Life in Tudor England

The Tudor period began in 1485, with the reign of Henry VII and ended in 1603 with the reign of Elizabeth I. The Tudor period in England saw five monarchs on the throne, Henry VII, Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary I and Elizabeth I, all part of the Tudor dynasty. However it is important to consider alongside the monarchy, the lives of the ordinary people during the Tudor period. To be able to measure how successful the Tudor monarchy was, the domestic policy needs to be looked at closely.

POVERTY
During Tudor times around one third of the population lived in poverty.

The Vagabonds and Beggars Act (1495) 
This was enforced by King Henry VII. The act focused on punishing people who were seen as vagabonds, a term used for those in poverty without steady home or employment, and allowed punishment of beggars. The officers of this time were allowed lawfully to arrest people who fell under either of these categories. The Act stated: 'vagabonds, idle and suspected persons shall be set in the stocks for three days and three nights and have none other sustenance but bread and water and then shall be put out of Town.' (1) This act was for the most part highly ineffective. It persecuted those in poverty, without taking into account that many of these people could not possibly provide for themselves and had no other choice but to live the life of a 'vagabond'

Poor Law Act (1535) 
This act stated that governors of cities, towns, parishes and the like should keep and care for those who were aged, poor and impotent through the help of voluntary charity to prevent people from begging. By keeping these 'vagabonds' would keep them in continual labour

Act for the Relief of the Poor (1597) 
This was the first complete code of poor relief and established the Overseers of the Poor.The Overseers of the Poor was a position created by the act and involved administering poor relief including money, food and clothing. The Overseers were responsible in estimating the amount of poor relief required so as to set the poor rate as well as distributing the relief. The poor rate was a tax levied on property used to provide for poor relief.

Act for the Relief of the Poor (1601) 
This refined what was set out in the Act for the Relief of the Poor in 1597 and made parishes responsible for supporting their community. The act involved that the impotent poor were to be cared for in a poorhouse, offering relief for those who were unable to work such as the blind. Those who were able to work were sent to work in a House of Industry. Those who were unwilling to work, known as the idle, were sent to a House of Correction or even prison and pauper children became apprentices. This act was a move away from the prior ways of punishing those in poverty.

EDUCATION
Those who went to school were mainly those who were sons of the wealthy who could actually afford the school fees. Girls were not sent to school but were kept at home to be educated and to learn the housework, or in the case of poorer families, sent out to work. The average school day began between 6:00 and 7:00 am and would finish around 5:00 pm. Due to there being very few books pupils read from hornbooks.

There were two main types of schools during the Tudor period, the petty schools and grammar schools. The petty schools were exclusive to those boys of middle class-origin and was most often ran by a local well educated housewife. These schools often taught boys to basics such as learning to read and write as well as lessons in behavior. Grammar schools were for boys aged 7 to 14, whereby after they may have been sent to university. At grammar school the boys were taught many lessons such as grammar, languages, theology, philosophy, literature, geometry and music. During the time of King Henry VIII he authorised the use of the textbook Lily's Latin Grammar, by William Lily, as the sole Latin grammar book to be used in schools.

After the age of 14 many boys went to university. However at the time there were only two universities; Oxford and Cambridge.

HEALTH
During the the Tudor period the life expectancy ranged from 40-50 years.

There was a high lack of sanitation in Tudor England due to the lack of sewers and drains. Diseases such as smallpox, measles, typhus, diphtheria, Scarlet fever and chickenpox were common  and during this period there were five major outbreaks of the Black Death.

For most people during this period, whether rich or poor, their staple diet was bread, even though the qualities varied between the classes. Nonetheless for most people in the Tudor era they lacked a balanced diet and this lack of necessities such as fruit, vegetables and vitamins often led to scurvy.

(1) - http://www.kingsnorton.info/time/poor_law_workhouse_timeline.htm


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