How To Be a Tudor

Beginning at dawn with the cock's rousing crow and proceeding into either Catholic abstinence or Protestant-approved marital relations at nightfall, this work celebrates the ordinary lives of those who labored through the dramatic Tudor era. Goodman draws on her own hands-on experience living on a replicated Tudor farm to bring all the sights, smells, and appetites of this era to visceral, vibrant life. The Tudor period began in 1485 with the crowning of Henry VII, proceeded through Henry VIII's tumultuous reign, and ended with the death of his daughter, Elizabeth I, in 1603. It was a time of unprecedented upheaval. Henry VIII's break with Rome and establishment of a new church turned the religious rituals of everyday life upside down, as did the terror invoked under the subsequent rule of "Bloody Mary." Historians traditionally have focused on the royals, while the lives of common families ensnared within their political machinations have been largely ignored. Examining the overlooked majority with unrivaled insight and empathy, Goodman scours firsthand accounts and public records to uncover a trove of irresistible minutiae--the strictly enforced sumptuary laws, for example, required that clothing indicate class, age, profession, and even financial well-being. Goodman pants and whirls through Tudor dance steps, sleeps soundly atop rushes piled on the floor, painstakingly assembles an Elizabethan ruff, and navigates the arduous and sometimes dangerous task of plowing a field in inclement weather. Enduring each chore with her trademark wit and enthusiasm, Goodman serves as our intrepid guide to the revealing habits and intimacies of life in the time of Sir Walter Raleigh and Shakespeare.--Adapted from dust jacket.