Renaissance: from Shakespeare ALIVE, "One Day at a Time: What Daily Life was Like"

communication

printing press, pamphlets, broadside ballads, 4-5 major roads in England

consumption of alcohol

tea, coffee, and wine were too expensive, so they drank beer; provides comfort but too many drink too much and end up dead

Describe travel during this time period.

walk by foot; some can afford to ride on horseback

Why do men not want to join the navy?

Queen Elizabeth barely pays Navy and conditions are terrible- ate dry biscuits, moldy cheese, and sour beer

personal and public hygiene in London

WHAT HYGIENE??? people don't bathe because they can't afford soap; bad breath, rotten teeth, stomach disorders, scabs and sores on skin, ditches are used as toilets, dead animals rot in streets, decayed bodies often fill the churches

this time period is marked by many contrasts. what are some of the contrasts mentioned in this article?

a woman rules the nation, but men rule households; educated elites enjoy literature, but most people can't read; government spends lots of money on expansion and war, but science and medicine are barely practiced

How far has the famine spread?

all of Europe, not just England

food in London

ate bread, peas, and beans; if you could get anything from the woods, you would eat that

major diseases

bubonic plague, smallpox (which blinds and disfigures the people that it doesn't kill), tuberculosis

what problems of daily existence are there for a laborer?

cant' provide for themselves; no money for education, good clothes, and meat; disease, malnutrition, and natural disasters are occurring; you don't own your land that you work on so you could be without a home/job in any minute; landlords overcharge you to stay and work their land

travel

dirt tracks frequented by robbers; if you wanted to travel to a different country, you needed a license; acting companies tour as well as merchants, military travels

What do people do for fun?

fights and brawls featuring daggers, swords, and fists; bearbaiting, cockfighting, gladiator contests among roosters; public executions by axe, hanging, and witch burnings; public theater

What are the effects of starvation on a person's body?

hair falls out, skin turns grey, sickness, an undying hunger

What are the reasons for the growing famine?

heavy rain ruined harvests so population is bigger than amount of food ---> famine

medical knowledge

imbalance of 4 humors causes disease (bile, phlegm, choler, blood), used leeches to suck out blood to balance humors, amputations were done frequently and without anesthesia, people would rather go to a faith healer, witch, or women of white magic than a doctor

How does the population growth affect the common person?

inflated prices, low wages, famine

Describe London

largest city in Europe, noisy and loud, River Thames runs through its core (main source of trade and social life), vendors line streets, people in carriages go through the streets, prisoners shout in the Tower of London

education in London

liberal arts are expanding, but school is still a luxury most cannot afford

migrant life in London

lived in cold attics together waiting for work that may or may not come, they tell stories of their pasts to pass the time

Why are so many people going to London?

looking for work because of the terrible conditions of home