Culture, Society, and

Town Life

Sam ErrigoJaike SilverbergBrendan Yesil Cody Stanco

Mod 1 Mrs. Adair & Ms. Arellano

Law Enforcement

•Law Enforcement was enforced by the Beadle or constables•During the night they could call all of the citizens to form a night watch •If a criminal had to be chased then all the citizens had to be involved or they would get fined•A thief that had the possession of stolen goods would be hanged

The Curfew Bell

•The curfew bell would go off at 8 or 9 PM to tell the smiths, brewers, and taverners that the working day is over.

High Society “If feudal England was an age of

community, Tudor England was one of individuality” (Ross). Nobility and knights were the top of the social ladder. The biggest growth in society was within in the merchants.

Nobles old and new “Most old noble families were Catholic, and most new

noble families were Protestant” (Ross). Many Catholic families maintained private chaplains because of the new oaths of allegiance to the Church of England.

High office had more debt than profit. Honorific offices had nobles housing and entertaining at the office’s expense. “Appointment to a post of foreign ambassador brought with it terrible financial burdens. The ambassador was expected to maintain a household of as many as 100 attendants” (Ross).

Literature Latin was the language of literacy, aside from the success of

Geoffrey Chaucer. In 1589, Spenser's Faerie Queen was a display of the English language being developed.

Plays and playwrights became larger after the year 1580, such as, Christopher Marlowe and William Shakespeare. Plays used to be performed in the courtyard of hotels, whose design influenced the design of theaters such as Shakespeare's “The Globe” (1599).

“Popular games included bowls, paume (the ancestor of tennis), tilting at quintain, bull and bear-baiting, and cockfighting” (Ross). Masques, a sort of play or spectacle full of allegory replaced medieval tournaments.

Crafts people When one would wish to

become get a job the would need to go through an apprenticeship. This would last up to seven years. They start as apprentices then they become journeymen and was paid. Then they become craftsmen and they would have the opportunity to submit one of their works to a crafts guild and be named a master of their craft and own their own shop.

Housing House designs became more

balanced and symmetrical. They focused more on comfort and less to defense. Houses were often built around an inner courtyard. They made the winter parlor it was an ancestor of the modern dining room. It was a family retreat area, and privacy began to be more important. Houses had long gallery running the length of the upper floor. It was a place for walks, games, and displaying art. One room opened directly into the next. This also meant that privacy tended disappear.

Sanctuary “If a fugitive managed to

reach a church they could claim the right of sanctuary there for a period of 40 days. This meant that someone would have to stand watch outside the church for the entire time to ensure that the fugitive did not escape, a duty that no one wanted. Towns could even be fined if the felon escaped. At any one time in the Middle Ages it has been estimated that there were as many as 1000 people in sanctuary throughout England.”(Ross)

New Merchant Cloth became more valuable in the Tudor

era, and a merchant class emerged to meet the demands of cloth. The success of wool led to the movement of building wool churches.

The importance of wool back then in Tudor England is not exaggerated, carvings on a monument In a wool church say: “I thank God and ever shall, it was the sheep that paid for all.

Works citedAbbey, land. "Elizabeth I and Elizabethan life in

England." UK travel and heritage - Britain Express UK travel guide. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Apr. 2012. <http://www.britainexpress.com/History

"Medieval England - Medieval towns." UK travel and heritage - Britain Express UK travel guide. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Apr. 2012. <http://www.britainexpress.com/History