0:00:05 > 0:00:07Imagine everything that's ever happened.
0:00:11 > 0:00:12The whole of history.
0:00:17 > 0:00:20Imagine you could go to any place, any time,
0:00:20 > 0:00:24and see what the people then saw, understand what they thought,
0:00:24 > 0:00:26and appreciate what they felt.
0:00:29 > 0:00:31What would that tell you about the human race?
0:00:31 > 0:00:34And how would that make you feel about the world you live in today?
0:00:38 > 0:00:41So much of what we know now goes directly back to
0:00:41 > 0:00:44England's Golden Age, the reign of Queen Elizabeth I.
0:00:47 > 0:00:50A time when England embraced the whole world.
0:00:51 > 0:00:54It's a period bursting with icons -
0:00:54 > 0:00:56Shakespeare, the Spanish Armada.
0:00:59 > 0:01:00The Virgin Queen herself.
0:01:02 > 0:01:07Who wouldn't want to travel back in time and see it first hand?
0:01:07 > 0:01:11But if you did, what you would need most would be a visitor's handbook.
0:01:12 > 0:01:17Who are these strange people so like us, but also so different?
0:01:17 > 0:01:21What are their rules, their customs and attitudes?
0:01:21 > 0:01:24I have spent years piecing these together, so you don't have to.
0:01:25 > 0:01:28Let me plunge you into a world of splendour
0:01:28 > 0:01:33and magnificent achievements, but also of uncertainty and doubt,
0:01:33 > 0:01:36where simple survival is an art in itself.
0:01:36 > 0:01:41A world of plague, violence and superstition,
0:01:41 > 0:01:43but also of beauty and wisdom.
0:01:46 > 0:01:49I'll show you this fascinating period as if it's all around you.
0:01:50 > 0:01:52The sickness and the suffering,
0:01:52 > 0:01:54as well as the power and the glory.
0:01:54 > 0:01:57Because this is Elizabethan England.
0:02:19 > 0:02:21The concept of time travel has been around for well over
0:02:21 > 0:02:25a hundred years now, and has become a key theme of science fiction.
0:02:25 > 0:02:27But apply the idea to history
0:02:27 > 0:02:30and travelling back to Elizabethan times.
0:02:30 > 0:02:32How would you survive?
0:02:32 > 0:02:33What would you discover?
0:02:35 > 0:02:38You'll travel to the world of the rich and powerful,
0:02:38 > 0:02:40the high and mighty.
0:02:40 > 0:02:42An Elizabethan world you may recognise,
0:02:42 > 0:02:45and we'll see how you get on amongst society's elite.
0:02:50 > 0:02:53But it's a world enjoyed by few.
0:02:53 > 0:02:55For most, the reality is very different.
0:02:57 > 0:03:01In this film, I'm pitching you back, stripped of money,
0:03:01 > 0:03:04stripped of everything you're used to, all your creature comforts.
0:03:07 > 0:03:08Why?
0:03:08 > 0:03:11Because I want you to see that, for the poor,
0:03:11 > 0:03:14the most famous images and the cultural icons don't apply.
0:03:16 > 0:03:19The struggle of everyday life in Elizabethan times
0:03:19 > 0:03:22will show you just how lucky you are to be alive.
0:03:27 > 0:03:29You might picture some of the brilliant images
0:03:29 > 0:03:32of this glorious age - the Queen and her courtiers,
0:03:32 > 0:03:35or the grand architecture of the period.
0:03:35 > 0:03:39These things are a world away from most Elizabethans' lives.
0:03:39 > 0:03:43Spending time with the common people will show you just how much life
0:03:43 > 0:03:46in the 16th century is a continual struggle to survive.
0:04:05 > 0:04:08'You've arrived in England in 1558.
0:04:10 > 0:04:12'Elizabeth has just been crowned queen.
0:04:14 > 0:04:18'It's very unlikely you'll land in a castle or a rich man's house.
0:04:18 > 0:04:21'You're much more likely to find yourself somewhere like this.'
0:04:27 > 0:04:31'An open heath. In this case, Hothfield in Kent.'
0:04:34 > 0:04:37'About a quarter of England is like this -
0:04:37 > 0:04:40'wild moors, heaths, mountains and wasteland.'
0:04:43 > 0:04:45Look at what the latest tourist websites
0:04:45 > 0:04:47say about places like this.
0:04:47 > 0:04:49There's a recurring theme - beauty.
0:04:49 > 0:04:53"A ruggedly beautiful landscape," says one website.
0:04:53 > 0:04:54"A wonderful place," says another.
0:05:00 > 0:05:01'You'll need to get used to the fact
0:05:01 > 0:05:05'that Elizabethans see things very differently from you.
0:05:06 > 0:05:08'Even things that seem timeless
0:05:08 > 0:05:11'are riddled with meanings that you'll have to learn quickly.'
0:05:12 > 0:05:15There is no word for "landscape" in the English language.
0:05:15 > 0:05:16Elizabethans use the word "country".
0:05:16 > 0:05:19Something that you're in, not something you look at.
0:05:20 > 0:05:23'You certainly won't find any Elizabethans
0:05:23 > 0:05:25'painting pictures of the countryside.'
0:05:27 > 0:05:29'You may see it as pretty and romantic.
0:05:30 > 0:05:33'I urge you to drop those notions straight away.'
0:05:35 > 0:05:39The heaths, woods and moorlands are dangerous places.
0:05:39 > 0:05:43There are no roads across them - only trackways and muddy paths.
0:05:43 > 0:05:45Elizabethan people see them as horrific.
0:05:45 > 0:05:46Anything but beautiful.
0:06:00 > 0:06:03'Given that this is what the locals think of such places,
0:06:03 > 0:06:05'I suggest you find shelter, and quickly.'
0:06:08 > 0:06:10THUNDERCLAP
0:06:27 > 0:06:31'Dotted around the countryside you'll find small thatched cottages,
0:06:31 > 0:06:33'some already hundreds of years old.'
0:06:35 > 0:06:37'And when you first spot one,
0:06:37 > 0:06:39'don't have any ideas of an idyllic rural lifestyle.'
0:06:48 > 0:06:51'The family you'll meet here is very poor indeed.'
0:06:53 > 0:06:56'It's not unusual to find as many as seven or eight people
0:06:56 > 0:06:58'living in a house like this.'
0:07:02 > 0:07:07Imagine you've come to stay with one of your ancestors in the 1560s.
0:07:07 > 0:07:09And you're going to stay here.
0:07:09 > 0:07:13Well, the thing that will strike you most is that it is dark.
0:07:13 > 0:07:14Very dark.
0:07:16 > 0:07:19You can't just turn on a light in a house like this.
0:07:19 > 0:07:23In fact, it's very unlikely you'll see colours indoors at all.
0:07:23 > 0:07:25It's just too dark.
0:07:25 > 0:07:28You'll go to sleep in darkness, and you'll wake in darkness.
0:07:31 > 0:07:33'Inside, you'll find it's very basic.
0:07:34 > 0:07:36'Just one room with an earth floor.
0:07:37 > 0:07:41'In the middle, you'll see a fire, permanently lit,
0:07:41 > 0:07:45'but what will really hit you is the thick smoke filling the whole room.'
0:07:46 > 0:07:50'To prevent you suffocating, they've made an opening in the roof.'
0:07:54 > 0:07:57'And the windows are no more than just holes in the wall.'
0:08:00 > 0:08:03Because the windows are unglazed, covered only by a shutter,
0:08:03 > 0:08:05they let in the cold,
0:08:05 > 0:08:08so they're small to retain as much heat as possible.
0:08:08 > 0:08:10Even in the summer months,
0:08:10 > 0:08:13very little light is going to enter your home.
0:08:13 > 0:08:17Candles, you might think, are the obvious answer.
0:08:17 > 0:08:20'Modern set designers love them, our movies are full of them,
0:08:20 > 0:08:24'but real Elizabethan cottages aren't.
0:08:24 > 0:08:25'Candles are expensive,
0:08:25 > 0:08:29'and a poor family simply can't afford lots of light.
0:08:30 > 0:08:34'This family's only possessions are a few pots,
0:08:34 > 0:08:39'some spoons and ladles, a basket and a bench.
0:08:39 > 0:08:41'You'll find yourself sleeping on the floor,
0:08:41 > 0:08:45'or if you're lucky, on one of their thin straw mattresses.'
0:08:47 > 0:08:50'In this world of darkness, you won't just see differently,
0:08:50 > 0:08:52'you'll listen differently, too.'
0:08:53 > 0:08:56You pay attention to the things you hear -
0:08:56 > 0:08:58the small sounds of the house.
0:08:59 > 0:09:01The crackling of the fire.
0:09:01 > 0:09:03The sighing of a child in the cradle.
0:09:05 > 0:09:06The raindrops on the roof.
0:09:37 > 0:09:40Another important point to understand from the outset is how
0:09:40 > 0:09:42hierarchical Elizabethan society is,
0:09:42 > 0:09:46and how firmly people stick to class divisions.
0:09:46 > 0:09:48It's explained in this book from 1577.
0:09:48 > 0:09:51A Description Of England, by a clergyman called William Harrison.
0:09:55 > 0:10:00'Elizabethans see their rigid class system as being ordained by God.'
0:10:03 > 0:10:05'Even at the lower end of the social scale,
0:10:05 > 0:10:06'there's a definite class system.'
0:10:09 > 0:10:12'Harrison describes the ordinary sort of people
0:10:12 > 0:10:15'that you'll meet on the road, or in a village ale house.
0:10:16 > 0:10:18'Most countrymen fall into one of three categories.
0:10:19 > 0:10:21'A yeoman might own or lease
0:10:21 > 0:10:24'his farm, and employs workers.
0:10:24 > 0:10:27'A husbandman rents the land that he works on.
0:10:28 > 0:10:31'Labourers simply work on other people's farms.'
0:10:37 > 0:10:40'A dark, smoke-filled house is one reason
0:10:40 > 0:10:42'why these people spend the whole day out of doors.'
0:10:50 > 0:10:53'As an unknown poor person looking for work in the countryside,
0:10:53 > 0:10:57'your options are extremely limited.
0:10:57 > 0:10:59'Your best bet is to go from farm to farm,
0:10:59 > 0:11:02'offering your services as a labourer.
0:11:02 > 0:11:05'If you ask around among the local yeomen and husbandmen,
0:11:05 > 0:11:09'you might find someone who will employ you on a casual basis,
0:11:09 > 0:11:10'and allow you to sleep in a barn.
0:11:11 > 0:11:13'But be prepared for a hard slog.'
0:11:18 > 0:11:21The working day starts at dawn and continues until sunset.
0:11:21 > 0:11:23And if you are employed as a labourer,
0:11:23 > 0:11:26what's your reward for this hard day's toil?
0:11:26 > 0:11:27Just a groat.
0:11:29 > 0:11:32'You may be disappointed to see your first day's pay
0:11:32 > 0:11:36'is a thin coin roughly the same size as a modern 20p piece.'
0:11:37 > 0:11:41'Made of pure silver, the groat has been a part of English currency
0:11:41 > 0:11:43'since medieval times.
0:11:43 > 0:11:46'You will also hear it referred to as fourpence.'
0:11:49 > 0:11:50What does this sum really mean?
0:11:51 > 0:11:54Well, for a start, there is no simple conversion rate
0:11:54 > 0:11:58for Elizabethan money into 21st century currency.
0:11:58 > 0:12:01Just as hearing and seeing have changed over the centuries,
0:12:01 > 0:12:03so have the relative values of things.
0:12:04 > 0:12:08When a labourer earns fourpence per day, a chicken costs fourpence,
0:12:08 > 0:12:10and a lemon, threepence.
0:12:10 > 0:12:12If chickens were as valuable to us
0:12:12 > 0:12:15in the 21st century as they are to people in the 16th,
0:12:15 > 0:12:21they would cost about £100 each, and a single lemon would cost £75.
0:12:22 > 0:12:24'So lemon chicken's off the menu,
0:12:24 > 0:12:27'but what can you buy on wages of four pence a day?
0:12:28 > 0:12:31'A loaf of bread and a small amount of butter and cheese every day.
0:12:32 > 0:12:37'Four small pieces of meat and three pieces of fish per week.
0:12:37 > 0:12:40'And enough ale to forget your concerns each night.'
0:12:42 > 0:12:45It all adds up to about 6,000 calories per day,
0:12:45 > 0:12:48which is enough for a working man and his wife.
0:12:48 > 0:12:51But it leaves nothing for firewood, nothing for rent,
0:12:51 > 0:12:54nothing for clothing and nothing for the children.
0:12:54 > 0:12:56Unless you grow vegetables in your garden,
0:12:56 > 0:13:00and make your own clothes, and forego some of that food for rent,
0:13:00 > 0:13:01you won't be able to raise a family.
0:13:03 > 0:13:04'As you can see,
0:13:04 > 0:13:09'the Elizabethan labourer in the same situation as you is trapped.
0:13:09 > 0:13:13'Rights that you probably take for granted, like marriage and children,
0:13:13 > 0:13:16'have to be weighed up against the threat of starvation.
0:13:17 > 0:13:21'For many people, hardship simply forces you back on the road.'
0:13:27 > 0:13:30Wherever you go, you'll notice sheep.
0:13:30 > 0:13:31Millions of them.
0:13:33 > 0:13:35There are three times as many sheep as there are people.
0:13:38 > 0:13:40And something else will strike you.
0:13:40 > 0:13:43The modern sheep that you're used to weigh around 200lbs.
0:13:45 > 0:13:49Swiss visitor Thomas Platter tells us that in 1599,
0:13:49 > 0:13:53they weighed just 40lbs, a fifth of the size.
0:13:56 > 0:13:57'As you walk along the lanes,
0:13:57 > 0:13:59'you won't bump into that many country folk.
0:14:00 > 0:14:02'In Elizabethan England,
0:14:02 > 0:14:05'there are only about 60 people per square mile.
0:14:05 > 0:14:07'Today there are over a thousand.
0:14:11 > 0:14:14'There is just so much space.
0:14:14 > 0:14:17'In 1589, the government is able to decree
0:14:17 > 0:14:21'that all new rural houses must have four acres of land with them.'
0:14:23 > 0:14:26'For that, believe it or not, is thought to be
0:14:26 > 0:14:29'the right amount for the needs of an Elizabethan family.'
0:14:31 > 0:14:35'But the landowners are less than keen to surrender control of so much
0:14:35 > 0:14:39'of their land, so that piece of legislation is largely ignored.'
0:14:44 > 0:14:49Apart from the houses, what are you going to see in an ordinary village?
0:14:49 > 0:14:53Well, beehives and haycocks, sawpits and dung heaps.
0:14:53 > 0:14:55And dung here is interesting,
0:14:55 > 0:14:57because to you and me, it smells like dirt.
0:14:57 > 0:14:59It's excrement, after all.
0:14:59 > 0:15:02But to an Elizabethan, it smells sweet,
0:15:02 > 0:15:04because you need it to grow wheat.
0:15:08 > 0:15:11'Get used to the smell, because it's everywhere.
0:15:11 > 0:15:15'In fact, you'll find yourself contributing to it.
0:15:15 > 0:15:18'Sooner or later you'll need to spend an Elizabethan penny.
0:15:20 > 0:15:24'If you are out in the countryside, the solution is obvious.
0:15:24 > 0:15:27'But when you arrive in the village, it's a different matter.
0:15:28 > 0:15:32'Toilets as you know them haven't been invented yet.
0:15:32 > 0:15:35'People in your situation, with little or no wealth,
0:15:35 > 0:15:37'might just pee in a bucket in the corner of a room.
0:15:37 > 0:15:39'Or they might have an outhouse or a privy,
0:15:39 > 0:15:43'which is basically a hole in the ground with a seat above it.
0:15:43 > 0:15:45'You may well have heard that Elizabethans
0:15:45 > 0:15:48'toss their excrement out of the window.
0:15:48 > 0:15:52'But don't worry, it doesn't happen. In fact, it's against the law.'
0:15:55 > 0:15:58'If you head to Ingatestone in Essex in 1564
0:15:58 > 0:16:01'you'll probably smell it before you see it.'
0:16:04 > 0:16:06'The construction of new village privies
0:16:06 > 0:16:08'is causing something of a stink.'
0:16:10 > 0:16:13A number of local people build privies over the stream
0:16:13 > 0:16:15running through the village.
0:16:15 > 0:16:18The idea is sound. Elizabethan physicians recommend
0:16:18 > 0:16:21building your loo over running water, to take away the excrement.
0:16:24 > 0:16:27'Some towns have communal facilities, built over rivers,
0:16:27 > 0:16:28'with numerous stalls.
0:16:28 > 0:16:31'Public loos for private benefit.
0:16:31 > 0:16:34'In smaller towns, you'll come across individual privies,
0:16:34 > 0:16:36'built hanging over a riverbank.'
0:16:42 > 0:16:44'But the problem for the people of Ingatestone
0:16:44 > 0:16:47'is that their waste is dropping from the privies
0:16:47 > 0:16:52'into a small stream and sitting there in the shallow water.'
0:16:55 > 0:16:57'And the Lord of the Manor at Ingatestone
0:16:57 > 0:16:59'just happens to be Sir William Petre.'
0:17:02 > 0:17:06He's a proud man and a pioneer of household hygiene.
0:17:06 > 0:17:08He doesn't want people smelling excrement
0:17:08 > 0:17:11or coming across dead animals as they pass through his village.
0:17:11 > 0:17:14He forbids such things, and heavily fines offenders.
0:17:16 > 0:17:18'Sir William Petre is not the only gentleman
0:17:18 > 0:17:21'with firm ideas about sanitation.
0:17:21 > 0:17:25'30 years later, the Queen's godson, Sir John Harrington,
0:17:25 > 0:17:28'builds the first flushing toilet at his house near Bath.'
0:17:31 > 0:17:34'Queen Elizabeth is so impressed that she has one of
0:17:34 > 0:17:37'her godson's toilets installed at Richmond Palace.'
0:17:54 > 0:17:57Unfortunately, other gentlemen are not convinced.
0:17:59 > 0:18:02Wealthy and poor alike have another 300 years to wait
0:18:02 > 0:18:03for a flushing loo.
0:18:08 > 0:18:12'Normally, when travelling across a strange country, you'd use a map.
0:18:12 > 0:18:15'Unfortunately, on this trip, that's not an option.'
0:18:20 > 0:18:23There are no published maps of England until Christopher Saxton
0:18:23 > 0:18:27produces an atlas of the whole kingdom in 1579.
0:18:27 > 0:18:29That's a good 20 years into Elizabeth's reign.
0:18:29 > 0:18:33But even then, his great work isn't going to help you very much.
0:18:33 > 0:18:36Every county map is as detailed and as large as this one.
0:18:36 > 0:18:39They're expensive, and you can't just slip them
0:18:39 > 0:18:40into your back pocket.
0:18:40 > 0:18:43Instead, it won't surprise you to hear the common way
0:18:43 > 0:18:46of finding your way around is simply to ask directions.
0:18:47 > 0:18:51'But when you hear the answer, the accent will sound strange.
0:18:51 > 0:18:54'Elizabethan speech patterns are very different
0:18:54 > 0:18:56'from those you're used to.'
0:18:58 > 0:19:01'This is a genuine Elizabethan account of a conversation
0:19:01 > 0:19:04'between a traveller and a ploughman working in a field.'
0:19:07 > 0:19:10I pray thee, set me my right way out of the village.
0:19:11 > 0:19:13Hold at the right hand until you come to the
0:19:13 > 0:19:16corner of the wood, then turne at the left.
0:19:17 > 0:19:20Have we no thieves in the forest?
0:19:20 > 0:19:23No, sir. The provost-marshal hung the other day
0:19:23 > 0:19:25halfe a dozen at the gibbet,
0:19:25 > 0:19:28which you see before you at the top of that hill.
0:19:28 > 0:19:31Truly I feare lest we be robbed.
0:19:31 > 0:19:34We shall spurre a little harder for it waxeth night.
0:19:36 > 0:19:40Everywhere you'll see grim reminders that finding your way isn't just
0:19:40 > 0:19:44about getting to your destination, it's about getting there alive.
0:20:05 > 0:20:07In England, if you keep travelling,
0:20:07 > 0:20:09sooner or later, you'll come to the sea.
0:20:11 > 0:20:14In the Middle Ages, people avoided living close to the sea
0:20:14 > 0:20:17if they could, for fear of foreign dangers,
0:20:17 > 0:20:19as well as a belief that it was unhealthy.
0:20:20 > 0:20:24But attacks from pirates are no longer the threat that they were.
0:20:24 > 0:20:26The Queen's navy patrols the channel.
0:20:29 > 0:20:32Villages on the south coast, in particular, are growing.
0:20:36 > 0:20:38A whole new attitude to the sea is developing.
0:20:38 > 0:20:41Increasingly, it's seen as a place of opportunity,
0:20:41 > 0:20:43so fishermen live closer to their livelihoods,
0:20:43 > 0:20:46and so do all the people who help them - the net makers,
0:20:46 > 0:20:48the boat builders and, of course, all their families.
0:20:50 > 0:20:53'Elizabethans eat over a hundred different types of fish.
0:20:54 > 0:20:58'Along with familiar ones like cod and plaice,
0:20:58 > 0:21:01'the wealthy eat porpoise and conger eel.
0:21:02 > 0:21:05'The poor make do with other eels and oysters,
0:21:05 > 0:21:06'which they eat in pies.
0:21:07 > 0:21:10'When a whale is beached, that's soon on the menu, too.'
0:21:15 > 0:21:18The sailors don't just cast their nets in the English Channel.
0:21:20 > 0:21:23Elizabethan fishermen go as far afield as Iceland...
0:21:25 > 0:21:26..and Newfoundland.
0:21:32 > 0:21:34And the fish isn't just for domestic consumption.
0:21:34 > 0:21:36The Cornish, for example, start making money
0:21:36 > 0:21:38selling pilchards to the Spanish.
0:21:40 > 0:21:44Anyone would think the Elizabethans are obsessed with fish.
0:21:46 > 0:21:51The major factor influencing this is that its illegal to eat meat
0:21:51 > 0:21:53on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays,
0:21:53 > 0:21:57and throughout Advent and Lent. This means people eat a lot of fish.
0:21:58 > 0:22:01'Towards the end of Queen Elizabeth's reign,
0:22:01 > 0:22:05'the English consumed approximately 2,500 tonnes of fish every week.'
0:22:07 > 0:22:10'That's five times as much per person as we eat today.'
0:22:14 > 0:22:17'You may have heard that Elizabethans don't travel.
0:22:17 > 0:22:19'That's a myth.
0:22:19 > 0:22:22'You'll pass a large number of people on the roads,
0:22:22 > 0:22:24'most heading into towns and cities.'
0:22:27 > 0:22:32London has over 200,000 people crammed within its walls by 1603.
0:22:32 > 0:22:36It's the third largest city in Europe, after Naples and Paris.
0:22:36 > 0:22:40But the next largest town, Norwich, has just 15,000 people.
0:22:40 > 0:22:43York and Bristol each have about 12,000, and Newcastle
0:22:43 > 0:22:47is the only other English town with a population of 10,000.
0:23:02 > 0:23:05'On arrival in any town, you'll be drawn instantly
0:23:05 > 0:23:07'to the hustle and bustle of the market.'
0:23:13 > 0:23:16'A town can double in size on market day with all its many visitors.'
0:23:24 > 0:23:27Every town has at least one market, open at least one day a week.
0:23:27 > 0:23:30Unless you are a completely self-sufficient farmer,
0:23:30 > 0:23:31this is where you'll need to come
0:23:31 > 0:23:34to buy eggs, butter, cheese, meat and fish.
0:23:34 > 0:23:36This is also where you'll come to buy stuff.
0:23:37 > 0:23:40'You'll certainly recognise some of what's on sale,
0:23:40 > 0:23:43'but you will need to know what things are called.
0:23:44 > 0:23:48'Another word for calf-length boots is a pair of buskins.
0:23:50 > 0:23:52'Biggins are close-fitting caps.'
0:23:55 > 0:23:57'Knee-length breeches are known as slops.'
0:24:02 > 0:24:04'People spend many hours at the market,
0:24:04 > 0:24:06'and so various fast foods are available.'
0:24:08 > 0:24:10'Cooked meats, pasties and pies are all on offer,
0:24:10 > 0:24:12'and perhaps even sweetmeats.'
0:24:13 > 0:24:16'They're pricey, so you might stretch only to some herbs
0:24:16 > 0:24:19'or an onion to make a potage or a soup.'
0:24:20 > 0:24:23'You'll notice women with baskets wandering around.
0:24:23 > 0:24:26'They're selling oysters, seafood, herbs.'
0:24:26 > 0:24:28'Things that have a short shelf-life.
0:24:29 > 0:24:33'Also look out for a man carrying a flame from door to door.
0:24:33 > 0:24:36'Most people find it too difficult to do battle with a tinderbox
0:24:36 > 0:24:39'and a piece of flint, so they buy their fire instead.'
0:24:59 > 0:25:00'Walking away from the market,
0:25:00 > 0:25:03'you'll find that your options are limited.
0:25:03 > 0:25:05'Townsmen tend to live self-contained lives
0:25:05 > 0:25:06'in their homes.'
0:25:11 > 0:25:14'If you want to join them socially, you'll need to do so
0:25:14 > 0:25:17'at an ale house, and that will require money.'
0:25:22 > 0:25:23'If you've no money,
0:25:23 > 0:25:26'then you'll get short shrift as an unwelcome beggar.'
0:25:32 > 0:25:35'The best you can hope for is a small charitable donation
0:25:35 > 0:25:38'from the community, to speed you on your way home.'
0:25:43 > 0:25:46At the heart of every community is this - the church.
0:25:47 > 0:25:50Perhaps the hardest thing to get to grips with
0:25:50 > 0:25:52when visiting Elizabethan England
0:25:52 > 0:25:55is the extent to which religion is central to everyone's life.
0:25:56 > 0:25:59It is compulsory for everyone over the age of 14 to attend church
0:25:59 > 0:26:02every Sunday, but you must also go
0:26:02 > 0:26:05on no fewer than 19 saints' feast days through the year.
0:26:40 > 0:26:45'England has a chequered religious history in the 16th century.
0:26:45 > 0:26:48'It starts when Elizabeth's father, Henry VIII,
0:26:48 > 0:26:51'renounces the Roman Catholic Church in 1534.'
0:26:55 > 0:26:58'He doesn't convince everyone however.
0:26:58 > 0:27:00'There are still many fervent Catholics in England
0:27:00 > 0:27:02'when Elizabeth comes to the throne.
0:27:03 > 0:27:07'But equally, there are many who support reform.
0:27:07 > 0:27:09'The most extreme of these are the Puritans,
0:27:09 > 0:27:12'who promote strict guidelines for a purer life.'
0:27:32 > 0:27:35'Elizabeth chooses to make England a Protestant kingdom,
0:27:35 > 0:27:38'but not to follow all the demands of the Puritans.'
0:27:40 > 0:27:43'In 1559, she is declared the Supreme Governor
0:27:43 > 0:27:45'of the Church of England.'
0:27:47 > 0:27:51'It's a change that causes Catholics despair and fear.
0:27:51 > 0:27:53'The Puritans aren't too pleased about it, either.'
0:27:57 > 0:28:00In 1563, a bill is introduced into Parliament
0:28:00 > 0:28:02to make England a Puritan nation.
0:28:02 > 0:28:06The Puritans want to ban a number of sports and pastimes.
0:28:06 > 0:28:08They want to get rid of ecclesiastical vestments
0:28:08 > 0:28:11and church music, and even to outlaw wedding rings.
0:28:11 > 0:28:14That bill is defeated by just one vote.
0:28:14 > 0:28:18And there are other factors causing confusion, too.
0:28:18 > 0:28:21A new comet, seen in the sky in 1572,
0:28:21 > 0:28:23undermines the entire scientific understanding
0:28:23 > 0:28:28of how the universe works, including where heaven might be located.
0:28:28 > 0:28:32Caught in the crossfire of all these confusions and discoveries,
0:28:32 > 0:28:35many people are uncertain that England is still a Godly nation.
0:28:38 > 0:28:40'If you're thinking you'll just opt out of the rivalry
0:28:40 > 0:28:43'between Catholics and Protestants,
0:28:43 > 0:28:46'and that you'll just say you're an atheist, think again.
0:28:46 > 0:28:49'Everyone in Elizabethan England hates atheists.'
0:28:51 > 0:28:55Being an atheist in the 16th century is really not possible
0:28:55 > 0:28:58for the simple reason that people can't see how creation
0:28:58 > 0:29:01can exist without there being a creator.
0:29:01 > 0:29:05In other words, not believing in God is like not believing in trees.
0:29:07 > 0:29:11To the Elizabethans, everything can be explained through God.
0:29:14 > 0:29:17'That sense of God being all-powerful
0:29:17 > 0:29:20'only makes things worse for the Catholics.
0:29:20 > 0:29:21'What do you do?
0:29:21 > 0:29:25'Do you deny the Protestant religion and risk arrest?
0:29:25 > 0:29:28'Or do you follow the official line and risk your eternal soul?'
0:29:32 > 0:29:37From 1581, anyone trying to persuade somebody to join the Catholic church
0:29:37 > 0:29:40can be held guilty of high treason, and executed.
0:29:41 > 0:29:46Anyone regularly missing church services can be fined £20 a month.
0:29:46 > 0:29:49And £20 is what it takes a labourer four years to earn.
0:29:51 > 0:29:54'Be very careful.
0:29:54 > 0:29:59'There are no policemen, but there are informants, everywhere.'
0:30:00 > 0:30:03'Many people will be happy to report you to the authorities
0:30:03 > 0:30:06'for any wrongdoing, or even just as a precaution.'
0:30:09 > 0:30:13'The dangers of the town are much greater that you realise.
0:30:13 > 0:30:15'After dark, it's terrifying.
0:30:16 > 0:30:20'In a world where so many have so little, it's hardly surprising.'
0:30:28 > 0:30:31Where there is poverty, there is also crime.
0:30:31 > 0:30:33Half the entire Elizabethan population
0:30:33 > 0:30:35is under the age of 22.
0:30:35 > 0:30:39For comparison, the middle mark in modern times is 39.
0:30:39 > 0:30:42People have so much less life experience,
0:30:42 > 0:30:45and, being younger, they are more aggressive and hot-headed.
0:30:45 > 0:30:47And they are also armed.
0:30:48 > 0:30:50Most young men carry a dagger, and many will wear a sword.
0:31:02 > 0:31:06'Keep your eyes open and your wits about you.
0:31:06 > 0:31:10'Starving young ruffians form gangs that roam the highways.'
0:31:13 > 0:31:16'Add to the fact they drink nothing but beer
0:31:16 > 0:31:18'and you have a dangerous combination.'
0:31:20 > 0:31:24'In 1566, a new publication, A Warning For Common Cursitors,
0:31:24 > 0:31:27'is one of the most popular books of the day.
0:31:28 > 0:31:30'It's a rich lexicon of thieves
0:31:30 > 0:31:32'and their nefarious habits,
0:31:32 > 0:31:34'for not all rogues are the same.'
0:31:36 > 0:31:39'Be careful of the "courtesy man".
0:31:39 > 0:31:42'He's well-dressed, he'll offer to show you around town,
0:31:42 > 0:31:44'buy you drinks, and he'll lead you
0:31:44 > 0:31:46'straight into the arms of his gang.'
0:31:52 > 0:31:56'In the gloom you may notice a young man walking with a staff.
0:31:57 > 0:31:59'It might be the "angler".
0:31:59 > 0:32:03'He'll use a hook on the end to grab anything he can see of value
0:32:03 > 0:32:05'from an open window.
0:32:06 > 0:32:09'The local Godfather is known as the "upright man".
0:32:10 > 0:32:14'He organises the other criminals in town.
0:32:14 > 0:32:17'His female companion is called a "doxy".
0:32:17 > 0:32:19'She lures in lustful young men
0:32:19 > 0:32:23'to places where they can be stripped and then easily robbed.'
0:32:33 > 0:32:35'Desperate times call for desperate measures.
0:32:35 > 0:32:39'And there is no doubt that the poor are desperate.
0:32:39 > 0:32:41'But if poverty tempts you to throw in your lot
0:32:41 > 0:32:44'with the Elizabethan underworld, just bear in mind
0:32:44 > 0:32:48'that the penalty for any felony is death,
0:32:48 > 0:32:51'and that includes the theft of just 13 pence worth of goods.'
0:32:55 > 0:32:59'Helping yourself to a fine-looking shirt off a washing line,
0:32:59 > 0:33:01'or a couple of silver spoons from a rich man's house
0:33:01 > 0:33:03'can lead you straight to the gallows.
0:33:05 > 0:33:08'There are, in total, five different ways in which you can be executed.'
0:33:13 > 0:33:17The first is straightforward hanging on a gallows.
0:33:17 > 0:33:21The second is the traitor's death of hanging, drawing and quartering,
0:33:21 > 0:33:24Third, there's beheading.
0:33:24 > 0:33:26Fourth, burning at the stake.
0:33:26 > 0:33:29And fifth, peine forte et dure.
0:33:32 > 0:33:35That last one means "hard and strong punishment".
0:33:35 > 0:33:37You are laid on the ground,
0:33:37 > 0:33:39and a sharp rock is placed under your spine.
0:33:41 > 0:33:44Heavy weights are then added, one by one, to a board on your body.
0:33:46 > 0:33:49It could well take 12 hours for you to be crushed to death.
0:33:55 > 0:33:59The strange thing is that you can only die this way if you choose to.
0:33:59 > 0:34:01I know what you're thinking.
0:34:01 > 0:34:04Who on earth in their right mind would opt for such a terrible death?
0:34:04 > 0:34:07Well, one of the reasons is this.
0:34:07 > 0:34:09Peine fort et dure is the statutory punishment
0:34:09 > 0:34:13if you refuse to plead guilty or not guilty.
0:34:13 > 0:34:15If you plead not guilty and are convicted,
0:34:15 > 0:34:18then the state can take all your property and possessions.
0:34:18 > 0:34:22However, if you refuse to plead, you cannot be tried
0:34:22 > 0:34:25and so your inheritance passes intact to your heirs.
0:34:28 > 0:34:31'If you arrive in York in 1586 you'll see that
0:34:31 > 0:34:35'there are also religious reasons to refuse to plead.
0:34:35 > 0:34:39'Margaret Clitheroe is charged with harbouring Catholic priests,
0:34:39 > 0:34:42'and if found guilty, her young children will be interrogated
0:34:42 > 0:34:45'to find out where the priests are hiding.
0:34:45 > 0:34:49'So she refuses to plead, and is crushed to death.
0:34:49 > 0:34:50'She is 29 years old.'
0:35:01 > 0:35:03'Elizabethan people do not see going to prison
0:35:03 > 0:35:05'as a punishment in itself.
0:35:06 > 0:35:10'Prisons are just places to hold people until they stand trial
0:35:10 > 0:35:12'and can be executed or released.'
0:35:15 > 0:35:20'You, however, may well think prisons are punishments.
0:35:20 > 0:35:22'You'll have no bedding and no toilet,
0:35:22 > 0:35:24'and you're likely to share a crammed cell.'
0:35:29 > 0:35:33'Some crimes end up in mutilation.
0:35:33 > 0:35:36'A writer, for example, may have his hand cut off
0:35:36 > 0:35:37'for producing a treasonable book.
0:35:39 > 0:35:41'Alternatively, you may be flogged at a post,
0:35:41 > 0:35:43'or branded with a red hot iron.'
0:35:48 > 0:35:50But there are some mercies.
0:35:50 > 0:35:53Women are no longer boiled alive for poisoning
0:35:53 > 0:35:54as they were in the reign of Henry VIII.
0:35:54 > 0:35:57That's thought to be unnecessarily cruel.
0:35:57 > 0:35:59They are burned alive instead.
0:36:12 > 0:36:14'The level of cruelty involved in capital punishment
0:36:14 > 0:36:17'won't come as a great surprise to you.
0:36:17 > 0:36:19'What might force your eyes open wide
0:36:19 > 0:36:22'are the things Elizabethans do for fun.
0:36:24 > 0:36:26'Take baiting, for example.
0:36:26 > 0:36:30'It's a struggle for survival, in which bulls or bears fight
0:36:30 > 0:36:33'against packs of savage dogs, for the amusement of the crowd.'
0:36:46 > 0:36:47You might find yourself asking,
0:36:47 > 0:36:50why is cruelty to animals so popular?
0:36:50 > 0:36:52Perhaps it has something to do with the ancient connection
0:36:52 > 0:36:54between blood and food.
0:36:54 > 0:36:57Or maybe it's the sacrifice of a noble animal.
0:36:57 > 0:37:00However, I suspect that there's another reason,
0:37:00 > 0:37:02one that will undoubtedly strike you
0:37:02 > 0:37:05when listening to hundreds of people yelling encouragement to an animal
0:37:05 > 0:37:07on which they've placed a bet.
0:37:07 > 0:37:09It's the thrill of a life and death struggle,
0:37:09 > 0:37:12combined with the allure of money and chance.
0:37:19 > 0:37:23'Standing on the packed terraces overlooking the baiting ring,
0:37:23 > 0:37:25'this is like no sporting event you've ever been to.'
0:37:32 > 0:37:36Seen through modern eyes, bear baiting is frankly, horrific.
0:37:36 > 0:37:38The smell is indescribable.
0:37:38 > 0:37:41The bears froth at the mouth as they grow increasingly exhausted,
0:37:41 > 0:37:42covered in their own blood,
0:37:42 > 0:37:46and the blood of the dogs they've killed trying to defend themselves.
0:37:48 > 0:37:51'One of the best descriptions of the scene comes from the pen of
0:37:51 > 0:37:56'Thomas Platter, who goes to see the bear baiting at Southwark in 1599.'
0:37:59 > 0:38:02'A large bear on a long rope was bound to a stake.
0:38:03 > 0:38:07'Then a number of great English mastiffs were brought in,
0:38:07 > 0:38:09'and shown first to the bear,
0:38:09 > 0:38:12'which they afterwards baited, one after another.'
0:38:14 > 0:38:18'Although they were much struck and mauled by the bear,
0:38:18 > 0:38:22'they did not give in and had to be pulled off by sheer force.'
0:38:25 > 0:38:28'And even if you've managed to stomach all that,
0:38:28 > 0:38:32'you will surely find the last event of the day truly distressing.'
0:38:36 > 0:38:39A monkey is placed in the saddle of an old horse
0:38:39 > 0:38:42and a pack of young dogs are set upon them.
0:38:42 > 0:38:46The Venetian Allesandro Magno writes, "It is a fine sight to see
0:38:46 > 0:38:48"the horse run, kicking and biting,
0:38:48 > 0:38:51"and the monkey grip the saddle tightly and scream,
0:38:51 > 0:38:53"being bitten many times."
0:39:03 > 0:39:05'As you make your way around the country,
0:39:05 > 0:39:07'you'll discover that cruelty goes much further
0:39:07 > 0:39:09'than cruelty to animals.
0:39:11 > 0:39:12'Cruelty to children is quite normal.
0:39:14 > 0:39:17'At home, it's a father's duty to whip his sons
0:39:17 > 0:39:19'so they learn to respect authority.
0:39:20 > 0:39:24'In school, teachers see it as part of their duty to beat pupils
0:39:24 > 0:39:27'with a birch or whack their hands with a wooden rod.'
0:39:31 > 0:39:35'And if you come across one of the few child-rearing manuals that exists,
0:39:35 > 0:39:38'you'll see that it clearly recommends regular flogging.'
0:39:41 > 0:39:46'In his diary, London cloth merchant Henry Machyn writes graphically
0:39:46 > 0:39:48'about the abuse of a young boy.'
0:40:11 > 0:40:15'Searching for work may likewise lead you into a world of cruelty,
0:40:15 > 0:40:19'especially if you take a job as a servant in a wealthy household.'
0:40:22 > 0:40:25'Servants cannot refuse their masters anything,
0:40:25 > 0:40:27'and there are numerous stories of abuse.'
0:40:32 > 0:40:36'Be extremely careful if you accept a job in the home of John Lawrence.
0:40:36 > 0:40:39'That's precisely what young Jane Wright did.'
0:40:44 > 0:40:47"She was enticed by him and his wife that night,
0:40:47 > 0:40:52"as at other times to come to bed naked with the two of them,
0:40:52 > 0:40:55"at which times he has carnal knowledge of her,
0:40:55 > 0:41:00"her said dame lying in bed with him, and warranting her
0:41:00 > 0:41:02"that she should have no harm,
0:41:02 > 0:41:05"and that the other maids used to do the like before."
0:41:16 > 0:41:19'After being forced to have sex, Jane becomes pregnant
0:41:19 > 0:41:22'and is reported to the archdeacon.
0:41:22 > 0:41:26'Like many young women, she is found guilty of the crime of adultery.
0:41:29 > 0:41:32'She is sentenced to stand in the local church porch in a white sheet
0:41:32 > 0:41:34'and confess her fault,
0:41:34 > 0:41:36'praying God and the congregation to forgive her.'
0:41:41 > 0:41:43'Sadly, it gets worse.
0:41:44 > 0:41:47'By law, your master has the right to punish you, and the all-male
0:41:47 > 0:41:51'juries of the land are determined to protect that right.
0:41:52 > 0:41:55'If you were accidentally beaten to death, they would often find
0:41:55 > 0:41:59'someone else guilty of your murder, even someone who doesn't exist.'
0:42:14 > 0:42:17'This world of grand houses, great paintings,
0:42:17 > 0:42:21'exploration and scientific discovery,
0:42:21 > 0:42:24'celebrated as the gateway to our modern world,
0:42:24 > 0:42:28'and recognisable as the country we all take pride in today,
0:42:28 > 0:42:31'is, in many ways, a horrifying place.'
0:42:34 > 0:42:36'It's not that everything is different,
0:42:36 > 0:42:39'rather that some differences are so extreme
0:42:39 > 0:42:42'they challenge our assumptions about human dignity.'
0:42:44 > 0:42:47'If you've ever found yourself thinking that times change
0:42:47 > 0:42:49'and values don't...
0:42:50 > 0:42:51'..think again.'
0:42:58 > 0:43:01This brings us on to the equality of the sexes.
0:43:02 > 0:43:06If you suggest this idea to any God-fearing Elizabethan man,
0:43:06 > 0:43:08he'll simply shake his head with disbelief.
0:43:08 > 0:43:12According to religious commentators of the day, God created men
0:43:12 > 0:43:16and women unequal for a purpose, so that men can command women.
0:43:16 > 0:43:20They point to men's greater strength and size as evidence.
0:43:20 > 0:43:23Although you'll feel significantly taller than the people around you,
0:43:23 > 0:43:27you'll notice the difference in height between the sexes
0:43:27 > 0:43:28is the same as today.
0:43:28 > 0:43:31But that's pretty much the only thing that's stayed the same.
0:43:32 > 0:43:36Elizabethans see this as proof of men's superiority.
0:43:38 > 0:43:43Physician Simon Forman lists 70 diseases that occur only in women.
0:43:43 > 0:43:46It's confirmation that God wants to punish them
0:43:46 > 0:43:49for Eve's crime of offering Adam the forbidden fruit.
0:43:57 > 0:44:02'As a woman, you face a life of subservience and physical hardship.
0:44:02 > 0:44:05'Marriage doesn't save you from this fate.
0:44:05 > 0:44:06'In fact, it makes it worse.'
0:44:09 > 0:44:12'Much of your time is spent in darkness.
0:44:12 > 0:44:16'If the baby screams in the night, you'll have to get up in the cold.
0:44:16 > 0:44:20'By day, you'll have to keep the fire going, and cook meals
0:44:20 > 0:44:23'with what few ingredients are available.
0:44:23 > 0:44:26'You'll clean the house, and not only mend the clothes,
0:44:26 > 0:44:28'but make them, as well.
0:44:28 > 0:44:31'And, of course, you must please your husband.'
0:44:34 > 0:44:36If you are a married woman,
0:44:36 > 0:44:39all the authority in your household rests with your husband.
0:44:39 > 0:44:42All your property is legally owned by him.
0:44:42 > 0:44:45You can't say or do anything contrary to his interests.
0:44:45 > 0:44:50You can't allow somebody to enter your house without his permission.
0:44:50 > 0:44:51You can't even make a will.
0:44:52 > 0:44:55Your husband may beat or punish you as much as he wants,
0:44:55 > 0:44:58as long as he doesn't actually kill you.
0:44:58 > 0:45:02Few Elizabethan men will feel any shame about striking their wives,
0:45:02 > 0:45:05and if the reason is disobedience or adultery,
0:45:05 > 0:45:06other women might actually approve.
0:45:10 > 0:45:14In 1600, our physician friend, Simon Forman,
0:45:14 > 0:45:17records that he suspects his wife of adultery.
0:45:17 > 0:45:21When he confronts her, she shouts back with howling and weeping.
0:45:23 > 0:45:24He notes in his diary that
0:45:24 > 0:45:28he had to hit her, "two or three times until she would be quiet."
0:45:33 > 0:45:37Maybe you'll be fortunate enough to have a long and happy marriage,
0:45:37 > 0:45:40a husband who doesn't beat you, and children.
0:45:42 > 0:45:45Sadly for you, having little ones is a death trap.
0:45:46 > 0:45:50Today, just one woman in every 12,000 pregnancies
0:45:50 > 0:45:53dies in childbirth.
0:45:53 > 0:45:57In the 16th century, one in 50 pregnancies kills the mother.
0:46:00 > 0:46:02So why marry?
0:46:03 > 0:46:08Because for you the alternative is poverty and starvation.
0:46:08 > 0:46:11Ironically, in a land ruled by an unmarried woman,
0:46:11 > 0:46:14society expects you to find a man to take care of you.
0:46:31 > 0:46:35You may be thinking that society has hardships enough -
0:46:35 > 0:46:38death in childbirth, violence,
0:46:38 > 0:46:41poor sanitation, the death penalty.
0:46:42 > 0:46:47But there's one cause of suffering that's a threat to everyone.
0:46:47 > 0:46:48The weather.
0:46:49 > 0:46:51And we're not talking here
0:46:51 > 0:46:53about a few spots of rain on your wedding day.
0:46:58 > 0:47:01One bad summer and the crops fail.
0:47:01 > 0:47:03Food becomes scarce and prices rise.
0:47:03 > 0:47:06Whole families suffer from malnutrition.
0:47:06 > 0:47:09If the harvest fails for two years in succession,
0:47:09 > 0:47:11they starve to death.
0:47:11 > 0:47:13If it fails for three years in a row,
0:47:13 > 0:47:17as it does in the years 1594 to 1597,
0:47:17 > 0:47:18thousands die.
0:47:24 > 0:47:27The famine devastates the country.
0:47:27 > 0:47:29Many people lose everything.
0:47:29 > 0:47:33You may well find yourself homeless and penniless.
0:47:33 > 0:47:36In which case, don't expect to be given any shelter.
0:47:43 > 0:47:48The mismatch of medieval legislation and 16th century overpopulation
0:47:48 > 0:47:50result in the extraordinary situation
0:47:50 > 0:47:53that it's actually illegal to look after a homeless person
0:47:53 > 0:47:55who's not from the same parish as you.
0:47:55 > 0:47:56You can be fined a pound
0:47:56 > 0:48:00for taking in a perfectly innocent homeless couple.
0:48:00 > 0:48:03As a consequence, lots of people end up walking for miles
0:48:03 > 0:48:06up and down the country, searching for work or food,
0:48:06 > 0:48:08constantly being moved on.
0:48:08 > 0:48:10There are even cases
0:48:10 > 0:48:12of people migrating to Kent on foot
0:48:12 > 0:48:15from as far away as Lancashire and Yorkshire.
0:48:18 > 0:48:20Homeless and wandering from town to town,
0:48:20 > 0:48:23you're now classed as a vagrant.
0:48:23 > 0:48:26An act of 1572 states that
0:48:26 > 0:48:28all vagrants should be grievously whipped
0:48:28 > 0:48:31and have an inch-wide hole burnt through the right ear
0:48:31 > 0:48:35unless someone takes them in as a servant.
0:48:35 > 0:48:40Normally, by law, you'll be whipped out of town as soon as you arrive.
0:48:40 > 0:48:43A second offence means that you can be hanged for vagrancy.
0:48:50 > 0:48:56In 1597, three years into the worst famine seen in living memory,
0:48:56 > 0:48:59the kingdom is poised to make a genuinely profound reform.
0:49:03 > 0:49:04Across the country,
0:49:04 > 0:49:07there is a feeling that something has to be done to help the poor.
0:49:10 > 0:49:12In October, Elizabeth's government
0:49:12 > 0:49:15passes an act for the relief of the poor.
0:49:15 > 0:49:18For the first time, people are taxed locally
0:49:18 > 0:49:21and the money given to parish overseers
0:49:21 > 0:49:22to provide for the destitute.
0:49:25 > 0:49:28The burning of holes in ears is stopped.
0:49:28 > 0:49:31Vagrants are no longer threatened with hanging.
0:49:34 > 0:49:35It has to count
0:49:35 > 0:49:38as one of the turning points in English social history.
0:49:41 > 0:49:43From now on, helping the poor
0:49:43 > 0:49:46isn't just a matter of individual acts of charity.
0:49:46 > 0:49:49It's a civic duty that everyone shares.
0:49:51 > 0:49:54The new law establishes the system of caring for the poor
0:49:54 > 0:49:56for the next 200 years.
0:50:09 > 0:50:14As a poor person, life may seem much better under the new laws.
0:50:14 > 0:50:18But lurking in the shadows there's another ever-present threat,
0:50:18 > 0:50:20especially for the poor.
0:50:24 > 0:50:26Death is the thing that all fear,
0:50:26 > 0:50:29and due to the high levels of disease in society,
0:50:29 > 0:50:32it features very prominently in daily life.
0:50:32 > 0:50:35Most children lose one parent by the time they grow up,
0:50:35 > 0:50:37and most parents lose half their children.
0:50:38 > 0:50:40In Stratford, in the 1560s,
0:50:40 > 0:50:44there are, on average, 63 children baptised every year
0:50:44 > 0:50:46and there are 43 buried.
0:50:50 > 0:50:54There are just so many diseases you can catch.
0:50:54 > 0:50:58There are many others in addition to those you're already familiar with.
0:50:58 > 0:51:01The one you'll certainly hear most about from people in the street
0:51:01 > 0:51:03is the plague.
0:51:05 > 0:51:08This isn't the big killer it was in the 14th century.
0:51:08 > 0:51:12Then it wiped out a third of Europe in one fell swoop.
0:51:12 > 0:51:15In Elizabethan times, it flares up in towns every ten years or so
0:51:15 > 0:51:18and just kills an eighth of the population.
0:51:18 > 0:51:20That's a quarter of a million people
0:51:20 > 0:51:24wiped out by one disease in this reign alone.
0:51:36 > 0:51:39Add to that the bloody flux - dysentery -
0:51:39 > 0:51:42the burning ague - typhus -
0:51:42 > 0:51:44typhoid fever and smallpox,
0:51:44 > 0:51:48and you can see why travelling to the past is bad for your health.
0:51:51 > 0:51:54With regard to plague, you have the major advantage
0:51:54 > 0:51:57of knowing that a flea bite causes the disease,
0:51:57 > 0:52:00so you know changing bedclothes is good advice.
0:52:02 > 0:52:05Swelling in your armpits, neck, leg or groin?
0:52:05 > 0:52:07Thirsty all the time and pulse racing?
0:52:08 > 0:52:11A physician may well correctly diagnose plague,
0:52:11 > 0:52:14but then he will advise you to fumigate your room.
0:52:14 > 0:52:18Simon Forman's recipe against the plague is simple.
0:52:18 > 0:52:19Don't eat onions.
0:52:19 > 0:52:22I wouldn't trust that one either, if I were you.
0:52:24 > 0:52:28The 1578 Plague Orders decree that if plague is found in a house,
0:52:28 > 0:52:30it is to be boarded up and guarded
0:52:30 > 0:52:34until everyone inside is either dead or has survived for six weeks.
0:52:51 > 0:52:53It has been known for some people feeling the symptoms
0:52:53 > 0:52:55to dig their own graves
0:52:55 > 0:52:57and to lie down in them, waiting for death.
0:53:02 > 0:53:06Illnesses change, like all natural things.
0:53:06 > 0:53:07Smallpox, for example,
0:53:07 > 0:53:11isn't yet the terrifying disease it becomes in the next century.
0:53:11 > 0:53:14Elizabeth herself catches it in 1562 and survives.
0:53:19 > 0:53:20Influenza, too, is very different
0:53:20 > 0:53:23from the strains with which you are no doubt familiar.
0:53:23 > 0:53:26It's often said that the Spanish flu outbreak of 1919
0:53:26 > 0:53:29kills more people than die in the First World War.
0:53:29 > 0:53:32Well, that may well be true, but proportionately
0:53:32 > 0:53:37the influenza outbreak of 1557-1559 kills twice as many people
0:53:37 > 0:53:40as die in the First World War and the Spanish flu put together.
0:53:41 > 0:53:45In those years, one in 12 of the whole population dies from flu.
0:53:52 > 0:53:55So what can you do to avoid what seems like certain death?
0:53:56 > 0:53:59Some medical manuals have strange recipes.
0:54:01 > 0:54:05For example, live swallow chicks ground up in a pestle and mortar.
0:54:05 > 0:54:07But the more serious ailments
0:54:07 > 0:54:10will require the attention of a physician.
0:54:10 > 0:54:11And then you might get a surprise.
0:54:11 > 0:54:13Because the medicines he prescribes
0:54:13 > 0:54:17won't just depend upon the nature of your illness.
0:54:17 > 0:54:19They'll also depend upon how wealthy you are.
0:54:19 > 0:54:23Expensive medicines with the best ingredients are given to the rich.
0:54:23 > 0:54:26The poor receive a cheap alternative.
0:54:27 > 0:54:33Other medical books recommend worms, mercury,
0:54:33 > 0:54:36the powdered skull of a man killed in war
0:54:36 > 0:54:37or even...
0:54:38 > 0:54:43..the unwashed wool that grows between the hind legs of a black sheep.
0:54:47 > 0:54:48One thing you'll soon grasp
0:54:48 > 0:54:51is that there's no hard and fast dividing line
0:54:51 > 0:54:54between superstition and knowledge.
0:54:55 > 0:54:59Don't be surprised if you're told not to lend fire to your neighbour
0:54:59 > 0:55:01because otherwise your horse will die.
0:55:06 > 0:55:09This ability to believe that anything is possible
0:55:09 > 0:55:11affects society's superstitions.
0:55:11 > 0:55:14Some people believe that dreams can be interpreted
0:55:14 > 0:55:15to reveal their destinies.
0:55:15 > 0:55:19Others go to astrologers to seek the future written in the stars.
0:55:19 > 0:55:21Should they marry a certain man?
0:55:21 > 0:55:23Should they make a property investment?
0:55:23 > 0:55:25Has the ship carrying their son sunk?
0:55:31 > 0:55:34Seeing how credulous Elizabethan people are
0:55:34 > 0:55:35may well make you reflect
0:55:35 > 0:55:39that we are nowhere near so open-minded in the modern world.
0:55:42 > 0:55:46Science has taught us to rule out the reality of magic
0:55:46 > 0:55:49or the possibility that lucky charms work.
0:55:52 > 0:55:54In this way, you can see that witchcraft
0:55:54 > 0:55:56is just one of a series of Elizabethan beliefs
0:55:56 > 0:55:59with which you will find yourself out of step.
0:55:59 > 0:56:01But the really important thing to understand
0:56:01 > 0:56:03is that it is recognised in law.
0:56:03 > 0:56:05If you deny that witchcraft exists,
0:56:05 > 0:56:07people will look at you as if you're mad.
0:56:10 > 0:56:13It is possible to be a witch and a good Christian.
0:56:13 > 0:56:16You'll find that even the clergy employ witches.
0:56:35 > 0:56:36For most of Elizabeth's reign,
0:56:36 > 0:56:41it's only against the law to try to kill someone with witchcraft.
0:56:41 > 0:56:44If you use a witch to find something that you've lost, for instance,
0:56:44 > 0:56:46there's no law against that.
0:56:48 > 0:56:51This journey as a poor person through Elizabethan England
0:56:51 > 0:56:53has shown you many strange things.
0:56:53 > 0:56:57But witchcraft is probably the strangest of them all.
0:56:57 > 0:57:01If your neighbour claims you said threatening things to her
0:57:01 > 0:57:03and then one of her relatives dies,
0:57:03 > 0:57:06you'll be arrested and tried.
0:57:06 > 0:57:08And then, think about this.
0:57:08 > 0:57:11How on earth are you going to defend yourself?
0:57:12 > 0:57:16If you're found guilty, you won't be burnt at the stake.
0:57:16 > 0:57:20Unlike Catholic countries, England does not burn people for witchcraft.
0:57:20 > 0:57:22You'll be hanged instead.
0:57:29 > 0:57:32With disease wracking the kingdom, religious doubt in the air,
0:57:32 > 0:57:35and confusion over whether English people
0:57:35 > 0:57:36are heading to heaven or to hell,
0:57:36 > 0:57:39and suffering and poverty throughout the kingdom,
0:57:39 > 0:57:43there is only one point of certainty, one reassurance -
0:57:43 > 0:57:45the figure of Queen Elizabeth herself.
0:57:49 > 0:57:54As you've seen, for the poor, life is a continual struggle.
0:57:54 > 0:57:56For those higher up, it may be better,
0:57:56 > 0:57:59but it is still fraught with danger.
0:58:00 > 0:58:05Next time, I'll take you to the world of the rich and powerful,
0:58:05 > 0:58:07show you how you can dress to impress...
0:58:09 > 0:58:12..and try to keep you safe
0:58:12 > 0:58:14from the highwaymen.
0:58:36 > 0:58:39Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd