What Was It Like in the Tudor Period

What Was It Like in the Tudor Period Living in Tudor Times: How You Would Have Lived ChaptersReligion and Church in Tudor EnglandClass in Tudor HistoryGoing to War in Tudor and Elizabethan EnglandWhat Did People in Tudor England Do for Work?What You’d Do for Fun in the Tudor EraFood in the Sixteenth CenturyThe Tudor dynasty is one of the most exciting and well-known periods in English history, featuring all sorts of political and social turmoil, intrigue in the royal court, and a variety of wars, dramas, executions, and controversies.But whilst we still, as a country, hold a fascination for this grisly and gruesome period, our attention generally stays with the kings and queens themselves, from Henry VII and King Henry VIII through to Edward VI, Queen Mary I, and Queen Elizabeth I of England. At school, and in everyday conversations about the Tudor era, rarely do we look beyond to see what the normal people would have been doing.Yet, to focus only on the Tudor monarchs is to miss some of the most fascinating parts of the era â€" and it is to overlook the effects of the actions of the monarchs themselves.So, whilst you can find plenty of information about the monarchs in our article on the lives of the Tudor kings and queens â€" and in our piece, Who Were the Tudors? â€" we’ll be looking here at what it was like to be you in the Tudor age.Whilst it is incredibly fun to imagine, we can assure you: you’ll probably prefer to be alive right where you are now. Let’s take a look! MarkHistory Teacher 5.00 (3) £25/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors JohnHistory Teacher 5.00 (8) £30/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors MarjotteHistory Teacher 5.00 (4) £35/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors ErinHistory Teacher £15/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors ChantelleHistory Teacher 5.00 (2) £17/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors AndriyHistory Teacher £25/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors PeterHistory Teacher £40/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors SerenaHistory Teacher £15/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutorsReligion and Church in Tudor EnglandLet’s start with one of the most well-known aspects of the Tudor era: the religion.As you’ll know, the Tudor monarchy were fairly concerned about religion. However, throughout the period, different monarchs and their heirs couldn’t quite agree on what sort of religion they wanted in the country at the time.Roman Catholicism â€" with its power in the papacy in Rome â€" and, after the Reformation, ‘Protestantism’ were the two major religious forces in Europe at the time. However, Protestantism was never really a unified way of thinking. There were many protestantisms, almost as many as there were protestants themselves.Generally, Protestant thought suggested that anyone could read the Bible â€" which was probably not you, because you probably couldn’t read â€" and that there should be some differences to the Church service.If Henry VIII of England broke with papal power to set up the Church of England â€" a move continued by his s on, King Edward VI â€" Mary I, or ‘Bloody Mary’, Edward’s half-sister, desperately wanted to return England to Roman Catholicism. Lots of political violence followed (which means violence against you), and it wasn’t until Elizabeth that compromise was found.What all these religious changes would have meant for you is complicated. If you were particularly committed to one side or the other, and you were quite an important person, you may well have been executed â€" depending upon which monarch reigned whilst you were alive.Otherwise, it would have meant that you would have had merely to stop paying tax to Rome, but pay increased taxes to the monarchy. Great!Discover awesome facts about the Tudor period! One of the monasteries that suffered under Henry VIIIClass in Tudor HistoryMuch more than these days, a lot of what you were able to do in Tudor England was determined by your class, or your general position in the social hierarchy.The Different ClassesTo put it quite simply, there were four main classes in Tudor England: the Nobility, the Gentry, the Yeomanry, and the Poor. These were fairly fixed categories â€" and your place in each one would determine the things you were allowed to wear, eat, do, and, really, even think.As the House of Tudor was in the early modern period, which came at the latter end of the feudal period, you still find reference in this age to the Great Chain of Being, an idea of a hierarchy that stretched from God, through angels, to kings, noblemen, and down to the poor, and ultimately to animals. By basing hierarchy on theological terms, the poor were less likely to resent their position in life.Being a NobleAs a noble, you didn’t have a bad life â€" parti cularly if you came from an ancient family like the Howards, the family of the Dukedom of Norfolk, or the Earldom of Pembroke. You could be sure to wield a fair amount of influence in the Tudor court and have plenty of cash from the people on your land. Your position, however, was dependent on the favour of the king.Not all people who held influence over the king were born into nobility, however. Look at Thomas Cromwell, Henry VIII’s most important advisor. He was the son of a blacksmith and brewer â€" and look where he ended up!The Poor in Tudor EnglandIf you were poor, you were obliged to work â€" and to work hard. If you were unemployed and you went looking for work, you’d end up in a fairly unpleasant position. With one offence, you’d be whipped; with a second, you’d have an ear cut off. If a third time you were caught as a ‘vagabond’, you’d be executed.As about a third of people lived in poverty, it wasn’t great to be poor, particularly during times of famine an d economic decline. The best you could expect was alms â€" or charity â€" from the rich.Generally, as a poor person during the Tudor period, you would go to fight when you were told to. Elizabeth I (1533-1603) Queen of England and Ireland from 1558, last Tudor monarch. Version of the Armada portrait attributed to George Gower c1588. (Photo by: Photo 12/UIG via Getty Images)What Did People in Tudor England Do for Work?Working, in the Tudor times, was another thing that was entirely dependent upon your class and upon your geographical place.Again, if you were a noble, you’d be fairly free from anything strictly called ‘work’. The chances are that you were born into land from which you earned your money, taking part of the produce directly created by the poor peasants working on your land.If you were lucky, as a poor person, you would be a peasant who would rent the land off the nobleman. ‘Lucky’ is a bit of a stretch, because, really, you’d be working all day for all of your life. But at least you would have a stable life (and we saw above what would happen if you didn’t get work).If you lived in the city, however, things were a little different. Maybe y ou would work in the textile industry, or, if you were of a higher sort of class, you’d be a clerk or a professional: a solicitor, a doctor, or another such trade.What You’d Do for Fun in the Tudor EraFor many people, ‘fun’ wasn’t really a thing that happened. There wasn’t really such a thing as leisure time, with labour laws being absent and with people living generally at a subsistence level.Sundays, however, being the Lord’s day, were generally days of rest. You’d go to church, for sure, but afterwards you could play a bit of sport, see travelling musicians, or dance.In London, you could attend the theatre whether you were rich or poor â€" and see plays by the likes of Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe.If you were a noble person, much of life was leisure time. You could have private musicians, you might write poetry, go hunting, or even play tennis. Shakespeare was one of the great Tudor artists. Image from the Independent.Food in the Sixteenth CenturyOf course, the food that you would eat was dependent entirely on class too. And, if you were poor, you wouldn’t eat very well â€" and there may have been times of the year, or particular times of hardship, in which you didn’t eat very much at all.Pottage was the general dish for the poor, a soup or stew of vegetables and oats. Bread and cheese were staples too â€" alongside whichever vegetables you could get your hands on.Of course, things were different for the rich, who could afford to employ cooks and who could afford much more extravagant foods. Meat was always on the menu.Most importantly, all foods were eaten seasonally. There would be no chance of anything else â€" shipping foods from all over the world, as we do now â€" as there was simply no chance of keeping it fresh!Find out more about the Tudor period!

Ask an MBA Admissions Expert Linda Abraham

Ask an MBA Admissions Expert Linda Abraham Varsity Tutors brings you insider tips and advice straight from nationally recognized admissions experts. Linda Abraham is the president and founder of Accepted.com, an admissions advising and editing service for MBA applicants. She is also the co-founder and former president of the Association of International Graduate Admissions Consultants as well as the co-author of MBA Admissions for Smarties: The No-Nonsense Guide to Acceptance at Top Business Schools. Linda has been featured in many prestigious media outlets such as The New York Times, U.S. News World Report, and more. VT:How much time should be set aside to adequately prepare for and complete the application for an MBA program? Linda: I recommend applicants start their preparation one year before they intend to submit their application. This allows time to study for and take the GMAT (and even retake it), clarify goals, research schools, strengthen areas of weakness, and then of course draft compelling, articulate, revealing essays. If an applicant is confident that they dont have to take all these steps, they can start the process later. VT: What would you say is the single most important thing to focus on for this kind of application? Linda: That will vary from person to person, but the foundation of an effective application effort is a clear goal and competitive qualifications. A post-MBA goal including function and industry and hopefully also a greater vision or purpose serves so many functions in the application process! It guides applicants in school choice, animates the response to any kind of Why MBA question, makes it easy for applicant to show fit with the program, and allows them to hit the ground running when they are thrown into the internship-recruiting vortex soon after arriving on campus. However, it makes little sense for applicants to apply exclusively to programs where the likelihood of acceptance is poor. Applicants must assess their qualifications and compare their profile to the profiles of typical accepted applicants. They dont have to be above average for every metric or criterion, but they shouldnt be below average across the board. Applicants also need to realize that there is a qualitative aspect to admissions. It isnt just about stats. Schools are going to seek students with leadership, impact, and above average progression at work as well as a host of personal qualities that they value. Finally, since schools value diversity, it is very possible to be qualified, competitive, submit a good application, and still be rejected. This happens, especially for applicants coming from over-represented groups in the applicant pool and applying to the most intensely competitive programs. VT: What do MBA admissions officers look for most in the essay questions? Linda: They look most for the answer to their questions written in an individual and authentic way. That may sound elementary, but I read so many essays where applicants dont answer the question. Or they write on such a general and superficial plane, that the essay essentially hides them instead of introducing them. Applicants need to make sure they answer the specific question in a way that also reveals something specific to them, both in terms of their experience and thought processes. VT: What are the biggest mistakes one can make on this application? Linda: Write what they think the reader wants to read. They dont know. However, they do know the real answers, and those answers can be far more compelling than something contrived. Not answering the question. Write in generalities and clichs so that they sound like many other applicants who are superficially very similar. Fail to proof. VT: What aspects of the MBA admissions process make it most different from undergraduate admissions process? Linda: Undergrads are not expected to know what they want to do in the future. Most MBA programs do expect their applicants to have a clear reason for wanting to go to business school. College applicants are not expected to have any work experience. Full-time work experience is a requirement at many if not most MBA programs. And even where not required, there are very few MBA students without work experience. And naturally, MBA programs expect more maturity from MBA applicants than colleges expect from their applicants. MBA admissions offices also are used to little or no direct parental involvement in the application process. VT: Is there anything that automatically disqualifies an applicant from being considered for an MBA program (i.e. low GPA, lack of particular work experience, etc.)? Linda: Automatic disqualification is probably too strong, but here are major red flags: Legal lapses like convictions for insider training, fraud, or breaches of fiduciary duty would fall into that category. For most MBA programs, zero full-time work experience is a significant hurdle. A GMAT or GRE score below the 20% for that school is a big hurdle. Same with the GPA. VT: What kind of work experiences should be highlighted in the MBA application? Linda: Applicants should highlight any experiences that demonstrate leadership, organizational ability, initiative, and innovation. Applicants can reveal these qualities through their resume, essays, letters of recommendation, and interviews. The best way to reveal those qualities is to tell stories and give examples that reveal those characteristics while answering the question. Another way is to provide stats in the resume that show impact. Finally, recommenders who tell specific stories of a candidates initiative, innovation, contribution, and ability to motivate others are worth their weight in MBA application gold. VT: What advice do you have regarding GMAT test prep? Linda: Im in favor! However I know that candidates needs vary widely. Some, usually those with strong quantitative and communications ability who have previously done well on standardized tests, do fine independently going through a prep book. Others need a course and hours of practice, practice, practice. Some feel a private tutor makes the difference. Each applicant needs to evaluate which approach will work best for him or her. VT: Is it absolutely necessary to have work experience prior to starting an MBA degree? Linda: There are a few schools that accept a handful of students straight from undergrad, but those applicants have to be stellar and usually have had impressive internships in college. Most full-time MBA programs want to see at least two years of full-time work experience before the MBA and three is preferred. The reason is simple: recruiters want it. Furthermore, many in graduate management education believe that experience enables the student to gain more from and contribute more to the MBA experience. VT: What are the characteristics of a great MBA program? Linda: A Career Management Center that has a track record of launching MBA students on the trajectory you want to pursue. A curriculum that you would be excited to study taught in the way you want to learn it. Extra-curricular activities that support your goals and that you would be thrilled to throw yourself into. A community and environment where you will feel comfortable. If youre thinking these characteristics imply that great MBA programs will be different for different people, youre right! Visit Accepted.com for more information. The views expressed in this article do not necessarily represent the views of Varsity Tutors.