Learning Zone Time Traveller's Guide to Elizabethan England

Imagine everything that's ever happened.

-The whole of history.

-One small step for man...

Imagine you could go to any place, any time, and see what people saw,

understand what they thought and appreciate what they felt.

So much of what we know now goes directly back to England's Golden Age, the reign of Queen Elizabeth I.

Who wouldn't want to travel back in time and see it first-hand?

Elizabethan England is dominated by the rich and powerful, but this is a world enjoyed

by a privileged few.

For most people, life is very different.

In the countryside, many people are poor and they face great hardship.

'You've arrived in England in 1558.

'Elizabeth has just been crowned Queen.

'It's very unlikely you'll land in a castle or a rich man's house.

'You're much more likely to find yourself somewhere like this.

'An open heath. In this case, Hothfield in Kent.

'About a quarter of England is like this - wild moors, heaths, hills and wasteland.

'Today we might describe Hothfield as quiet and scenic.

'To the Elizabethans, however, it is anything but.'

The heaths, woods and moorlands are dangerous places.

There are no roads across them, only trackways and muddy paths.

Elizabethan people see them as horrific. Anything but beautiful.

'Given that this is what the locals think of such places, I suggest you find shelter, and quickly.'

RUMBLE OF THUNDER

'Dotted around the countryside you'll find small, thatched cottages,

'some already hundreds of years old.

'And when you first spot one, don't have any ideas that life in the countryside is pleasant.

'The family you'll meet here is very poor indeed.

'It's not unusual to find as many as seven or eight people living in a house like this.'

Imagine you've come to stay with one of your ancestors in the 1560s and you're going to stay here.

The thing that will strike you most is that it is dark.

Very dark.

You can't just turn on a light in a house like this.

In fact, it's very unlikely you'll see colours indoors at all.

It's just too dark.

You'll go to sleep in darkness and you'll wake in darkness.

'Inside, you'll find it's very basic.

'Just one room with an earth floor.

'In the middle, you'll see a fire permanently lit,

'but what will really hit you is the thick smoke filling the whole room.

'To prevent you suffocating, they've made an opening in the roof.

'And the windows are no more than just holes in the wall.'

Because the windows are unglazed, covered only by a shutter, they let in the cold,

so they're small to retain as much heat as possible. Even in summer, very little light enters your home.

Candles, you might think, are the obvious answer.

Today we just take them for granted, but in Elizabethan times candles are expensive

and a poor family simply can't afford lots of light.

This family's only possessions are a few pots,

some spoons and ladles,

a basket and a bench.

You'll find yourself sleeping on the floor or, if you're lucky,

on one of their thin straw mattresses.

In this world of darkness, you won't just see differently, you'll listen differently, too.

You pay attention to the things you hear, the small sounds of the house,

the crackling of the fire, the sighing of a child in the cradle,

the raindrops on the roof.

'It's also important to understand that Elizabethan society is strictly divided

'according to the class into which you are born.'

It's explained in this book from 1577, A Description of England by a clergyman, William Harrison.

'Harrison describes the ordinary sort of people that you will meet on the road or in a village ale house.

'Most country men fall into one of three categories.

'A yeoman might own or rent his farm and employs workers.

'A husbandman rents the land that he works on.

'Labourers simply work on other people's farms.

'A dark, smoke-filled house is one reason why these people spend the whole day out of doors.

'As an unknown poor person looking for work in the countryside, your options are extremely limited.

'Your best bet is to go from farm to farm offering your services as a labourer.

'If you ask around among the local yeomen and husbandmen,

'you might find someone who will employ you on a casual basis and allow you to sleep in a barn,

'but be prepared for a hard slog.'

The working day starts at dawn and continues until sunset.

If you're employed as a labourer, what's your reward for this toil?

Just a groat.

You may be disappointed to see that your first day's pay is a thin coin

roughly the same size as a 20p piece.

Made of pure silver, the groat has been part of the English currency since Medieval times.

You'll also hear it referred to as fourpence.

What does this sum really mean?

There's no easy way of comparing the value of Elizabethan money to the money we use today.

When a labourer earns fourpence a day, a chicken costs fourpence a day and a lemon threepence.

If chickens were as valuable to us in the 21st century as in the 16th, they'd cost about £100 each

and a single lemon would cost £75.

So lemon chicken is off the menu, but what can you buy on wages of fourpence a day?

A loaf of bread and a small amount of butter and cheese every day,

four small pieces of meat and three pieces of fish per week,

and some ale to drink. Ale because water is polluted.

It all adds up to about 6,000 calories per day, which is enough for a working man and his wife,

but it leaves nothing for firewood, nothing for rent, nothing for clothing, nothing for the children.

Unless you grow vegetables in your garden and make your own clothes and forego some food for rent,

you won't be able to raise a family.

Lots of ordinary things like getting married and having children may not be possible

if you can't afford enough food. Life for the poor in the Elizabethan countryside

is a real struggle to survive.

You may have heard that Elizabethans don't travel.

That's a myth.

You'll pass a large number of people on the roads, most heading into towns and cities.

'On arrival in any town, you'll be drawn instantly to the hustle and bustle of the market.

'A town can double in size on market day with all its many visitors.'

Every town has at least one market open at least one day a week.

This is where you'll need to come to buy eggs, butter,

cheese, meat and fish.

This is also where you'll come to buy stuff.

You'll certainly recognise some of what's on sale, but you'll need to know what things are called.

Another word for calf-length boots is a pair of buskins.

Biggins are close-fitting caps.

Knee-length trousers or breeches are known as slops.

People spend many hours at the market, so various fast foods are available.

Cooked meats, pasties and pies are all on offer.

So are tasty treats.

They're pricey, so you might stretch only to some herbs or an onion to make a soup.

You'll notice women with baskets wandering around. They're selling oysters, seafood and herbs.

Also look out for a man carrying a flame from door to door.

Most people find it too difficult to light their fires using only a tinderbox and some kindling

so they pay for somebody to light them instead.

As the day ends and the noisy activity of the market dies down,

the town seems a little less friendly and a little less safe.

In fact, after dark it's terrifying.

Where there is poverty, there is often crime.

Half the entire Elizabethan population is under the age of 22.

For comparison, the middle mark in modern times is 39.

People have so much less life experience and, being younger,

they're more aggressive and hot-headed. They're also armed.

Most young men carry a dagger and many will wear a sword.

ANIMALS HOWL

Desperate times call for desperate measures

and there is no doubt that the poor are desperate. If you are tempted by a life of crime,

just bear in mind that the penalty for any felony is death.

And that includes the theft of just 13 pence-worth of goods.

Helping yourself to a fine shirt off a washing line or some silver spoons from a rich man's house

can lead you straight to the gallows.

There are, in total, five different ways in which you can be executed.

The first is straightforward hanging on a gallows.

The second is the traitor's death of hanging, drawing and quartering.

Third, there's beheading.

Fourth, burning at the stake.

And fifth, peine forte et dure.

That last one means hard and strong punishment.

You are laid on the ground and a sharp rock is placed under your spine.

Heavy weights are then added, one by one, to a board on your body.

It could well take 12 hours for you to be crushed to death.

If you're found guilty of witchcraft in England, it is likely you'll be hanged,

unlike in Catholic countries, where witches are burnt at the stake.

This journey as a poor person through Elizabethan England has shown you many peculiar things,

but witchcraft is probably the strangest of them all.

Today science has taught us that witches don't really exist

and that evil spells and lucky charms don't actually work.

But in the 16th century, if you deny that witches exist,

people will think you are insane.

'While the poor in Elizabethan England have a particularly hard time,

'there's one cause of suffering that's a threat to everyone - the weather.

'And we're not talking here about a few spots of rain.'

One bad summer and the crops fail.

Food becomes scarce and prices rise. Whole families suffer from malnutrition.

If the harvest fails for two years in succession, they starve to death.

If it fails for three years in a row, as it does in the years 1594-1597, thousands die.

Failed harvests mean that many people in the countryside have no work

and without a job they can't afford to stay in their homes

In the 16th century, it's against the law to look after a homeless person not from your neighbourhood.

You can be fined £1 for taking in a perfectly innocent homeless couple.

As a consequence, lots of people end up walking for miles up and down the country for work or food,

constantly being moved on.

There are even cases of people migrating to Kent on foot from as far as Lancashire and Yorkshire.

'In 1597, three years into the worst famine seen in living memory,

'England is about to make some major changes to the law.

'Across the country, there was a feeling that something has to be done to help the poor.

'In October, Elizabeth's government passes an act for the relief of the poor.

'For the first time, people are taxed locally

'and the money is given to parish overseers to provide for the very poorest people.

'This is a major change and has to count as one of the turning points in English social history.

'From now on, helping the poor isn't just left to individual acts of charity.

'It's a duty that everyone shares.

'The new law establishes the system of caring for the poor for the next 200 years.

'As a poor person, life may seem much better under the new laws,

'but lurking in the shadows there's another ever-present threat, especially for the poor.'

Death is the thing that all fear and due to the high levels of disease in society,

it features very prominently in daily life. Most children lose one parent by the time they grow up.

And most parents lose half their children.

In Stratford in the 1560s, there are, on average, 63 children baptised every year

and there are 43 buried.

There are just so many diseases you can catch.

The one you'll certainly hear most about from people in the street is the plague.

The 1578 Plague Orders decree that if plague is found in a house,

it is to be boarded up and guarded until everyone inside is either dead or has survived for six weeks.

It has been known for some people feeling the symptoms to dig their own graves and to lie down in them

waiting for death.

So what can you do to avoid what seems like certain death?

Some medical manuals have strange recipes.

For example, live swallow chicks ground up in a pestle and mortar.

But the more serious ailments require the attention of a physician

and then you might get a surprise because the medicines he prescribes won't just depend on your illness.

They'll also depend on how wealthy you are. Expensive medicines with the best ingredients

are given to the rich. The poor receive a cheap alternative.

Life in the towns and cities of Elizabethan England is tough.

There is great poverty and many people struggle to feed and house their families.

While the Poor Laws go some way to improving this, there are still many hardships to overcome.

The punishments for even the smallest crimes are harsh and disease is rife.

As your guide to the 16th century, I'd like to show you the very best

that the Elizabethan period has to offer. Where better to start than at one of the Queen's

magnificent royal palaces?

Here it is all about what you wear and how you look.

Hampton Court is one of 20 royal residences inherited by Elizabeth I

and was one of her father's favourites.

She gives seven of them away and now spends an average of £4,000 per year looking after the remainder.

£4,000 is a huge amount of money in the 16th century.

The average worker earns just £5 a year.

Everybody has their place in Elizabethan society

and to be accepted in this world it is important to know where you stand.

Servants, visitors, royal courtiers - virtually every level of society is represented here.

You won't have any difficulty telling them apart.

Everyone's status in society is given away by their clothes.

Exactly what you wear will depend on when you are here.

Get your dates wrong, even by as little as a year or two,

and you risk ridicule or rejection.

Courtiers travelling abroad carry the latest trends back from the continent

either in person or by sending fashion dolls dressed in miniature outfits.

'Fashions become steadily more lavish as the Queen's reign progresses,

'much to the disapproval of the Puritans.

'For a wealthy traveller like you, gorgeous clothing is an absolute must.

'One of the best examples of this is the ruff.

'At the beginning of the Elizabethan period,

'both men and women start showing the collar of their smocks or shirts over the tops of their tunics.

'As this becomes the fashion,

'it grows into a separate garment which is easier to wash.

'Starch allows it to grow even bigger until, by the 1580s,

'it uses a full six yards of linen

'and requires a circular board to support it.'

If you really want to show off, vibrant colour is another very effective way to demonstrate wealth.

It is the law that only the aristocracy and landed gentry are able to wear certain fabrics,

such as cloth of gold and silver, red and blue velvet, embroidery and silk.

To create a bright crimson colour, you need cochineal insects from South America.

Obtaining a single ounce of purple dye requires around 30,000 Mediterranean whelks

so dressing flamboyantly certainly doesn't come cheap.

But a word of caution - if you arrive in the early part of Elizabeth's reign,

don't look too flamboyant. The Queen is still very modest in her attire.

She often wears stark black and white for constancy and purity.

Together, these symbolise eternal virginity, an image she is keen to project.

So it might not be a good idea to turn up at court and risk upstaging the Queen in a cloak of bright red.

'Once you have taken stock of the latest royal dress code,

'you'll be keen to find out if it makes the correct impression in the presence of the Queen.'

But as Hampton Court is not one of the Queen's favourite residences,

most of the time you'll find that she's absent.

'Unless she is staying at one of her other palaces, there's a good chance you've arrived while she's away

'on one of her famous royal progresses.

'On two dozen occasions during her reign, the entire royal court packs up and takes to the road.

'Tapestries and paintings are removed from the walls and put into storage, along with silverware

'and other valuables, while servants keep the palace clean, aired and ready for her return.

'These outings are a major task requiring between 300 and 400 carts and wagons

'and up to 2,400 horses.'

Progresses form a vital part of Elizabeth's queenship.

They allow people to see her in the flesh and even to meet her.

She, in turn, can become acquainted with her subjects. Some courtiers are quietly amused by her claiming

to be personally familiar with thousands of the landed gentry,

but she does know many because of these progresses.

It's another example of Tudor visual propaganda in which the Queen herself becomes a living portrait.

During your travels, you'll need somewhere to stay.

Just like the Queen on a royal progress, the house of a gentleman makes an ideal place

for you to lay your head. In Elizabethan times, there's a rapidly increasing number.

Hundreds of these handsome manor houses spring up during her reign

as more and more people become rich enough to build their own.

The great houses built during Elizabeth I's reign are among the finest England will ever see

and Hardwick Hall in Derbyshire is one of the greatest of them all.

Every detail of a great house is designed to demonstrate the wealth and sophistication of its owner.

This need to show off can have both positive and negative consequences.

The positive ones are obvious - national as well as local prestige,

perhaps leading to a position at court. The negative ones are the sheer expense -

the cost of building the house in the first place, equipping it and maintaining all the servants.

Ultimately, success might lead to the financially ruinous privilege of entertaining the Queen herself.

When the Queen pays a visit to the Cambridgeshire home of Lord North in 1577,

she arrives accompanied by about 2,000 people.

The total cost of the two-day visit is £642 four shillings and tuppence

and this doesn't include a present for the Queen of a jewel worth £120.

Lord North's expenses include decorating the rooms, putting up a temporary banqueting house

and building several temporary kitchens.

There are candles and torches to buy and extra pewter ware must be hired from London.

Just doing the dishes costs the equivalent of a worker's wages for three months.

To give you an idea of the scale of preparation required, look at the grocery list.

11½ cows, 17½ veal calves,

8 stags and 16 bucks for pasties,

1,200 chickens, over 2,500 pigeons,

a cartload and two horse loads of oysters. And so the list goes on.

When you consider that a single cow is the equivalent of an average worker's wages for 6 months,

you can see that a royal visit is a mixed blessing for the host who has to foot the bill.

Life at Elizabeth I's court is full of luxury and privilege,

but you'll have to work hard to stay in the Queen's favour.

It is very important for a wealthy Elizabethan to give the right impression - your clothes and house

are key symbols of your wealth and status. The greatest honour you can receive

is a visit from the Queen herself, but this could also prove to be dangerously expensive.

Take almost any painting from Elizabethan England

and what do you see? Royal courtiers dressed in silk and velvet,

magnificent jewels and ostentatious ruffs,

extravagant feasts and joyous dancing.

These artworks always depict the lives of the very rich. Why?

Only they can afford such luxuries as paintings.

But while these people may have more money than anyone else, they don't have all the power.

There is another important group of people known as the gentry.

Not all the gentry are super rich, but they are by no means poor

and they are certainly powerful.

They don't just control the people around them - the villagers and their own servants.

They practically own and run the whole country.

From the ranks of the gentry, magistrates and sheriffs were drawn

and almost every official in central and local government. In Parliament, too, it's the gentry

who fill the House of Commons.

As a wealthy traveller, you might stay at an inn, but only if you really have to.

You'll feel much more at home if you arrange to stay at the house of a gentleman.

Look around and you'll see the signs of the owner's wealth and status -

the carved wood, perhaps a portrait or two, maybe even a mirror.

You'll also find carpets, but they're laid across the tops of tables and over chests.

Only the exceptionally wealthy ever put them on the floor.

Another clear sign that you're in the house of a gentleman is the presence of servants.

From just one or two in a modest household to 20 or more in a wealthier one.

Every manservant will cost you about £2 per year and every female domestic helper about half that.

As a guest of the house, you deserve pleasant sleeping quarters which brings us to the bedchamber.

The first thing you must do on waking up in the house of a gentleman

is to attend to your personal hygiene.

Cleanliness is an important part of culture and sophistication

and the rich will expect you to do something about any bodily odours you might have.

The obvious answer is to have a bath,

but the Elizabethans do not share our obsession with soap and water.

In fact, they believe that unclean water can make you unwell

by entering the pores of your skin. In that, they're not far wrong.

Rainwater collected from the roof is pure since it comes directly from God,

but this is a luxury reserved for washing the parts of the body that show.

Since anything else such as river water may indeed carry infection and disease,

you should follow the example of your fellow Elizabethans

and avoid bathing in it.

Linen towels called rubbers are used to rub your skin and even your hair clean.

Shirts, smocks and other undergarments which soak up sweat and catch dirt are changed daily.

As you can see, you keep yourself clean by washing not your body, but your clothes.

The rich also make use of perfumes and pomades to improve the smell

of their clothes, bodies and hair.

And while getting rid of your bodily odours, you mustn't forget to take care of your breath.

In the absence of dental floss, you might use a toothpick

made of wood, bone or the quill of a feather.

There are no toothbrushes, so instead, you'll clean your teeth

with a tooth cloth which is a strip of linen.

As for freshening your breath, you might chew cumin seeds or aniseed.

Either of these is probably going to be more advisable than doing what some physicians recommend

which is washing your mouth out with white wine, followed by spirit of vitriol.

Spirit of vitriol is sulphuric acid.

Just in case you don't know, sulphuric acid is dangerously corrosive.

You may be surprised to learn that the Elizabethans travel a great deal,

irrespective of their wealth.

But poor people rarely go more than a few miles

and when they do travel, it is almost always on foot.

As a member of the gentry, you wouldn't dream of travelling in such a dangerous, dirty and vulgar way.

What you want is a set of wheels.

Coaches have soared in popularity as a result of the Protestant revolution.

Gentlemen and their families coming back from the continent have brought with them the customs

of places like Antwerp where there are 500 coaches on the streets of the city.

The greater number of coaches in England means the price drops,

allowing even the lower reaches of the gentry to travel in this way.

In the 1570s, for instance,

you can pick up a second-hand coach for around £8

and a team of four horses for an additional £10.

For the budget traveller, you can even hire one for 16 shillings per day, plus food for the coachman.

But don't forget to allow for horse feed

which can easily cost more than the meals for yourself and your servants.

During your long journey, you may wish to rest at an inn or tavern

for a much needed meal and a drink.

But be very careful what you say to strangers

and make sure your servants do the same.

While your servants may believe they're just having a casual chat with their newly made acquaintances,

perhaps mentioning your name, their words may find their way back

to the Queen's secretary, courtesy of his spy network.

There are spies everywhere, even in your own household,

listening to your every word and reporting back to the Queen's chief adviser, Sir William Cecil.

But why go to such lengths? Why the suspicion?

It's because the Queen has no shortage of enemies.

There are Puritans who disagree with Elizabeth over their religious beliefs.

There are also many Catholics in England and abroad, including the Pope and Philip II of Spain,

who do not like the idea of a Protestant Queen on the throne.

This puts Elizabeth I in danger.

In the 1580s, there is an attempt on the Queen's life almost every year.

One of these schemes in particular shows the lengths

to which plotters will go and the effectiveness of this Elizabethan secret service.

In 1586, a group of conspirators, led by a young Catholic gentleman called Anthony Babington,

hatch a plot to kill the Queen.

Their plan is to assassinate her and, with the help of a Spanish invasion,

to put Mary Queen of Scots on the throne instead.

Babington smuggles coded letters in and out of Mary's prison using waterproof wallets in ale barrels.

Walsingham's spies intercept these letters and break the code, but they don't raise the alarm immediately.

Instead, they put the letters back in the barrels,

so Babington and his friends don't realise the game is up.

It's a brilliant move. Not only do the conspirators incriminate themselves further,

they also unwittingly deliver proof to Walsingham that Mary herself is complicit.

Eventually, no fewer than 14 of the conspirators are caught.

They are sentenced to death and so is the Scottish queen.

Assassination plots and treason are mainly of concern to the cream of society.

The poor are far too busy simply trying to survive

and such treachery is dealt with by the very highest authority.

Star Chamber is a special court,

so called because it meets in the Star Chamber in the Palace of Westminster.

The mere mention of its name is enough to strike fear into the heart

and you had better pray you are never summoned to appear before it.

There is no jury in the Star Chamber

and rumour alone can be enough to find you guilty of treason.

Worse still, you can be punished by just about any method seen fit -

imprisonment in the Tower, whipping or branding,

cutting off your ears or hands or slitting your nose.

Public executions are a means of demonstrating government power and social control,

as well as removing some enemies of the state.

For the masses, they're also hugely popular as forms of entertainment.

The most common method of execution is hanging,

the standard punishment for everything from theft to witchcraft.

As a nobleman, you might be able to avoid this

by begging the Queen to allow you to have your head cut off instead.

But these methods of execution are positively humane

compared to the one reserved for traitors.

The unbelievably grisly sight of someone being hanged, drawn and quartered

is arguably the most infamous and graphic demonstration of the appetite for cruelty.

This is the fate that awaits the Babington conspirators.

These executions serve as a stark reminder that at a moment's notice,

even the most privileged may lose their riches, their power and their lives.

These are dangerous days, uncertain times,

and it's worth remembering that those who have the most also have the most to lose.

Elizabeth I's reign is a time of great change in England, especially for the middle classes.

Your journey begins at the very heart of the country.

In towns like Stratford, a revolution is taking place.

It transforms the lives of ordinary people

and changes the face of every street in the land.

It's not a scientific discovery. It's not a political development.

It is, in fact, the humble chimney.

Chimneys mean that buildings can expand upwards

and you can now heat every room in your home.

The arrival of the chimney is just the beginning of what becomes a social revolution.

Driving this innovation is the availability of cheap bricks.

Mass production means they are now affordable for the many, not just the few.

Chimneys were previously found in castles and grand houses, but never in the homes of ordinary people.

Thanks to the humble chimney, you can now live in a state-of-the-art, two-storey townhouse,

not an unfashionable, single-storey medieval home...

..essential if you want to show you're on the up.

And bear in mind that Elizabethan England is on average two degrees colder than you're used to

with very cold snaps in the 1570s and the 1590s,

so a chimney means your stay will be a lot more comfortable,

especially if you want your own bedchamber, rather than sleep in the hall with everyone else.

In 1558, a chimney is the way to keep up with the Joneses,

but in 1598, it's glass that is the ultimate status symbol.

From now on, moderately wealthy gentlemen can afford

to flood their houses with natural light, but it's still expensive.

You may have glass at the front of your house to show off and still make do with shutters at the back.

In towns like Stratford, old buildings are being converted or demolished everywhere you look.

It seems as if almost everyone is moving into the town and, in fact, many are.

It's not just Stratford that is growing rapidly.

Over the 45 years of the Queen's reign,

the population of England rises from 3.2 million to 4.1 million.

That's more than 25% more people to feed, clothe and house.

England won't see such a high level of growth again until the end of the 18th century.

Elizabethan England sees several positive changes

that make a real difference to the lives of the ambitious middle classes.

Without a doubt, the most far-reaching of these is the publication of books in English.

Over the course of the 16th century, the proportion of books published in English increases rapidly.

This in turn encourages many ordinary people to read.

For prosperous townsmen, this is a major revelation.

Suddenly, they too can acquire knowledge and explore their world through literature.

Books are soon published on a wide range of subjects,

everything from cookery to medicine and even how to fire a cannon.

But it's the Bible in English which is the real best-seller of the age.

For the first time, people can read the word of God in their own homes

and consider its meanings for themselves.

It becomes the ultimate self-help book.

To read is to better yourself and move up the social ladder.

But as you can already read, you're at a major advantage.

Literacy can be your ticket to greatness in Elizabeth's England.

At the start of the 16th century, only one in ten men can read and write,

but by the end of Elizabeth's reign, that has increased to one in four.

Even more strikingly, the proportion of women who can read and write increases from 1% to 10%.

That's a tenfold increase. It marks a revolution.

From now on, men aren't the only readers. Women can read too.

And they can publish.

The publishing of books in English has a major impact on literacy,

but for the ambitious and brightest, there's another, more formal route to education - school.

Traditionally, a formal education has only been available to the wealthy few,

but increasingly, new grammar schools,

that is, schools that teach boys to read and write in Latin,

are springing up across the country.

Printing is one of three things identified by the great English philosopher, Francis Bacon,

as making the Elizabethan age so different from what went earlier.

The other two are gunpowder and the compass.

In Elizabeth's England,

advances and scientific knowledge go hand in hand with exploration.

Perhaps the most famous adventurer of them all is Sir Francis Drake.

He is the very embodiment of an Elizabethan self-made man.

From humble beginnings in Devon, he rises to become one of the richest

and most celebrated men in the kingdom.

In 1577, he sets out in command of a fleet of five ships with 200 men.

Three years later, having sailed round the world,

he returns with just one ship and 56 men, but a mountain of treasure.

Drake is a man whom you will definitely want to meet.

No-one knows exactly how much he brings back from the ships and ports he has attacked,

but the Spanish, from whom he steals most of his loot,

put the figure at £600,000,

which is an absolute fortune at this time.

Drake, a man from an ordinary family,

rises all the way to the top of Elizabethan society

with the help of stolen Spanish gold.

Men like Drake use a compass

and other new technologies to navigate their way round the world,

but it's gunpowder and cannon that allow them to make their fortunes.

Drake's Golden Hind is armed with 18 cannon.

14 of these are capable of sending an iron cannonball,

weighing some four pounds,

into the packed decks and sails of his enemy's ships.

Drake, along with other Elizabethan adventurers,

begins to challenge the Spanish for control of the world's oceans.

If you are serious about voyaging into the great unknown with Francis Drake,

there are a few things to bear in mind.

Life aboard an ocean-going ship is unbelievably hard.

As a crew member, you won't have any private space.

The food is atrocious and it's likely you'll get scurvy on a long voyage.

You'll probably lose some teeth, your gums will start to rot and your breath will stink.

There are no washing facilities,

so the smell of your body will soon overpower even that of your reeking breath.

You can't shave, so your beard will start to grow and insects will grow in your beard.

Your whole body will be covered in lice and fleas.

And unfortunately, if you do seek out adventure, you probably won't live very long.

82% of sailors are under 30 as death rates are so high.

After his rampaging voyage around the globe and success against the Spanish,

Drake returns to England a hero.

You too can bask in his glory.

That is, if you make it back to England alive.

Drake shares his fortune with the crown and, reluctantly, Queen Elizabeth knights him.

He has risen from simple, unsophisticated beginnings

to become one of the most famous men of the age.

Having travelled the globe, English explorers and adventurers bring back a mass of new discoveries

that help transform the understanding of the natural world.

Explorers from all over Europe, including Englishmen such as Francis Drake and Walter Raleigh,

bring back plants and animals from the New World with which you'll be very familiar -

the potato, the tomato, tobacco and the turkey.

These discoveries cause great excitement,

for they support the idea that when God created the world, he created cures for all mankind's diseases.

The result is an expansion in botanical gardens which are stocked with every plant

that might prove useful to the Elizabethans.

You might want to discuss these new discoveries with John Gerard,

the leading herbalist of the age.

Gerard compiles the most comprehensive catalogue of plants yet undertaken

and the science of botany takes a huge leap forward.

John Gerard is keen to explore the medicinal and nutritional properties of every plant he can find.

Of the tomato he writes, "They yield very little nourishment to the body

"and are only cultivated for their colour."

Prosperous Elizabethans put tomatoes and potatoes on their banquet tables not to eat,

but for exotic decoration.

In short, the tomato is a status symbol.

For you, today, tobacco, potatoes and tomatoes are everyday items

that will barely get a second glance,

but to the Elizabethans, these are exotic novelties

that prove there is a whole world out there waiting to be discovered.

If you visit England at the start of the Queen's reign and then again at the end,

you'll find a profoundly different place.

Scientific and geographic knowledge have been transformed beyond recognition

and everyday life has undergone a revolution.

Elizabethan London is unlike any other city or town in England.

It has a much bigger population, covers a larger area

and is much richer.

As you near the city, you'll pass a bizarre collection of people -

royal messengers, sheep drovers, physicians hurrying to bedsides

and foreign travellers in new-fangled carriages,

all streaming in and out of the city.

There are numerous must-see attractions on any wealthy tourist's itinerary.

Firstly, the Tower of London.

Here, you can hire a tour guide.

You'll see Henry VIII's armour, the Royal Mint,

a collection of exotic animals

and the dungeons where Catholics and others are tortured.

But tourism doesn't come cheap.

If you want to do the full Tower experience in Elizabeth's reign,

it will cost 12 weeks' wages for the average labourer.

But the one thing you simply have to see is London Bridge.

It's what every visitor to the city talks about.

It's more than just a simple bridge.

It's a magnificent ancient structure of 20 arches.

It's 800 feet long, 60 feet high and 28 feet wide.

It towers above the river.

The bridge is covered in buildings

from wealthy merchants' houses to shops and even public toilets.

It also has impressive gates and fortifications,

designed to protect the city.

In 1599, the Swiss tourist Thomas Platter remarks

that "London is not in England, but England is in London,"

an observation about crowding in echoed by almost every foreign visitor to the city.

London is not just the most crowded place. It is also the centre of government, international trade,

the law and, of course, culture.

It is also a place of wonder and horror, of great wealth and abject poverty.

Over the 45 years of Elizabeth's reign,

the city's population increases from 70,000 to an astonishing 200,000

as multitudes flock to the capital to seek their fortune.

Queen Elizabeth doesn't like London expanding so close to her land and palaces

and so she declares that no new building can take place outside the city walls.

In London, space is at a premium.

This plan shows you how closely packed together all the houses are

and gives you a sense of how cramped life is.

It also shows you all the latrines.

This bit of London isn't too badly served for such facilities, due to the proximity of the River Fleet.

Even so, you might have to cross your legs as it shows just ten loos for the 30 properties on the map,

let alone the hundreds of other houses nearby.

For those who come to live in the city, life is crowded, cramped, unhygienic,

and little more than a struggle.

Tensions are increased by having to live so close to your neighbours.

The lack of space means houses are rising fast,

sometimes up to seven storeys high, all supported by nothing but timber beams.

The rapid growth of London also means that sanitation suffers.

Without flushing toilets or effective drains,

the smell of Elizabethan London is going to take some getting used to.

Strange though it may seem, to most Londoners, the smell of sewage is the smell of progress

because it's also the smell of lots of people.

Although the sanitation might leave a little to be desired,

the city is where you can better yourself and improve your lot.

London attracts everyone hoping to make a fortune or a name for themselves.

When visiting London, the River Thames is your constant companion.

It's the lifeblood of the city and for many wealthier Londoners, it is by far the best way to get about.

This is one reason why there are so many boats on the river

from the practical barges carrying everything from dung to wine and the Queen's glass-sided barge

to thousands of wherries, as water-borne taxis are known.

These river taxis operate in all weathers.

It will cost you a penny to cross from the city

to the many entertainments of Southwark on the south bank of the river.

The River Thames also provides the city with its port

and it's this that makes London such a centre of international trade,

new ideas and opportunities to make money.

London's middle classes are only too pleased to spend their new-found wealth.

And it's London's bustling port that satisfies the demand for novelties,

as well as basic commodities.

Luxury items such as sugar, exotic spices, carpets, cakes of soap and even marmalade

are imported from Europe, the Far East and the New World.

If it's the finer things in life you're after, London is definitely the place to be.

The constant movement of people and cargoes in and out of the city,

along with the filthy and overcrowded streets, makes London the perfect breeding ground

for the most terrifying thing you'll encounter in Elizabethan England - the plague.

When planning your visit, you really must avoid 1563.

In that one year alone, over 17,000 Londoners die of bubonic plague.

But let's say you do visit during an epidemic.

Are there any precautions you can take to avoid catching this dreaded disease?

You can never predict where it might strike.

Outbreaks occur all over the country at different times.

But bear in mind that it is carried by rat fleas and they don't travel very fast.

If you hear that the plague is in town, leave immediately.

Poor areas are more severely affected than rich ones, so avoid slums.

Plague can also be spread through infected garments, so don't borrow or wear someone else's clothing.

Finally, bear in mind that plague can be spread in the breath.

Don't get over-familiar with strangers and keep the kissing to a minimum.

So what should you do if you feel painful buboes in your groin and armpits

and find yourself suffering from a rapid pulse, fever and headache?

Medicine won't help you. There are supposed cures for plague, but none will do the slightest bit of good.

A physician won't even come near you. I'm afraid, in such circumstances, the outlook is bleak.

There is nothing you can do.

If you are unlucky enough to catch plague,

the laws enacted in 1578 mean you are subject to strict control measures.

You can't buy your way out of this one.

You'll be boarded up inside your house for a minimum of six weeks.

You, your family and servants, sick and healthy,

all in it together.

No matter how rich, ambitious or knowledgeable you are,

nothing can save you from the plague.

As well as horrific events like plague, Elizabethan England also sees several positive changes

that make a real difference to the lives of the middling sort of people.

On the south bank of the Thames at Southwark, you'll see a revolution unfolding before your eyes.

To many, it's the high point of Elizabeth's England -

the theatre.

If you visit the Globe Theatre in 1599, you might just be lucky enough

to see the work of the man who has come to be regarded

as the foremost Elizabethan of them all - William Shakespeare.

Here at the Globe,

Shakespeare's plays provide rich entertainment for the crowds.

One in three of all adult Londoners watches a play every month.

You'll certainly want to join these middle-class theatre-goers.

When you arrive, you'll be one of the 2,000-strong audience waiting with excitement

for the entertainment to begin.

Be on guard against pickpockets who are everywhere in the bustling audience.

-You wouldn't want to lose some of your hard-earned fortune.

-Oi, you!

The Globe is just one of the many things you've seen

that put London at the centre of Elizabethan England.

The historian John Stow describes it as "the fairest, largest and best inhabited city in the world".

Elizabeth's reign sees dramatic changes across the whole country,

but the changes seen in London make it the foremost city on Earth.

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