1. The Elizabethan Era
A brief overview

2. Renaissance French word meaning “rebirth” Occurred throughout Europe
14th – 16th centuries
Intellectual advances
Economic boom
In England, also known as the Elizabethan Era during Queen Elizabeth’s reign (1558 – 1603)

3. Every day life High society, nobles and their “obligations”
Elizabethan progresses and their expenses
House structure changed
More timber used
Built less for defense
Beds!
Straw mattress to feather bed
4 poster beds = Bequeathed in wills

4. Family Life Husband Wife Typically 3 – 5 children Farmer Tradesman
Head of household
Managed children, servants, house
Typically 3 – 5 children
Wealthy families as many as 12
Children leave as teens
Farm hands
Domestic servants
Apprentices

5. Food Prepared over open fire Vegetables Fruits and nuts Meat and fowl
Garlic, eggplant, asparagus, onions, leeks, peas, cabbage, lettuce, parsnips, radishes, spinach, carrots, beets, artichokes
Fruits and nuts
Apples, plums, lemons, oranges, apricots, almonds, melons, strawberries, limes, grapes, hazelnuts, pomegranates
Meat and fowl
Beef, pork, chicken, duck, rabbit, goat, deer, boar, badger, hedgehog, pheasant, trout, cod, salmon, perch, eels

6. Food Most homes do not have an oven
Prepare food in home, pay to have it cooked or baked
No meat on Fridays or Saturdays (fishing industry)
Elaborate meals
Breakfast very informal meal (just to break the fast)
Main meal is dinner, 11 o’clock (lasted 3 hours)
Small supper around 6 o’clock

7. Literature and the Arts
Latin = language of literacy
Plays performed on inn courtyards
Open air in the center or pit
Performed during the day
Difficulty lighting stage
Unsafe travel at night
No females performed in
productions
Female roles performed by
young boys

8. Theaters
This is a picture of the stage of the Globe Theater as it has been rebuilt (completed in 1997).

9. Theaters
A view of the gallery from the side
The groundling area

10. The Plague The Bubonic Plague (also known as the “Black Death”)
Epidemics in 1535, 1545, 1563, 1589, 1603
Devastated 30 – 60% of the population of Europe
Almost 100% mortality rate
Spread most rapidly in cities
High concentration of population
Very unsanitary
Rats
Fleas
People moved to the countryside
Economic depression

11. The Plague Watchmen Death Cart Labourers
Kept watch over “infected” houses
No one in or out (death warrant for all inside)
Sustenance through lowered pail
Cart away bodies of victims
Put in pits
Very well compensated
High mortality rate
Worked at night

12. The Plague Symptoms and development: Buboes (groin, neck, armpits)
Fever and vomiting blood
Red rash (flea bites)
Death within two to seven days of contraction

13. Ring around the rosy Ring a-round the rosy Pocket full of posies
Ashes, ashes!
We all fall down!
Ring around the rosy: rosary beads give you God's help.
A pocket full of posies: used to stop the odor of rotting bodies which was at one point thought to cause the plague, it was also used widely by doctors to protect them from the infected plague patients.
Ashes, ashes: the church burned the dead when burying them became to laborious.
We all fall down: dead.

14. Medical Care Physicians Surgeons Apothecaries
University training (usually Italy or France)
Usually only cared for the wealthy
Dealt more with theory than actual practice
Surgeons
Treated wounds
Amputated limbs
Set broken bones
Learned most in the battlefields
Apothecaries
Dispensed drugs and herbal remedies
Most people used – not enough physicians for all

15. Elizabethan Dress Sumptuary Laws Not very strictly enforced
Used by Elizabeth’s sister and father before her
Dictated what people could own, wear, use
Clear distinctions between classes
Clothing
Colors confined to class, social status, wealth
Fabrics determined by place in society
Easy way to identify rank and privilege!
Not very strictly enforced
Could result in fine and jail time if not followed

16. Elizabethan Dress Women Dressing could take as long as half an hour
Depended on age, social status, taste, body type
Smock – to protect
Stockings
Corset
Spanish farthingale (skirt hoop)
Bumroll
Kirtle and forepart
Partlet (shirt)
Gown and sleeves
Shoes

17. Elizabethan Dress Men Chemises Clothing adorned with lace and frills
Cravats
Silk stockings
Lengthened britches (ornately decorated)
Thigh-high boots
High decorative emphasis
Hats
Broad
Sometimes trimmed with gems

18. Marriages Boys can marry at 14, girls at 12 Bethrothal
Not advised until 22, and 18
Bethrothal
Marriage was not for love (considered foolish)
Bride to be taken care of by man (husband’s property)
Children are expected
Parents and friends find suitable match (older and wiser)

19. British Renaissance Included the Reign of Elizabeth I
400% increase in London population
Increased interest in the arts (especially theater!)
Advances in medicines and sciences
Humanity comes under the microscope
Time of promise, prosperity