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Tudor & Stuart Life
A short history of life in 16th and 17th century England under the Tudor and Stuart monarchs, covering all of the important events that shaped England before, during and after the Renaissance. This includes Henry VIII's divorce and the establishment of the Church of England, and the colonisation of America. Over 90 colourful illustrations take you on a voyage of discovery from the daily lives of ordinary people to Sir Francis Drake's adventures on the high seas.
32 pages, Paperback
First published July 1, 2001
32 people want to read
About the author
John Guy
164 books256 followersJohn Guy is recognised as one of Britain's most exciting and scholarly historians, bringing the past to life with the written word and on the broadcast media with accomplished ease. He's a very modern face of history.
His ability for first class story-telling and books that read as thrillingly as a detective story makes John Guy a Chandleresque writer of the history world. Guy hunts down facts with forensic skill, he doesn't just recite historical moments as they stand; he brings names and faces to life in all their human achievements and weaknesses. He looks for the killer clues so we can see how history unfolded. Like a detective on the trail of a crime, he teases out what makes his subjects tick. With his intimate knowledge of the archives, his speciality is uncovering completely fresh lines of enquiry. He's never content to repeat what we already know but rather, he goes that extra step to solve history's riddles. He takes you on a journey to the heart of the matter. Forget notions of musty academics, when Guy takes hold of history the case he states is always utterly compelling. Whether it's Thomas More or Mary Queen of Scots, Guy makes these people so real you suddenly realize you are hearing them speak to you. You enter into their world. You feel you can almost reach out and touch them.
Born in Australia in 1949, John Guy grew up in England and by the age of 16 he knew he wanted to be a historian. In 2001 he made an accomplished debut as a presenter for the television programme Timewatch, on the life of Thomas More. Today he's turning history books on their head as he wins universal praise and the 2004 Whitbread Prize for biography for his thrilling account of the life of Mary Queen of Scots.
As well as presenting five documentaries for BBC 2 television, including the Timewatch film The King's Servant and the four-part Renaissance Secrets (Series 2), he has contributed to Meet the Ancestors (BBC 2), and to Channel 4's Time Team and Royal Deaths and Diseases. Wolsey's Lost Palace of Hampton Court was a short-listed finalist for the 2002 Channel 4 television awards.
John Guy also appears regularly on BBC Radio 2, Radio 3, Radio 4, BBC World Service and BBC Scotland. In print he currently writes or reviews for The Sunday Times, The Guardian, The Economist, the Times Literary Supplement, BBC History Magazine and History Today.
His broadcast and journalism experience builds upon his impeccable CV as an academic and author.
Having read History under the supervision of Professor Sir Geoffrey Elton, the pre-eminent Tudor scholar of the late-twentieth century, John Guy took a First and became a Research Fellow of Selwyn College in 1970. Awarded a Greene Cup by Clare College in 1970, he completed his PhD on Cardinal Wolsey in 1973 and won the Yorke Prize of the University of Cambridge in 1976.
John Guy has lectured extensively on Early Modern British History and Renaissance Political Thought in both Britain and the United States. He has published 16 books and numerous academic articles.
John Guy lives in North London. He is a Fellow of Clare College, University of Cambridge, where he teaches part-time so he can devote more time to his writing and broadcasting career.
His ability for first class story-telling and books that read as thrillingly as a detective story makes John Guy a Chandleresque writer of the history world. Guy hunts down facts with forensic skill, he doesn't just recite historical moments as they stand; he brings names and faces to life in all their human achievements and weaknesses. He looks for the killer clues so we can see how history unfolded. Like a detective on the trail of a crime, he teases out what makes his subjects tick. With his intimate knowledge of the archives, his speciality is uncovering completely fresh lines of enquiry. He's never content to repeat what we already know but rather, he goes that extra step to solve history's riddles. He takes you on a journey to the heart of the matter. Forget notions of musty academics, when Guy takes hold of history the case he states is always utterly compelling. Whether it's Thomas More or Mary Queen of Scots, Guy makes these people so real you suddenly realize you are hearing them speak to you. You enter into their world. You feel you can almost reach out and touch them.
Born in Australia in 1949, John Guy grew up in England and by the age of 16 he knew he wanted to be a historian. In 2001 he made an accomplished debut as a presenter for the television programme Timewatch, on the life of Thomas More. Today he's turning history books on their head as he wins universal praise and the 2004 Whitbread Prize for biography for his thrilling account of the life of Mary Queen of Scots.
As well as presenting five documentaries for BBC 2 television, including the Timewatch film The King's Servant and the four-part Renaissance Secrets (Series 2), he has contributed to Meet the Ancestors (BBC 2), and to Channel 4's Time Team and Royal Deaths and Diseases. Wolsey's Lost Palace of Hampton Court was a short-listed finalist for the 2002 Channel 4 television awards.
John Guy also appears regularly on BBC Radio 2, Radio 3, Radio 4, BBC World Service and BBC Scotland. In print he currently writes or reviews for The Sunday Times, The Guardian, The Economist, the Times Literary Supplement, BBC History Magazine and History Today.
His broadcast and journalism experience builds upon his impeccable CV as an academic and author.
Having read History under the supervision of Professor Sir Geoffrey Elton, the pre-eminent Tudor scholar of the late-twentieth century, John Guy took a First and became a Research Fellow of Selwyn College in 1970. Awarded a Greene Cup by Clare College in 1970, he completed his PhD on Cardinal Wolsey in 1973 and won the Yorke Prize of the University of Cambridge in 1976.
John Guy has lectured extensively on Early Modern British History and Renaissance Political Thought in both Britain and the United States. He has published 16 books and numerous academic articles.
John Guy lives in North London. He is a Fellow of Clare College, University of Cambridge, where he teaches part-time so he can devote more time to his writing and broadcasting career.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
November 21, 2020
Another book on Tudor and Stuart life, but once again it is quite different in format from others I have read. This one looks at 'Country Life', 'Life in Towns', 'Life for the Rich', 'The Poor at Home', 'Food and Drink', 'Pastimes', 'Fashion', 'Health and Medicine', 'Love and Marriage', 'Women and Children', 'War and Weaponry', 'Crime and Punishment', 'Transport and Science' and 'Religion'.
On the fashion front, trends were greatly influenced by the monarch and the court, with the rich people spending inordinate amounts of money on clothes. For instance apparently Elizabeth I had 260 gowns, 127 cloaks, 125 petticoats and hundreds of smaller accessories in her wardrobe ... follow that rich or not! However great the clothes were, they would not have been shown off to their best advantage with one of the other unusual fashions of the day ... that was the practice of deliberately blacking-out the front teeth, particularly among noble women as they strove to disguise genuinely rotten teeth!
As for love and marriage, Charles II, the 'Merry Monarch', when he became king in 1660 agreed that part of the deal was that he would marry Catherine of Braganza from Portugal. He did but he did not like her and it was a loveless marriage ... enter Nell Gwynn - and others!
And while poorer people farmed strips of land in large, open fields and paid rent to the church or local lord, a new breed of farmer emerged, the yeoman. They bought, or sometimes rented, several fields so as to form small farms, usually on the outskirts of villages. They employed labourers and built themselves fine houses so they sat between the poorer folk and the lords of the manor. Meanwhile in the towns, overcrowding became a problem and the risk of fire with the wooden houses was great as they were crammed into narrow streets, thus the Fire of London. It was amazing that the Fire killed only nine people, although over 13,000 buildings were destroyed.
Coffee houses sprang up in the towns following the introduction of the commodity from South America and the richer folk met there to discuss the current affairs of the day. Those richer folk of the day became richer because of increased foreign trade and many of them replaced their castles with magnificent mansions, sparing no expense on decorations and furnishings with works of art taking pride of place.
Those rich folk also ate well, with a wide variety of meats and vegetables regularly on the menu while the poorer people had to make do with a diet of dairy produce, bread, basic vegetables and occasional meat, such as rabbit [we very occasionally had rabbit when I was quite young and I hated it, even hated the smell of it cooking when I walked into the house from school!]. And while the rich drank their wine, the poor drank their ale, which was relatively cheap and eased the misery of poverty. William Hogarth captured scenes of such drinking in his satirical prints.
English shipbuilders became leaders in the field, the microscope was invented and alchemists advanced the study of chemistry considerably, particularly as far as medicine went. And on the crime front, harsh penalties were introduced to try to stop the surge of such activity; Henry VIII helped in this way by the execution of as many as 'several thousand people', mostly because of their religious or political beliefs.
With over 100 colourful illustrations, this comprehensive, informative and highly readable book adds greatly to our knowledge of life in Tudor and Stuart Britain.
On the fashion front, trends were greatly influenced by the monarch and the court, with the rich people spending inordinate amounts of money on clothes. For instance apparently Elizabeth I had 260 gowns, 127 cloaks, 125 petticoats and hundreds of smaller accessories in her wardrobe ... follow that rich or not! However great the clothes were, they would not have been shown off to their best advantage with one of the other unusual fashions of the day ... that was the practice of deliberately blacking-out the front teeth, particularly among noble women as they strove to disguise genuinely rotten teeth!
As for love and marriage, Charles II, the 'Merry Monarch', when he became king in 1660 agreed that part of the deal was that he would marry Catherine of Braganza from Portugal. He did but he did not like her and it was a loveless marriage ... enter Nell Gwynn - and others!
And while poorer people farmed strips of land in large, open fields and paid rent to the church or local lord, a new breed of farmer emerged, the yeoman. They bought, or sometimes rented, several fields so as to form small farms, usually on the outskirts of villages. They employed labourers and built themselves fine houses so they sat between the poorer folk and the lords of the manor. Meanwhile in the towns, overcrowding became a problem and the risk of fire with the wooden houses was great as they were crammed into narrow streets, thus the Fire of London. It was amazing that the Fire killed only nine people, although over 13,000 buildings were destroyed.
Coffee houses sprang up in the towns following the introduction of the commodity from South America and the richer folk met there to discuss the current affairs of the day. Those richer folk of the day became richer because of increased foreign trade and many of them replaced their castles with magnificent mansions, sparing no expense on decorations and furnishings with works of art taking pride of place.
Those rich folk also ate well, with a wide variety of meats and vegetables regularly on the menu while the poorer people had to make do with a diet of dairy produce, bread, basic vegetables and occasional meat, such as rabbit [we very occasionally had rabbit when I was quite young and I hated it, even hated the smell of it cooking when I walked into the house from school!]. And while the rich drank their wine, the poor drank their ale, which was relatively cheap and eased the misery of poverty. William Hogarth captured scenes of such drinking in his satirical prints.
English shipbuilders became leaders in the field, the microscope was invented and alchemists advanced the study of chemistry considerably, particularly as far as medicine went. And on the crime front, harsh penalties were introduced to try to stop the surge of such activity; Henry VIII helped in this way by the execution of as many as 'several thousand people', mostly because of their religious or political beliefs.
With over 100 colourful illustrations, this comprehensive, informative and highly readable book adds greatly to our knowledge of life in Tudor and Stuart Britain.
Displaying 1 of 1 review