Tudor entertainment

popularity was helped by the rise of great playwrights such

as William Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe as well as the building of the Globe Theatre in London.

By 1595, 15,000 people a week were watching plays in London.
It was during Elizabeth's reign that the first real theatres were built in England. Before theatres were built actors travelled from town to town and performed in the streets or outside inns.

was circular and had seats around the walls which cost

two pence or three pence if you had a cushion.

Globe Theatre in London

play and kept them out of the worst of the

weather. Most theatres had no roof.
The cheapest places were in the so-called pit. This was the area in front of the stage. People would pay about a penny to see the play and they stood for the duration of the play.

both the rich and poor people who lived during the

Tudor period.
Henry VIII was very keen muscian and had a large collection of musical instruments which he played. He was said to have been a very talented musician who composed ballads and church music, although these have all been lost. When he died he left a collection of instruments that included:
5 Bagpipes 78 Recorders 78 Flutes

today with fewer strings.

Citole The Citole is the ancestor of our

modern guitar. It had a fretted neck and wire strings which were plucked.

Viol This fretted instrument is similar to the modern violin although it was played sitting down with the instrument resting between the legs of the player.

box. They were played sitting down with the instrument placed

on the performer’s lap.

Hurdy Gurdy This is an unusual instrument which seems to have bits of both the violin and the piano. It was played by turning a small wheel with one hand while the other hand pressed down on a set of keys (a bit like a piano) to adjust their pitch. As the wheel turns, it rubs against the strings (like the bow on a violin), and this makes the strings vibrate.

Rebec This instrument was pear shaped and usually had just four strings. It was played with a bow.

tennis game is based.

Henry VIII played the sport at

Hampton Court
Palace.

Anne Boleyn was arrested whilst watching a game of real tennis at Hampton Court

Jousting is a game that
takes place between
two mounted knights.

The knights use a variety
of weapons including:
axes, lances, daggers
and swords.

The aim of the sport was to de-horse the opponent.

was passed in 1512 that banned ordinary people from a

whole range of games including tennis, dice, cards, bowls and skittles. This was because the government wanted people to work more and play less.

Individual bears were chained to a post in a bear-ring. A group of dogs were then set on the bear. The dogs tried to kill the bear by biting its throat.
Both Henry VIII and Elizabeth enjoyed watching bear-baiting. A ring was even built in the grounds of Whitehall so that the Tudor monarchs could watch bear-baiting from the windows of the palace.

Bear-baiting

and people would queue through the night to get the

best places. There was always a carnival atmosphere and pie sellers, ale merchants and producers of execution memorabilia did a good trade.

Methods of

chopped off! The heads were sometimes placed on spikes along

London Bridge or other places. Beheading was considered less degrading than hanging, and it usually killed more quickly. Noblemen (rich) who committed crimes were more likely to be beheaded than hung.

Hanging from the gallows.  A piece of rope was put around the neck making it hard for the person to breathe. The person would be hung from the rope until he/she had stopped breathing and was dead. People were hung for crimes such as stealing, treason, rebellion, riot or murder.

Execution

to the post, stripped to the waist and whipped. You could

be whipped for stealing a loaf of bread!

The pillory (standing) The pillory was a T shaped block of wood with holes for the hands in the crossbar of the T. The person being punished would have to stand in the device in the middle of the market to be ridiculed by passersby.

river, to see if they were innocent or guilty. If

they floated, they were considered guilty and burnt at the stake. If they sank, they were innocent but died anyway, by drowning. Either way, they perished.

The Drunkard's Cloak This was a punishment for public drunkenness. The drunk was forced to don a barrel and wander through town while the villagers jeer at him. Holes were cut in the barrel for the person's hands and head, causing it to become like a heavy, awkward shirt.