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The Tudors

Entertainment

What did the Tudors do for fun?

Our lives today are filled with ready-made entertainment - television, computers, music centres etc. In the Tudor period people had to make their own entertainments. Hours of work were long and without electric light or the benefit of being able to read, many people simply went to bed when it got dark. The time for entertainment was on a Sunday or Saint's day or when there was a great public event - Royal wedding or public execution.

Sports

Sports were very popular in the Sixteenth Century. Some of the most popular are still played today:

Jousting Tournament

Jousting
Pitching the Bar
Throwing the Sledgehammer
Leaping
Shin-kicking (with iron-tipped boots)
Sword fighting
Performing headstands
Fox Hunting
Hare Coursing
Dancing to bagpipes

Banquet

Eating

Banquets were a popular form of entertainment for the rich, but the poorer folk would also hold feasts on special occasions. If there was a great public event such as a royal wedding then the monarch would pay for wine and food to be placed in the streets for the poor people to join in the celebrations. The diners would be entertained by mummers, jugglers, jesters or fire eaters.

The Globe Theatre

The Theatre

The popularity of the theatre rose with both rich and poor alike, during the sixteenth century. This popularity was helped by the rise of great playwrights such as Christopher Marlowe and William Shakespeare as well as the building of the Globe theatre in London.

Public Execution

Execution

A public execution was an event not to be missed and people would queue through the night to get the best places. There was always a carnival atmosphere and a good trade was done by pie sellers, ale merchants and producers of execution memorabilia. Public executions always produced a carnival-like atmosphere with large crowds attracting peddlers, minstrels, jugglers and other street performers anxious to use this ready-made audience.