How to be a Tudor : a dawn-to-dusk guide to Tudor life / Ruth Goodman.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Goodman, Ruth, 1963- author.

Contributor:

Horace Howard Furness Memorial Fund.

Horace Howard Furness Memorial Library (University of Pennsylvania)

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Social conditions.

Great Britain--Social life and customs--16th century.

Great Britain.

Manners and customs.

Great Britain--History--Tudors, 1485-1603.

History.

Great Britain--Social conditions--16th century.

Genre:

History.

Physical Description:

xv, 320 pages, 24 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (some color) ; 25 cm

Edition:

First American edition.

Place of Publication:

New York : Liveright Publishing Corporation, 2016.

Summary:

Beginning at dawn with the cock's rousing crow and proceeding into either Catholic abstinence or Protestant-approved marital relations at nightfall, this charming work celebrates the ordinary lives of those who labored through the dramatic Tudor era. Goodman draws on her own hands-on experience living on a replicated Tudor farm to bring all the sights, smells, and appetites of this era to visceral, vibrant life. The Tudor period began in 1485 with the crowning of Henry VII, proceeded through Henry VIII's tumultuous reign, and ended with the death of his daughter, Elizabeth I, in 1603. It was a time of unprecedented upheaval. Henry VIII's break with Rome and establishment of a new church turned the religious rituals of everyday life upside down, as did the terror invoked under the subsequent rule of "Bloody Mary." Historians traditionally have focused on the royals, while the lives of common families ensnared within their political machinations have been largely ignored. Examining the overlooked majority with unrivaled insight and empathy, Goodman scours firsthand accounts and public records to uncover a trove of irresistible minutiae--the strictly enforced sumptuary laws, for example, required that clothing indicate class, age, profession, and even financial well-being. Goodman pants and whirls through Tudor dance steps, sleeps soundly atop rushes piled on the floor, painstakingly assembles an Elizabethan ruff, and navigates the arduous and sometimes dangerous task of plowing a field in inclement weather. Enduring each chore with her trademark wit and enthusiasm, Goodman serves as our intrepid guide to the revealing habits and intimacies of life in the time of Sir Walter Raleigh and Shakespeare.--Adapted from dust jacket.

Contents:

At cock's crow

To wash or not to wash

Dressing

Breakfast

Education

Dinner

Men's work

Women's work

A time to play

Supper

And so to bed.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

"First published in Great Britain in 2015 by Viking... under the title "How to be a Tudor: a dawn-to-dusk guide to everyday life"" -- title page verso

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Horace Howard Furness Memorial Fund.

ISBN:

9781631491399

1631491393

OCLC:

909974652