TUDOR PASTIMES

 

 TUDOR PASTIMES 

.
 Many popular pastimes enjoyed by the Tudors, are still played today.

Was there a difference between the pastimes of the rich and poor, or did any pastimes cross social boundaries?

Sports were a predominately male thing in Tudor times, but were enjoyed by both the rich and the poor.

However there was a difference between which sports were played by the different levels of society.

 A sport enjoyed by the rich was tennis.
Called Real Tennis, it originated in France in the 12th century
It was traditionally played indoors, so the ball could be hit against the walls.

Henry VIII was a big fan of Real Tennis.

 Jousting.
Full of glitz, glamour and celebrities, jousting was the most prestigious sport in Tudor England, popular for the rich.

Again this was a sport in which only men participated, but women would spectate and cheer on their champion!
It involved two armoured knights on horses who would try to knock each other off the horse with a lance.

Henry VIII was a keen participant in the sport until he suffered an accident in 1536 where he was knocked off his horse and remained unconscious for two hours afterwards.

 One sport that was popular with lower members of Tudor society was football - which is very different to the sport that we know and love today.

The ball was made from a bloated pig’s stomach and the game was typically played between two villages.
Typically, most of the men from each village would participate.

The aim was to get the football to the centre of the opposing village, usually marked by the village cross.
There were no other rules, and the ball did not just have to be kicked, it could be thrown, or even picked up and ran with like modern day rugby.

 Hunting was an activity that crossed the social boundaries in the Tudor period - and were undertaken by men of all classes.

The main difference here is that hunting for the rich was more for pleasure, whereas people of lower classes would not hunt for sport but to feed themselves, predominately by laying traps.

When the rich went on a hunt they would be on horseback and they would be accompanied by a large hunting party and dogs.

It was a chance for them to show off their elaborate hunting garments, fine horses and weapons.
They would often hunt deer and wild boar.

The forests of England were owned by the monarch and the deer and wild boar within them were only permitted to be hunted by the monarch and the nobles.

People of the lower social orders, were allowed to hunt on common land, so would usually be restricted to hares, rabbits and game birds.

 Archery was another activity that was performed by both the rich and the poor.

In the Tudor period it was law for every man to practice archery on Sundays after church.
This was to ensure that if war broke out, every man would already be a skilled archer, so not require much training.

Sunday was a day of rest meaning no work was to be undertaken - apart from essentials like feeding animals.
This meant that people were free to practice their archery and entertain themselves with other pastimes.

 Board games were popular for all members of Tudor society.
The name “board game” even has its origins in this period.

The Tudors referred to tables as “boards” because they often consisted of a loose board that rested on a framework of legs, making the table easy to dismantle for storage.

It is thought that board games would be scratched or chalked onto the board, and pebbles or stones would be used as counters.

Nine Men’s Morris was a popular game in Tudor times.
It is a bit similar to our modern day noughts and crosses.
The aim is to make a line of three with your coloured counters and prevent your opponent from doing so.

If you succeed you are allowed to remove one of your opponent’s pieces.
The game continues until one player has run out of pieces.

 Backgammon and chess were popular with the nobility too, while card and dice games were played by all members of society.

Gambling often went hand in hand with board and card games.

Between the years 1529 and 1532, Henry VIII lost £3243 5s 10d to gambling, the equivalent of roughly £1.5 million today!!

 Another pastime that crossed social barriers was dancing.
In fact, dancing was considered a very important skill that all members of society should be able to participate in - whether you were rich or poor, a man or a woman.

It also formed an important part of courtship, as it provided members of the opposite sex with an opportunity for intimate contact, that would not usually be acceptable.

 Animal blood sports such as bear-baiting were also popular for rich and poor alike.

On the south side of the Thames close to the theatres, the Bankside area of London was home to many arenas called “bear gardens” where such blood sports took place.

Cockfighting was another common blood sport that members of Tudor society participated in.

London had purpose built “cockpits” similar to the bear gardens.
It provided not just a spectacle, but an opportunity to gamble.

Although blood sports on the whole were popular, not everyone enjoyed them.
The Puritans and members of the clergy often criticised the sport - although their opposition often targeted the corruption of gambling and degeneracy, rather than the cruelty towards the animals!

The Tudor Intruders (and more)
.
 Source - shakespeare. org. uk