear in a mirror when her name is chanted repeatedly. The
Bloody Mary apparition may be benign or malevolent, depending on historic variations of
the legend. Bloody Mary appearances are mostly "witnessed" in group participation play or
by a man who is about to die.

HENRY VIII
1491-1547 – crowned 24 June 1509
The reign of King Henry VIII began as a golden age in British history. Having inherited an
overflowing treasury from his father and a legitimate claim to the throne from his mother,
the young Henry was athletic, intelligent and religious, and a patron of the arts, particularly
music and architecture. He disliked time-consuming administrative duties, and delegated to
ministers such as Wolsey and Thomas Cromwell. However, he loved warfare, beating the
French at Guinegate and the Scots at Flodden Field in 1513. As his reign continued,
Henry’s temperament grew volatile. He was obsessed with producing a male heir, and
famously married six times. His first wife, Catherine of Aragon – his elder brother Arthur’s
widow – produced only one surviving child, Mary. Henry claimed his marriage was
blighted by God as a punishment for marrying his brother’s wife, and after eighteen years
he decided to annul it in order to wed Anne Boleyn, who would later bear Elizabeth. The
pope’s refusal to grant a divorce brought conflict with the church, eventually leading to
Henry’s excommunication and the Reformation.
Suppressing political opposition, Henry beheaded anyone who displeased him, including
many of his former ministers and his second wife, Catherine Howard. Between them were
Jane Seymour – who died shortly after giving birth to his one male heir, Edward – and
Anne of Cleves, whom he divorced after six months. Henry died in 1547, out of money and
too far to move unaided. His last wife, Catherine Parr, outlived him, and remarried.
The Reformation (1529-1536)
Henry VIII had conflict with the Pope and Europe’s Catholic powers, although Henry in
fact remained devoutly Catholic – the Pope had earlier named him ‘Defender of the Faith’
in gratitude for his public refutation of the ideas of the reformist cleric Martin Luther.
Henry secured his divorce by rejecting papal authority over the English Church,
declaring himself Supreme Head of the Church in 1534, and ending the Pope’s control over
a country that was still mainly Catholic. Anyone who actively disagreed was guilty of
treason and executed. The Act of Supremacy marks the first time the salutation ‘Your
Majesty’ was used and heralded England’s move towards becoming a legally self-sufficient
Empire. In 1549, Thomas Cranmer’s Protestant Book of Common Prayer was completed
and its use imposed on churches.
The break with Rome was just beginning of the English Reformation, a wide-ranging
movement that lasted for several decades. After a period of religious uncertainty,
Elizabethan policies would crystallize a wide range of religious opinion into the Anglican
Church Settlement.
But the English Reformation was part of a wider European movement that began with
Luther in 1517. Strict dogma, financial extravagance and corruption by the Church
hierarchy troubled European Catholics, and corruption by the Reformation was a reaction
to those practices, with roots stretching back nearly 150 years to the work of reformists like
John Wycliffe. The English Reformation was not simply a by-product of Henry’s divorce.
The Dissolution of the Monasteries (1536-1541)
After his divorce and the break with Rome, Henry VIII needed to reduce the Church’s
power in England, as well as find money to fund his fruitless and expensive wars against
France and Scotland. His solution was to target to wealthy Catholic monasteries. In a five-
year period, over 800 monasteries were dissolved, demolished for building materials, sold
off to aspiring gentry or reclaimed as Anglican churches. Although monks and nuns were
generally treated well, some who resisted were executed. Seizing property brought in less
money than expected, so Henry also sold monastic lands to merchants and nobles, bringing
new landowners to his side. Although Henry bought support from the self-interested gentry,
many Catholics, particularly in the north, were furious. A short-lived rising, the Pilgrimage
of Grace, was dispersed by force in 1536-7, though Henry did agree to some minor
concessions. Although some clerics agreed with the principle of reform. They were aghast
that the proceeds enriched the King rather than funding hospitals and schools to replace
those that had been run by monasteries. The biggest losses were cultural – shrines were
ransacked, altars looted and priceless manuscripts lost forever.
Lady Jane Grey, Queen for Nine Days (1536/7-1554)
She had the shortest reign in British history as Britain’s first queen regnant. The young Jane
was mistreated by her parents and found solace in books, which would lead her to become
one of the most learned women of the time, a devout Protestant with a gift for languages.
But she was manipulated by both her father, who attempted to marry her to Edward VI,
and, later, after she married Lord Guildford Dudley, by her father-in-law, the Duke of
Northumberland.
Sixteen-year-old Edward VI’s health was failing and the subject of the succession was top
of the agenda. Many wanted to keep the Catholic Princess Mary off the throne to uphold
the Protestant Reformation. Northumberland, head of Edward’s government, persuaded the
King to overlook his half-sisters, Mary and Elizabeth, claiming they were illegitimate
despite the Catholic Mary being named the next in line in Henry VIII’s will.
Northumberland decided that Jane, granddaughter of Henry VII through his second
daughter was next in line. It was no coincidence that she was married to his son. Edward VI
died on 6 July 1553, and four days later Jane was proclaimed Queen by Northumberland.
Mary, however, made an immediate counter-claim and quickly gained widespread support
Mary felt that Jane, if left alive, could be a focus for Protestant rebellion, so on 12 February
1554, Jane, no more than 17 years old, watched her husband’s beheading at the Tower
before being executed herself.

ELIZABETH I: Queen of England - Good Queen Bess - The Virgin Queen

The term “Elizabethan Era” refers to the English history of Queen Elizabeth I’s reign
(1558-1603). It is considered to be a time of English renaissance that inspired national pride
trough classical ideals, international expansion, and naval triumph.
This English Renaissance saw the flowering of poetry, music and literature. The era is most
famous for theatre, as William Shakespeare and many others composed plays that we still
read and watch today. It was also an age of exploration and expansion abroad to establish
colonies under English rule across the globe, including in The New World, to further
England’s empire.
Before Elizabeth reached her third birthday, her father had her mother beheaded on charges
of adultery and treason. Moreover, at Henry’s instigation, an act of Parliament declared his
marriage with Anne Boleyn invalid from the beginning, thus making their daughter
Elizabeth illegitimate, as Roman Catholics had all along claimed her to be. She grew up in
a household at Hatfield.
1537 Henry’s third wife, Jane Seymour, gave birth to a son, Edward, Elizabeth receded still
further into relative obscurity, but she was not neglected. Elizabeth was present at
ceremonial occasions and was declared third in line to the throne. Elizabeth received the
rigorous education normally reserved for male heirs, consisting of a course of studies
centring on classical languages, history, rhetoric, and moral philosophy. In addition to
Greek and Latin, she became fluent in French and Italian, attainments of which she was
proud and which were in later years to serve her well in the conduct of diplomacy. She also
studied theology.
During her half-sister’s reign she was obliged to observe the official Catholic religion. She
was arrested and sent to the Tower of London after Sir Thomas Wyatt’s rebellion in
January 1554, Elizabeth narrowly escaped her mother’s fate. Two months later, after
extensive interrogation and spying had revealed no conclusive evidence of treason on her
part, she was released from the Tower and placed in close custody for a year at Woodstock.
Everything in Elizabeth’s early life taught her to pay careful attention to how she
represented herself and how she was represented by others. She learned her lesson well.
Accession: At the death of Mary on November 17, 1558, Elizabeth came to the throne amid
bells, bonfires, patriotic demonstrations, and other signs of public jubilation. Her entry into
London and the great coronation procession that followed were masterpieces of political
courtship.
Religion in the Elizabethan Era
Elizabeth restored England to Protestantism. The Act of Supremacy, passed by Parliament
and approved in 1559, revived the antipapal statues of Henry VIII and declared the queen
supreme governor of the church, while the Act of Uniformity established a slightly revised
version of the second Edwardian prayer book as the official order of worship.
Queen Elizabeth made attendance at Church of England services mandatory, even though
many church-goers had to travel long distances. People, who did not attend –for any reason
except illness- were punished with fines. While it was not a crime to be catholic in
Elizabethan England, there was no legal way for Catholics to practice their faith. It was
illegal to hold or to attend a Mass. Elizabethan policy allowed freedom of belief as long as
English subject did not openly flout the law or encourage sedition.
The woman ruler in a patriarchal world
Elizabeth made it immediately clear that she intended to rule in more than name only and
that she would not subordinate her judgment to that of any one individual or faction.
Elizabeth had to improvise a new model of female authority. The monarch was at the
pinnacle of the state, but that state was relatively impoverished and weak, without a
standing army, an efficient police force, or a highly developed, effective bureaucracy. To
obtain sufficient revenue to govern, the crown had to request subsidies and taxes. Under
these difficult circumstances, Elizabeth developed a strategy of rule that blended imperious
command with an extravagant, histrionic cult of love. Several matches were proposed and
summarily rejected. But in this vulnerable period of her life there were obvious reasons for
Elizabeth to bide her time and keep her options open. When she became queen, speculation
about a suitable match immediately intensified, and the available options became a matter
of national concern. If Elizabeth died childless, the Tudor line would come to an end. The
nearest heir was Mary, Queen of Scots, the granddaughter of Henry VIII’s sister Margaret.
Mary, a Catholic whose claim was supported by France and other powerful Catholic states.
- The queen’s marriage was critical not only for the question of succession but also
for the web of international diplomacy. England, isolated and military weak, was
sorely in need of the major alliances that an advantageous marriage could forge.
Elizabeth was courted by English suitors as well, most assiduously by her principal
favourite, Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester. As master of the horse and a member of the
Privy Council, Leicester was constantly in attendance on the queen, who displayed toward
him all the signs of an ardent romantic attachment.
The queen’s relations with Parliament
Many sessions of Parliament, particularly in the early years of her rule, were more than
cooperative with the queen; they had the rhetorical air of celebrations. But under the strain
of the marriage-and-succession question, the celebratory tone, which masked serious policy
differences, began over the years to wear thin, and the sessions involved complicated.
She transformed the language of politics into the language of love, likening herself to the
spouse or the mother of her kingdom. Characteristic of this rhetorical strategy was her
famous “Golden Speech” of 1601, when, in the face of bitter parliamentary opposition to
royal monopolies, she promised reforms.
England – Spain
1. In July 1588, the Invincible Armada reached English waters, the queen’s ships, in
one of the most famous naval encounters of history defeated the enemy fleet, which
then in an attempt to return to Spain was all but destroyed by terrible storms.
2. At the moment when the Spanish invasion was imminently expected, Elizabeth
resolved to review in person a detachment of soldiers assembled at Tilbury. Dressed
in a white gown and a silver breastplate, she rode through the camp and proceeded
to deliver a celebrated speech.
3. “I know I have the body of a weak and feeble woman, but I have the heart and
stomach of a king, and of a king of England too” she declared.
4. The scene exemplifies many of the queen’s qualities: her courage, her histrionic
command of grand public occasions, her rhetorical blending of magniloquence and
 the language of love, her strategic identification with marital virtues considered
male.
ELIZABETHAN SOCIETY
Structure The structure was hierarchical and arranged like a pyramid, with the numberless
mass of the peasantry and laboring class at the bottom, and the Queen at the top.
1. Peasantry
2. Gentry
3. Nobility
4. Society’s Gray Areas

The Peasantry: At the bottom of the country hierarchy were the "cottars", so called
because they possessed nothing but the cottage in which they lived (which they rented) and
perhaps an acre or two of land. If they were lucky or resourceful, they had skills, such as
carpentry or weaving which they could use to supplement the minimal income they would
gain from their lands. If not, they might follow the harvest, working for a pittance and
enduring harsh conditions.
A step above the cottar was the tenant farmer (called a "husbandman"). He did not hold his
land freely but rented it from another party, either a yeoman or one of the country gentry or
aristocracy. A typical holding that might support a single family would be around 25 acres.
In good times, the husbandman fared well by the standards of the day. He and his family
usually had enough to eat, and though work was hard, there was time, now and again, for
him to take a holiday and enjoy life in the manner he most enjoyed: singing, dancing and
drinking.
Foremost among the husbandmen was the yeoman, though still a peasant, controlled
through "freeholds" (a "freehold" was a perpetual lease that carried little or no rent) and
possibly some leases as well, many acres of land, and probably had tenants of his own. He
did not own his own land by law: the Lord of the Manor still held the title; but in actual
practice, a freehold was indistinguishable from direct ownership.
The yeoman still worked the land and followed the plow, but he was clearly at the top of
the village community. If the family of a yeoman applied themselves, and took pains to
"engross" (enlarge and consolidate) their holdings, they could eventually find their way into
the gentry. Many, however, were happy with the place God gave them, and though they
might be far richer than many gentlemen, they still chose not to make that leap into
gentility.

The Gentry: The gentry were the elite of the countryside. They were either lords of a
manor, in which case they held the land outright, or were gentlemen freeholders, who were
tenants of some greater lord. Either way however, they lived off of rents paid by their
tenants, and most importantly, they did no manual labor to support themselves. The ability
to live without manual labor was the measure of gentility
Their economic and customary power was augmented by the government with legal
power. The most substantial country gentlemen were appointed as Justices of the Peace,
and given the brief of enforcing the law and meeting out justice in the community. The
gentry also filled all the other local offices, such as sheriff or surveyor of the roads.
From the ranks of the gentry were drawn the knights. By this time, knighthood had
ceased to be a purely military appointment, and many knights had gained their position
through non military service to the crown
Just below the knights were the esquires. These were the more distinguished members of
the country gentry community and were distinguished from the run of the gentry by the
privilege of bearing arms.
All of the above degrees of the gentry could, and did hold local and national
governmental offices, as well as serve in Parliament in the House of Commons.

The Nobility: A noble could only be a noble if he was born into it, or was ennobled by the
crown (something Elizabeth did very seldom). They were entitled to elaborate forms of
address and shows of deference from all of their social inferiors. They could not be
imprisoned for debt, nor could they be flogged, tortured or pilloried, and if they committed
a capital crime they could not be hanged or otherwise abused; they could only be beheaded.
If they were to be tried for an offense, they could only be tried by a body of other nobles.
Most nobles inherited extensive lands and generous incomes, and though there were
some commoners in town and country who had more money than many of the nobility, the
richest people in England tended to be nobles. Many also ran up prodigious debts, and were
in frequent need of new sources of cash.
There were quite distinct degrees of status in the nobility, which contained between each
step, numerous sub-steps to account for sons, daughters etc.
In descending order of precedence, the major degrees of nobility were: 1.Duke/Duchess
2.Marquis/Marchioness
3.Earl/Countess
4.Viscount/Viscountess
5.Baron/Baroness
These were the only degrees of nobility current in England in the time of Elizabeth, and
after the execution of the Duke of Norfolk, there were no Dukes in England. The rank of
"Baronet" did not yet exist.
Society’s Gray Areas: There were in the countryside many people who did not fit neatly
into a particular niche.
At the bottom of this group were the vagabonds, beggars, cut-purses and masterless men -
of whom there were thousands in Elizabethan England. If such a person were lucky, he or
she could get a begging license, and beg in a particular town.
A step above the vagabonds were wandering tradesmen such as peddlers and tinkers. They
were welcome for the goods or services they provided.
Within the villages, there were specialists at one trade or another, such as blacksmiths,
carpenters, potters, weavers and the like. The village also usually had a priest who served as
the local representative of the Church, and who had the job of solemnizing and presiding
over the rites of peoples' lives; such as marriage, death and baptism. The level of education
and dedication of the local clergy was not exemplary. Many of them were losers who had
found a living in the Church, having failed at everything else.
Soldiers were also a group that didn't fit neatly into the structure of society. The officers
were gentlemen, and were regarded as normal members of the gentry, but the rank and file
were generally feared for their predatory reputation.
Status was something that men had, and a woman's status was derived entirely from that of
her husband, if she was married; and her father if she was not. A woman was generally
regarded as being one half step below her husband - of lesser status than her husband, but
of greater status than all men who were of lesser status than her husband.
Elizabethan women spoke their minds, and though they didn't generally own property or
hold office, they shouldered considerable responsibility. The husband might have been the
master of the house, but it was the wife who held the keys to the doors and chests and ruled
the house. Each sex had its unique rights and obligations, and in theory, when these were
honored, a couple would make up a single, efficient.

Useful vocabulary:
- Peasantry: campesinado
- Cottage: cabaña
- Pittance: miseria
- Peddlers: vendedores ambulantes Wandering tradesmen: vendedores ambulates
- Weaving: tejedores artesanos Masterless: sin amo
- Tinker: gitano
- Gentry: alta burguesía Tenants: inquilinos
- Esquire: don
- Guild: gremio
- Freehold: propiedad vitalicia
- Leases: arrendamientos
 - Yeoman: hacendados Priest:sacerdote

Elizabethan Food
Elizabethan Food and Drink varied according to status and wealth. In the
early Medieval era meat was a sign of wealth. But as the population rose, this
was supported by improving agricultural techniques and inventions. The
Elizabethan era saw the introductions of different food from the New World.
This period saw the expanded use of sugar as well. Increased cultivation of fruit
trees and bee hives was also seen during the Elizabethan era increasing the range
of foods available.
Elizabethan Food Presentation - the Visual Effect
It was important that Elizabethan Food prepared for the nobility, especially
for feasts and banquets, had a great visual effect. Elizabethans enjoyed a variety
of serving methods, colors and various 'props'. Peacocks were reared for
consumption but their feathers were used to decorate cooked foods. Strange and
unusual shapes were used in food presentation. The old English Nursery Rhyme
"Sing a song of sixpence' contains the phrase 'four and twenty blackbirds baked
in a pie'. It was quite probable that a court jester may well have suggested to the
court cook to bake a pie pastry crust and place this over some live blackbirds to
surprise and amuse the nobility.
Purchasing Elizabethan Food
Elizabethan Food was generally purchased from small markets and from fairs. In
large cities like London there were specific markets which sold fish, dairy
products or fruit and vegetables. Meat was sold at large livestock markets.
Cooking Utensils
A large amount of Elizabethan cooking was conducted over an open flame.
Useful cooking utensils for this method of cooking Elizabethan food were pots,
pans, kettles, skillets and cauldrons. To prepare the food a range of knives, ladles,
meat forks and scissors were used. Instead of a baking tin, Elizabethan cooks
used a baking tray made of hardened pastry, which was unnervingly called a
‘coffin’. The mortar and pestle were essential cooking utensils for cooks who
used nuts spices in their recipes. Each cook kept a book of their own recipes.
Elizabethan Drinks
Water was not clean in the Middle Ages and people therefore drank wine and ale.
The rich drank both and the poor just drank ale. Honey was used to make a sweet
alcoholic drink called mead which was drunk by all classes. Wine was generally
imported although some fruit wines were produced in England. A form of cider
referred to as 'Apple-wine' was also produced. Ales were brewed with malt and
water, while beer contained hops that held a bitter flavor. Other flavors were
added to ales and beers such as bayberries, orris, or long pepper. Consumption of
weak, low-alcohol drinks at this time has been estimated at around one gallon per
person per day.
Old Elizabethan Recipes
Food during Elizabethan Times was changing. New Foods such as the tomato,
potato and the turkey were being introduced from the New World. Chilli peppers
of the capsicum family including red peppers, cayenne, paprika and chilli were
also imported from the New World. Upper Class Elizabethans were quite
adventurous with their recipes and cooking.
The early Crusaders had brought to England elements of Eastern cookery
requiring spices such as pepper, cinnamon, mace, ginger, cloves, raisins, saffron
and sugar and these were introduced into Old Medieval recipes and passed down
to Elizabethan Recipes. Spices were extremely expensive and therefore used in
cooking recipes by the Upper Classes. The use of Spices in Elizabethan cooking
recipes therefore became a matter of both social fashion and social prestige.
Spices used in Recipes from the Elizabethan Era were a sign of wealth and high
social status.
Sweet Substances used in Old Elizabethan Dessert Food Recipes
Sugar was imported to England, having been obtained from sugar cane. Any
imported foods were expensive and therefore out of the reach of Lower classes
and used primarily by the Elizabethan Upper Classes and Nobility. Extensive use
of Sugar was known to blacken the teeth and black teeth became an Elizabethan
status symbol. This fashion fad was so popular amongst Upper Class
Elizabethans that cosmetics were used to create an illusion of black teeth. Honey
was a common sweet substance used in old Elizabethan Dessert food recipes -
honey was produced in England and therefore far less expensive, and commonly
used in Elizabethan dessert food recipes for the Lower classes. Ground sweet
aromatic spices such as aniseed, fennel seed, and nutmeg were referred to as
'Sweet Powder' (Pouder Douce). Ground ginger blended with powdered sugar
was called White Powder (blanch pouder).
Bisket Cakes
Take four new laid Eggs, leave out two of the Whites, beat them very well,
then put in two spoonfuls of Rose-water, and, beat them very well together, then
put in a pound of double refin'd Sugar beaten and searced, and beat them together
one hour, then put to them one pound of fine Flour, and still beat them together a
good while; then put them upon Plates rubbed over with Butter.
Devonshire White Pot
Take two quarts of new Milk, a peny white Loaf sliced very thin, then make
the Milk scalding hot, then put to it the Bread, and break it, and strain it through
 a Cullender, then put in four Eggs, a little Spice, Sugar, Raisins, and Currans, and
a little Salt, and so bake it, but not too much, for then it will whey.
Elizabethan Daily Meals
Elizabethan royalty, the Upper Classes and Nobles would eat their food from
silverware. Lower classes would eat their food from wooden or horn dishes.
Every Elizabethan had their own knife. Spoons were rarely used as any liquid
food, such as soups, was drunk from a cup. Forks were introduced in the late 14th
century. The kitchens in large houses or castles were usually situated some
distance from the Great Hall and therefore food was generally served cold.
The number of daily meals eaten during the day by the Upper Classes was as
follows:
- Breakfast - Food and drink generally served between 6 -7
- Dinner - Food and drink generally served at mid-morning between 12 – 2
- Supper - Was a substantial meal and food and drink was generally served between
6 -7 and accompanied by various forms of entertainment.
The Elizabethan Lower Classes also had three meals but obviously far less
elaborate than the Upper Classes.
Daily Elizabethan Food Consumption for the Lower Classes
The food eaten daily by the average Lower Class Elizabethan 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. Records show that the daily ration of a food for a Tudor
soldier with 2 lb. of beef or mutton with l lb. cheese, l/2 lb. butter, 1.5 lb. bread
and 2/3 gallon of beer. It is probably worth pointing out that the beer had very
low alcohol content.
Daily Elizabethan Food Consumption for the Upper Classes
The quantity, quality and type of food consumed by the Upper Classes differed
considerably from the diet of the Lower Classes. The number of courses and
variety of Elizabethan foods consumed by the Upper Classes included ingredients
which were too expensive for the majority of English people. The Upper classes
had a taste for spicy and also sweet foods and could afford the expensive spices
and sugar required to create these exotic recipes.

Elizabethan Food Preservation

There were no methods available to freeze foods so Elizabethan food varied
according to the season. It was not economic to feed animal during the winter
therefore animals were slaughtered in the autumn and preserved in salt. The
problem was that food had a constant salt taste. Methods were introduced to
disguise the salty taste. Spices were added to recipes. These spices included
pepper, mustard, saffron, cloves, cardamom and cinnamon. Elizabethan food was
also served with a variety of sauces which also disguised the salty taste.
Potages and stews formed an important element in the diet of Middle and
Lower class Elizabethans. Food processing was introduced to soften meat and
vegetables. This consisted of soaking roots, leaves, seeds, nuts, and berries in
cold water for several hours. This softening process made these food easier to
digest. Salted meats and fish were generally rinsed in several changes of
liquid before they were added to a dish. Pickling, desiccation and smoking were
also found in old Elizabethan recipes for methods of preservation.
The Stillroom
The Elizabethans preserved fresh flowers and herbs to use to flavour winter
dishes. The preparation of preserved food took place in the Stillroom.
In the Stillroom distillations, preserves and delicate floral syrups were prepared.
The Stillroom was also used to prepare medicinal tinctures and herbal potions.
But the most famous use of the Stillroom was to produce alcoholic beverages.

Games people played during the Elizabethan Era – July 27

People of the Elizabethan era used sports and games as a way to relax a bit when
work was over. The games that the people of this era played are numerous.
They were open for all no matter what their social standing may be. There were
five major categories of games. These categories are card games, board
games, dice games, sporting games and children's games.
Card Games
Card Games were popular with anyone who like to gamble and play the
game of chance. Some of the more popular card games of this era were the “One
and Thirty”, considered by many as the ancestor of the modern
Blackjack; the “Ruff and Honors”, which was played by teams of four players
each; and the “Maw”, a trick-taking game for ten players.
Board Games
When it comes to board games, Elizabethans are known to have played and
popularized a number of these. Chess was the most popular board game during
those times. There were also other board games like “Backgammon”,
“Nine Men's Morris”, the “Alquerques”, the “Fox and Geese”, the “Philosopher's
Game”, “Shove Ha'penny” and the “Shovel Board”.
Backgammon Board
Dice Games
Dice games were also played, like the “Knucklebones” and the “Hazard”, which
was the most popular and it is similar to modern Craps.
Sports
Archery was one popular sporting game during this era, as well as the early
ancestor of the modern-day badminton. Other noteworthy Elizabethan England
sporting games include “billiards”, “bowls”, early golf, “Gameball”, “Hammer-
Throwing”, “wrestling”, “tennis” and a whole lot more.
Children’s Games
Sports of the Elizabethan era weren't just for adults. Children had their own share
of games as well. The playing of “Marbles” was popular, as well as the “Blind
Man's Bluff”, which was also played by adults; and the “Hopscotch”.
Blind Man’s Bluff

Elizabethan Theatre
Queen Elizabeth recognized the importance of the arts to the life and
legacy of her nation. The Queen was fond of the theatre, and many of
England's greatest playwrights were active during her reign, including
Christopher Marlowe, Ben Jonson, and William Shakespeare. With her
permission, professional theatres were built in England for the first time,
which led to the development of companies of actors, both professional
and amateur. These companies of players travelled throughout England,
generally performing in London in the winter and spring, attracting
15,000 theatregoers per week and navigating notoriously neglected roads
throughout the English countryside during the summers when plague
ravaged the city. Professional companies were also retained for the
private entertainment of English aristocracy.
In spite of its popularity, the Elizabethan theatre attracted criticism,
censorship, and scorn from some sectors of English society. The plays
were often crude and rude, and playwrights and actors belonged to a
bohemian class. Puritan leaders and officers of the Church of England
considered actors to be of questionable character, and they also feared
the overcrowded theatre spaces might lead to the spread of disease.
Among the actors who performed in the Elizabethan theatre, Richard
Burbage is perhaps the best known. Burbage was the leading actor in
Shakespeare's company, the Lord Chamberlain's Men, and he is credited
with portraying a range of dramatic leads including Richard III, Hamlet,
 Lear, and Othello. An actor himself, Shakespeare played roles in his own
plays, usually as older male characters.
Acting was not considered an appropriate profession for women in the
Elizabethan era, and even into the seventeenth century acting companies
consisted of men with young boys playing the female roles. Instead of
clothing reflecting the station of their characters, Elizabethan actors
wore extravagant costumes consistent with upper class dress. In contrast,
stage scenery was minimal, perhaps consisting solely of painted panels
placed upstage.
Performances were usually given in the afternoons, lasting two to
three hours. As in both ancient and contemporary theatres, each section
of the theatre bore a different price of admission, with the lowest prices
in the pit below stage level where patrons stood to watch the play.
Etiquette did not prohibit the audiences from freely expressing their
distaste or satisfaction for the action on stage.
Elizabethan England Music
Music was an important form of entertainment to the people who lived
during the Elizabethan era. During the Elizabethan time the music was
broken down into 5 main categories:
• Church music, which was written to perform only in a church, was
peaceful and would always be in relation to the religion of the Christian;
• Court music, which was made up of string and keyboard instruments and
was considered to be the most exploratory music because it ranged from
slow moving traditional music to incredible complicated and fast music;
• Town music, which would be played when nobility arrived or on special
events and occasions. Each town would have their own town band
otherwise known as the waits.
• Street music which was made up of two groups, one of which was
minstrels (mid evil music players) who played in the streets for money.
The second group of street musicians was known as Trouveres who were
very similar minstrels, but their music was more refined.
• Theatre music, which was not a big thing till the Elizabethan era hit
because of William Shakespeare and his plays. Town’s people loved
having music in plays so much that if they saw a play without a musical
performance they would find it very odd.
The introduction of new musical instruments provided the sounds which
produced a much more refined sound than had been produced during the
 medieval era. Music was being taught in schools and Universities. The
Queen had been taught to play musical instruments as part of her
education and was a skilled musician of the lute and the virginal. Nobles
were expected to entertain their contemporaries and to show their skills
in dancing and their ability to play a musical instrument.
The Elizabethan Golden Age saw the emergence of the Anthem, the
Madrigal, the Masque and Opera, and great Elizabethan composers such
as William Byrd, Thomas Campion, John Dowland, John Farmer,
Orlando Gibbons, Robert Johnson and Thomas Tallis.
Elizabethan Calendar
The Elizabethans did not concern themselves much with the exact
date. They looked upon the year as a series of seasons, and they
used feast days as a reference for dates. In addition, the English used the
old Julian calendar long after the rest of Western Europe went over to the
Gregorian calendar in 1582. Due to the Papal origin of the new calendar,
it was regarded with suspicion by the Protestant English. The Old Julian
Calendar was ten days behind the Gregorian in 1582.
Sunday of course, remained inviolate, and was supposed to be a day of
prayer and reflection. For most however, it was a chance to go to plays,
and markets, though such Sabbath breaking was, of course, frowned
upon.
Movable Feasts
All of these Feasts are related to Easter:
• Shrove Sunday: Celebrated the Sunday before Ash
Wednesday. Shrovetide is a time when all of the meats forbidden during
Lent are eaten.
• Shrove Monday: Celebrated the Monday before Ash Wednesday.
• Shrove Tuesday: Celebrated the day before Ash Wednesday.
• Ash Wednesday: Celebrated 46 days before Easter. It marks the beginning
of Lent, a time of fasting and prayer. It is forbidden to eat red meat
during Lent. In addition to breads and greens, only fish, milk, butter and
eggs are allowed.
• Palm Sunday: Celebrated the Sunday before Easter. It is the
commemoration of Christ's entry into Jerusalem.
• Good Friday: Celebrated the Friday before Easter. It is the
commemoration of the Crucifixion.
• Easter Sunday: first Sunday after the first Full Moon which happens next
after the One and Twentieth day of March (the Spring Equinox). This is
the holiest day of the year, and commemorates the resurrection.
It marks the end of Lent.
• Ascension: Also called Rogation or Holy Thursday. Falls forty days after
Easter.
• Whitsunday: Also called Pentecost. Celebrated 50 days after Easter. It
commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit to the disciples.
• Trinity Sunday: Celebrated 8 weeks after Easter.
Feasts and Other Important Dates
These are some of the Feasts celebrated by Elizabethans on a specific
date:
• March 25: New Year's Day and the Annunciation of the Virgin. Also
called "Lady Day"
• April 25: The Feast of St. Mark the Evangelist
• May 1: May Day. The beginning of Summer.
• June 24: Nativity of St. John the Baptist or Midsummer Day. A mystical
and dangerous time. St. John's fires are lit to keep away evil.
• July 2: Visitation of the Virgin
• August 15: Assumption of the Virgin
• September 7: Harvest Home (date varies). The completion of the harvest.
A time for village festivals.
• September 29: St. Michael and All Angels or Michalmas. This is the
beginning of a new accounting year and the end of the old. Not
coincidentally, it is also the end of the old agricultural year and the
beginning of the new. It is the time when the profits from the harvest are
realized, when annual rents can be collected and bills paid. It is, to this
day, often the end of the "fiscal year".
• October 25: St. Crispin & St. Crispinian. Remembered primarily as the
anniversary of the battle of Agincourt.
• November 1: All Saints or All Hallows. Stored fruits and grains are
blessed and dead are remembered.
• November 11: The Feast of St. Martin or Martinmas. The festival of
Winter's beginning.
• November 17: Queen Elizabeth's Accession Day. Celebrated with
bonfires and bell ringing. It was celebrated well past the date of her
 death, often with more enthusiasm than holidays dedicated to the
reigning monarchs.
• November 30: The beginning of the Christmas season.
• December 25: Christmas Day.
• December 26 – January 6: the twelve days of Christmas.
• January 13: The Feast of St. Hilary. Traditionally the coldest day of the
year.
• February 2: Purification of the Virgin or Candlemas. Lights and candles
are blessed in Churches, and candlelight processions are held.
After Candlemas, the fields are tilled for spring planting and the animals
are no longer allowed to graze in the fields.
• March 21: The first day of Spring.