on castles, which couldn't contain enough men to protect the
townspeople. Also in towns, water was supplied by local pumps and wells.
In 1613, a thirty-eight-mile aqueduct brought spring water into London.
In the country, floors were of polished wood or stone and strewn with
rushes. A ladies' attendant might sleep the same bedroom on a bed which
slid under the ladies' bed. Apprentices and shop boys had to sleep under
the counter. Country laborers slept in a loft on straw. Bread was made
in each household. There were bedroom chairs with enclosed chamber pots.
Wood fires were the usual type. Coal was coming into use in the towns
and near coal mines. Charcoal was also used. Food was roasted on a spit
over a fire, baked, or broiled. People still licked their fingers at
meals. The well-to-do had wax candles. Tallow dips were used by the poor
and for the kitchen. People drank cordials and homemade wines made with
grapes, currants, oranges, or ginger. Some mead was also drunk.
Tobacco, potatoes, tea, asparagus, kidney beans, scarlet runners,
cardoons (similar to artichokes), horseradish, sugarcane, and turkeys
for Christmas, were introduced from the New World, China, and India. Tea
was a rare and expensive luxury. Coffee was a new drink. With the cane
sugar was made sweetened puddings, pies, and drinks. The potato caused
the advent of distillation of concentrated alcohol from fermented potato
mashes. There was a distiller's company by 1638. Distilleries' drinks
had higher alcoholic content than wine or beer.
The Merchant Adventurers sold in town stores silks, satins, diamonds,
pearls, silver, and gold. There were women peddlers selling hats and
hosiery from door to door and women shopkeepers, booksellers, alehouse
keepers, linen drapers, brewers, and ale- wives. London had polluted air
and water, industrial noise, and traffic congestion.
Work on farms was still year-round. In January and February, fields
were ploughed and harrowed and the manure spread. Also, trees and hedges
were set, fruit trees pruned, and timber lopped. In March and April, the
fields were stirred again and the wheat and rye sown. In May gardens
were planted, hop vines trained to poles, ditches scoured, lambs weaned,
and sheep watched for "rot". In June sheep were washed and sheared, and
fields were spread with lime and clay, and manured. In July hay was cut,
dried, and stacked. In August crops were harvested, which called for
extra help from neighbors and townsmen who took holidays at harvesting.
Then there was threshing, and the sowing of winter wheat and rye. In the
autumn, cider from apples and perry from pears might be made. By
November the fall planting was finished and the time had come for the
killing of cattle and hanging up their salted carcasses for winter meat.
Straw would be laid down with dung, to be spread next spring on the
fields. Stock that could not live outdoors in winter were brought into
barns.
Government regulated the economy. In times of dearth, it ordered
Justices of the Peace to buy grain and sell it below cost. It forbade
employers to lay off workers whose products they could not sell. It used
the Star Chamber Court to enforce economic regulations.
Enclosures of land were made to carry on improved methods of tillage,
which yielded more grain and more sheep fleece. Drainage of extensive
marsh land created more land for agriculture. Waste land was used to
breed game and "fowling" contributed to farmers' and laborers'
livelihoods. Killing game was not the exclusive right of landowners, but
was a common privilege. The agricultural laborer, who worked for wages
and composed most of the wage- earning population, found it hard to make
ends meet.
There were food riots usually during years of harvest failure, in which
organized groups seized foodstuffs being transported or in markets.
Also, there were enclosure riots, in which organized groups destroyed
hedges and fences erected in agrarian reorganization to restrict access
to or to subdivide former common pasture land. These self- help riots
were last resorts to appeals. They were relatively orderly and did not
expand into random violence. The rioters were seldom punished more than
a fining or whipping of the leaders and action was taken to satisfy
their legitimate grievances.
The poor came to resent the rich and there was a rise in crime among
the poor. Penal laws were frequently updated in an effort to bring more
order.
In 1610, weekly wages for a mason were 8s. or 5s., for a laborer were
6s. or 4s., for a carpenter 8s. or 6s. An unskilled laborer received 1s.
a day.
There were conventions of paternalism and deference between neighbors
of unequal social status. A social superior often protected his lessers
from impoverishment For instance, the landlord lessened rents in times
of harvest failure. A social superior would help find employment for a
lesser person or his children, stand surety for a recognizance,
intervene in a court case, or have his wife tend a sick member of his
lesser's family. A social obligation was felt by most of the rich, the
landlords, the yeomen farmers, and the clergy. This system of
paternalism and social deference was expressed and reinforced at
commonly attended village sports and games, dances, wakes and "ales"
(the proceeds of which went to the relief of a certain person in
distress), "rush-bearings", parish feasts, weddings, christenings,
"churchings" to give thanks for births, and funerals. Even the poor were
buried in coffins. Also there was social interaction at the local
alehouse, where neighbors drank, talked, sang, and played at bowls or
"shove goat" together.
Quarrelling was commonplace. For instance, borough authorities would
squabble over the choice of a schoolmaster; the parson would carry on a
long fight with parishioners over tithe hens and pigs; two country
gentlemen would continue a vendetta started by their great-grandfathers
over a ditch or hunting rights; the parishioners would wrangle with the
churchwardens over the allocation of pews. The position of one's pew
reflected social position. Men tried to keep the pews of their ancestors
and the newly prosperous wanted the recognition in the better pews, for
which they had to pay a higher amount. But, on the other hand, farmers
were full of good will toward their neighbors. They lent farm and
kitchen equipment, helped raise timbers for a neighbor's new barn, sent
food and cooked dishes to those providing a funeral feast and to the
sick and incurable.
Village standards of behavior required that a person not to drink to
excess, quarrel, argue, profane, gossip, cause a nuisance, abuse wife or
children, or harbor suspicious strangers, and to pay scot and bear lot
as he was asked. Neighbors generally got along well and frequently
borrowed and loaned small sums of money to each other without interest
for needs that suddenly arose. Bad behavior was addressed by the church
by mediation and, if this failed, by exclusion from holy communion.
There was also whipping and the stocks.
Marital sex was thought to be good for the health and happiness of the
husband and enjoyable by wives. The possibility of female orgasm was
encouraged. Both women and men were thought to have "seed" and drank
certain potions to cause pregnancy or to prevent birth. Some argued that
orgasm of both partners was necessary for the "seed" of the male and
female to mix to produce pregnancy. Most women were in a virtual state
of perpetual pregnancy. Both Catholics and Protestants thought that God
wanted them to multiply and cover the earth. Catholics thought that the
only goal of sex was procreation. Men were considered ready for marriage
only when they could support a family, which was usually at about age
30. Brides were normally virgins, but there was bridal pregnancy of
about 20%. Women usually married at about age 25. Marriages were usually
within one's own class and religion. The aristocracy often initiated
matches of their children for the sake of continuity in the family
estates and tried to obtain the consent of their children for the match
in mind. The age of consent to marry was 14 for boys and 12 for girls.
Girls in arranged marriages often married at 13, and boys before they
went to university. But the girls usually stayed with their parents for
a couple of years before living with their husbands. If married before
puberty, consummation of the marriage waited for such time. In other
classes, the initiative was usually taken by the child. Dowries and
marriage portions usually were given by the parents of the bride.
Wet-nurses frequently were used, even by Puritans. There were no baby
bottles. Many babies died, causing their parents much grief. About 1/4
of women's deaths occurred during childbirth. A child was deemed to be
the husband's if he was within the four seas, i.e. not in foreign lands,
for an agreed length of time. Illegitimacy was infrequent, and punished
by church-mandated public penance by the mother and lesser penance and
maintenance by the father. The church court punished adultery and
defamation for improper sexual conduct.
The established church still taught that the husband was to be the
authority in marriage and had the duty to provide for, protect, and
maintain his wife. Wives were to obey their husbands, but could also
admonish and advise their husbands without reproach. In literature,
women were portrayed as inferior to men intellectually and morally as
well as physically. In reality wives did not fit the image of women
portrayed by the church and literature. Quarrels between husband and
wife were not uncommon and were not stopped by a husband's assertion of
authority. Wives were very active in the harvesting and did casual labor
of washing, weeding, and stone-picking. Farmers' and tradesmen's wives
kept accounts, looked after the garden, orchard, pigs, and poultry;
brewed beer; spun wool and flax; and acted as agents in business
affairs. Wives of craftsmen and tradesmen participated actively in their
husbands' shops. Wives of weavers spun for their husband's employers.
Wives of the gentry ran their households with their husbands. The lady
of a large mansion superintended the household, ordering and looking
after the servants, and seeing to the education of her children. Mothers
handed down their recipes to their daughters. Women still did much
needlework and embroidering for clothing and house, such as cushions,
screens, bed curtains, window curtains, hangings, footstools, book
covers, and small chests of drawers for valuables. Liking simplicity,
Puritan women did less of this work.
Naming one's wife as executor of one's will was the norm. Jointures
[property for a widow] were negotiated at the betrothal of ladies.
Widows of manorial tenants were guaranteed by law one-third of family
real property, despite creditors. But most testators went beyond this
and gave a life interest in the farm or family house. So it was
customary for a widow to remain in occupation of the land until her
death or remarriage. Few widows or widowers lived with one of their
children. Widows usually had their husband's guild rights and privileges
conferred upon them, e.g. to receive apprentices. In London, custom gave
1/3 of a deceased husband's estate to his wife on his death, but 2/3 if
there were no children. The other part went according to his will. If a
widow did not remarry in memory of her husband, she was esteemed. But
remarriage was common because the life expectancy after birth was about
35 years.
Sons of the well-to-do went into law, the Church, the army, or the
navy. If not fit for such, they usually went into a trade, apprenticing,
for instance, with a draper, silk merchant, or goldsmith. Sometimes a
son was sent to the house of a great man as a page or esquire to learn
the ways of courtiers and perhaps become a diplomat.
The guild with its master and their employees was being replaced by a
company of masters.
James I ruled over both England and Scotland. He had come from
Scotland, so was unfamiliar with English love of their rights, passion
for liberty and justice, and extensive discussing of religion and
quoting scripture. When he came to the throne, he had a conference with
a group of Puritans who asked for certain reforms: ceremonies such as
the cross in baptism and the ring in marriage should not be used, only
educated men competent to preach should be made ministers, bishops
should not be allowed to hold benefices that they did not administer,
and minor officials should not excommunicate for trifles and
twelve-penny matters. He not only denied their requests, but had the
English Bible revised into the King James version, which was published
in 1611. This was to replace the popular Geneva Bible written by English
Protestant refugees from Catholic Queen Mary's reign, which he did not
like because some of its commentary was not highly favorable to kings.
James didn't believe a king had to live by the law; he hadn't as king of
Scotland. He tried to imbue into England the idea of a divine right of
kings to rule that he had held in Scotland. The established church
quickly endorsed and preached this idea.
The selection of the clergy of the parish churches was now often in the
hands of the parishioners, having been sold to them by the patron lord
of the manor. Some patrons sold the right of selection to a tradesman or
yeoman who wished to select his son or a relative. Some rights of
selection were in the hands of bishops, the colleges, and the Crown. The
parish clergyman was appointed for life and removed only for grave
cause. Most parishioners wanted a sermon created by their minister
instead of repetitious homilies and constant prayer. They thought that
the object of worship in church was to rouse men to think and act about
the problems of the world.
In 1622, the King mandated that clergymen quote scripture only in
context of the Book of Articles of Religion of 1562 or the two Books of
Homilies and not preach any sermon on Sunday afternoon except on some
part of the Catechism or some text out of the Creed, Ten Commandments,
or the Lord's Prayer.
The Puritan movement grew. About 5% of the Protestants were Puritans.
These included country gentlemen and wealthier traders. They dressed
simply in gray or other drab colors and wore their hair short to protest
the fashion of long curls. They lived simply and disapproved of dancing
because it induced lasciviousness and of theater because of its
lewdness. Theaters and brothels still shared the same neighborhoods, the
same customers, and sometimes the same employees. Prostitutes went to
plays to find customers; men shouldered and shoved each other in
competing to sit next to attractive women to get to know them. The
Puritans also disapproved of cock fights because they led to gambling
and disorder, and Maypole celebrations because of their paganism. There
was less humor. Many became stoics. The Puritan church ceremonies were
plain, with no ornamentation. Puritans prayed several times a day and
read the Bible to each other in family groups to look for guidance in
their conduct and life. They asked for God to intervene in personal
matters and looked for signs of his pleasure or displeasure in
happenings such as a tree falling close but not touching him, or his
horse throwing him without injury to him. When there was an illness in
the family or misfortune, they examined their past life for sins and
tried to correct shortcomings. They circulated records of puritan lives
including spiritual diaries. They believed in the equality of men and
that a good man was better than a bad peer, bishop, or king. Puritan
influence made families closer and not merely dependent on the will of
the husband or father. There was a sense of spiritual fellowship among
family members as individuals. They emphasized the real need of a
lasting love relationship between husband and wife, so a mutual liking
that could develop into love between a young couple in an arranged match
was essential.
Most Puritans felt that the bishops were as tyrannical as the pope had
been and that more reform was needed. They favored the Presbyterian form
of church government developed by John Calvin in Switzerland. The
presbyter was the position below bishop. Parishes were governed by
boards consisting of a minister and lay elders elected by the
parishioners. These boards sent elected representatives to councils. All
lay elders and ministers had equal rank with each other. The Calvinist
God preordained salvation only for the elect and damnation and
everlasting punishment for the rest of humanity, but the Puritans had an
optimism about avoiding this damnation. They believed that at his
conversion a person received grace, which was a sign that he was
predestined for salvation. They rejected all ecclesiastical institutions
except as established by each parish over its own elected pastor and
members. They rejected the established church's control from the top by
bishops. They believed in negotiating directly with God for the welfare
of the soul without the priest or church organization.
The fear of witchcraft grew with Puritanism. Poor decrepit old
defenseless women, often deformed and feeble-minded, were thought to be
witches. Their warts and tumors were thought to be teats for the devil
to suck or the devil's mark. Cursing or ill-tempers, probably from old
age pains, or having cats were further indications of witchery.
When the king learned in 1618 that the English Puritans had prevented
certain recreations after the Sunday service, he proclaimed that the
people should not be restrained from lawful recreations and exercise
such as dancing, May-games, Whitsunales, Morris-dances, May-pole sports,
archery for men, leaping, and vaulting. Also women could carry rushes to
decorate the church as they had done in the past. His stated purpose was
to prevent people such as Catholics from being deterred from conversion,
to promote physical fitness for war, and to keep people from drinking
and making discontented speeches in their ale houses. Still unlawful on
Sunday were bear and bull baitings and bowlings.
Besides the Puritans, there were other Independent sects, such as the
Congregationalists, whose churches gathered together by the inspiration
of Jesus. This sect was started by English merchants residing in Holland
who set up congregations of Englishmen under their patronage there; they
kept minister and elders well under their control. The Baptists emerged
out of the Independents. They believed that only adults, who were
capable of full belief, and not children, could be baptized. They also
believed that it was the right of any man to seek God's truth for
himself in the scriptures and that obedience to the state should not
extend beyond personal conscience.
One fourth of all children born did not live to the age of ten, most
dying in their first year. Babies had close caps over their head, a
rattle, and slept in a sturdy wood cradle that rocked on the floor,
usually near the hearth. Babies of wealthier families had nurses. The
babies of ladies were suckled by wet nurses. Parents raised children
with affection and tried to prepare them to become independent
self-sustaining adults. There was less severity than in Tudor times,
although the maxim "spare the rod and spoil the child" was generally
believed, especially by Puritans, and applied to even very young
children. In disciplining a child, an admonition was first used, and the
rod as a last resort, with an explanation of the reasons for its use.
There were nursery rhymes and stories such as "Little Bo-Peep", "Jack
and the Beanstalk", "Tom Thumb", "Chicken Little", and Robin Hood and
King Arthur tales, and probably also "Puss in Boots", "Red Ridinghood",
"Cinderella", "Beauty and the Beast", "Bluebeard" and Aesop's Fables.
"Little Jack Horner" who sat in a corner was a satire on the Puritan
aversion to Christmas pudding and sense of conscious virtue. Toys
included dolls, balls, drums, and hobby horses. Children played "hide
and seek", "here we go around the Mulberry bush", and other group games.
School children were taught by "horn books". This was a piece of paper
with the alphabet and perhaps a religious verse, such as the Paternoster
prayer, that was mounted on wood and covered with thin horn to prevent
tearing. Little girls cross-stitched the alphabet and numerals on
samplers. Block alphabets were coming into use. Most market towns had a
grammar school which would qualify a student for university. They were
attended by sons of noblemen, country squires [poor gentlemen],
merchants, and substantial yeomen, and in some free schools, the poor.
School hours were from 6:00 a.m. to noon or later. Multiplication was
taught. If affordable, families had their children involved in education
after they were small until they left home at about fifteen for
apprenticeship or service. Otherwise, children worked with their
families from the age of seven, e.g. carding and spinning wool, until
leaving home at about fifteen.
There were boarding schools such as Winchester, Eton, Westminster, St.
Paul's, and Merchant Taylors'. There, senior boys selected for conduct
and ability supervised younger boys. They thereby got experience for a
future in public life. The system was also a check on bullying of the
weak by the strong. The curriculum included Lilly's "Grammar"; Aesop;
Terence's Roman comic plays; Virgil's "Aeneid", the national epic of
Rome; Cicero's "Letters" reflecting Roman life; Sallust's histories
showing people and their motives; Caesar's "Commentaries" on the Gallic
and civil wars; Horace's "Epistles" about life and poetry; poet Ovid's
"Metamorphoses" on adventures and love affairs of deities and heroes,
"Fasti" on Roman religious festivals and customs; Donatus' grammar book;
and other ancient Latin authors. Football, with hog bladders, and tennis
were played. These schools were self-supporting and did their own
farming.
Private schools for girls were founded in and around London. They were
attended by daughters of the well-to-do merchant class, nobility, and
gentry. They were taught singing, playing of instruments, dancing,
French, fine sewing, embroidery, and sometimes arithmetic. There were
not many girls' boarding schools. Fewer served in the house of some
noble lady as before. Most commonly, the sons and daughters of gentlemen
and nobles were taught by private tutors. A tutor in the house educated
the girls to the same extent as the boys. Frequently, the mother
educated her daughters. A considerable number of girls of other
backgrounds such as the yeomanry and the town citizenry somehow learned
to read and write.