Life in Elizabethan England
Posted: 2012-03-21
I'm a sucker for history websites. I can lose myself in them for ages. I ran across a site today focussed on the Elizabethan period in English history. It was a decent website on the surface, but the more I browsed around the more I realised that the content was fluff, pretty much entirely created to get search engine traffic and entice users to click on advertisements. It was a turn-off, to say the least, but it got me wondering if there were any other really good sites out there that cover the Elizabethan period.
Well, I struck gold, in the form of www.elizabethan.org. This wonderful website is more properly titled "Life in Elizabethan England: A Compendium of Common Knowledge, 1558-1603". The subtitle tells more of the story, "Elizabethan Commonplaces for Writers, Actors, and Re-enactors." Don't let that put you off - its really for anyone interested in the period, and the entire site is available as a book if you prefer to read the old-fashioned way! The original book, which is now in its 11th edition, was written by Maggie Secara and put online by Paul Kate Marmor.
I love the first article, a preface entitled "Short Attention Span History"! Perfect for my 11-year-old daughter, I think! But my goodness, if you want detail, it's all here. Here are just a few highlights:
- Betrothal and weddings
- Marriage (with or without love)
- Religion
- Food and Drink - even an article on snack foods!
- Servants and masters
- Language
- The peerage
- Duelling
- Religious sects
- Daily Life
- Shopping in London
- Childhood
- Science and medicine
- Games and pastimes
- Baby names
- Popular sayings
- Christmas customs
- and much, much more ...
Whew! That's a lot!
The articles are extremely well-written, and very easy to get lost in.
The usual disclaimer:
I have absolutely no connection with the Elizabethan.org website, I just thought it was fascinating.
Resources:
Life in Elizabethan England
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