The Common People Time Traveller's Guide to Elizabethan England

Imagine everything that's ever happened.

The whole of history.

Imagine you could go to any place, any time,

and see what the people then saw, understand what they thought,

and appreciate what they felt.

What would that tell you about the human race?

And how would that make you feel about the world you live in today?

So much of what we know now goes directly back to

England's Golden Age, the reign of Queen Elizabeth I.

A time when England embraced the whole world.

It's a period bursting with icons -

Shakespeare, the Spanish Armada.

The Virgin Queen herself.

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

But if you did, what you would need most would be a visitor's handbook.

Who are these strange people so like us, but also so different?

What are their rules, their customs and attitudes?

I have spent years piecing these together, so you don't have to.

Let me plunge you into a world of splendour

and magnificent achievements, but also of uncertainty and doubt,

where simple survival is an art in itself.

A world of plague, violence and superstition,

but also of beauty and wisdom.

I'll show you this fascinating period as if it's all around you.

The sickness and the suffering,

as well as the power and the glory.

Because this is Elizabethan England.

The concept of time travel has been around for well over

a hundred years now, and has become a key theme of science fiction.

But apply the idea to history

and travelling back to Elizabethan times.

How would you survive?

What would you discover?

You'll travel to the world of the rich and powerful,

the high and mighty.

An Elizabethan world you may recognise,

and we'll see how you get on amongst society's elite.

But it's a world enjoyed by few.

For most, the reality is very different.

In this film, I'm pitching you back, stripped of money,

stripped of everything you're used to, all your creature comforts.

Why?

Because I want you to see that, for the poor,

the most famous images and the cultural icons don't apply.

The struggle of everyday life in Elizabethan times

will show you just how lucky you are to be alive.

You might picture some of the brilliant images

of this glorious age - the Queen and her courtiers,

or the grand architecture of the period.

These things are a world away from most Elizabethans' lives.

Spending time with the common people will show you just how much life

in the 16th century is a continual struggle to survive.

'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, mountains and wasteland.'

Look at what the latest tourist websites

say about places like this.

There's a recurring theme - beauty.

"A ruggedly beautiful landscape," says one website.

"A wonderful place," says another.

'You'll need to get used to the fact

'that Elizabethans see things very differently from you.

'Even things that seem timeless

'are riddled with meanings that you'll have to learn quickly.'

There is no word for "landscape" in the English language.

Elizabethans use the word "country".

Something that you're in, not something you look at.

'You certainly won't find any Elizabethans

'painting pictures of the countryside.'

'You may see it as pretty and romantic.

'I urge you to drop those notions straight away.'

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.'

THUNDERCLAP

'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 of an idyllic rural lifestyle.'

'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.

Well, 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 the summer months,

very little light is going to enter your home.

Candles, you might think, are the obvious answer.

'Modern set designers love them, our movies are full of them,

'but real Elizabethan cottages aren't.

'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.

Another important point to understand from the outset is how

hierarchical Elizabethan society is,

and how firmly people stick to class divisions.

It's explained in this book from 1577.

A Description Of England, by a clergyman called William Harrison.

'Elizabethans see their rigid class system as being ordained by God.'

'Even at the lower end of the social scale,

'there's a definite class system.'

'Harrison describes the ordinary sort of people

'that you'll meet on the road, or in a village ale house.

'Most countrymen fall into one of three categories.

'A yeoman might own or lease

'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.

And if you are employed as a labourer,

what's your reward for this hard day's toil?

Just a groat.

'You may be disappointed to see your first day's pay

'is a thin coin roughly the same size as a modern 20p piece.'

'Made of pure silver, the groat has been a part of English currency

'since medieval times.

'You will also hear it referred to as fourpence.'

What does this sum really mean?

Well, for a start, there is no simple conversion rate

for Elizabethan money into 21st century currency.

Just as hearing and seeing have changed over the centuries,

so have the relative values of things.

When a labourer earns fourpence per day, a chicken costs fourpence,

and a lemon, threepence.

If chickens were as valuable to us

in the 21st century as they are to people in the 16th,

they would cost about £100 each, and a single lemon would cost £75.

'So lemon chicken's off the menu,

'but what can you buy on wages of four pence 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 enough ale to forget your concerns each night.'

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 and nothing for the children.

Unless you grow vegetables in your garden,

and make your own clothes, and forego some of that food for rent,

you won't be able to raise a family.

'As you can see,

'the Elizabethan labourer in the same situation as you is trapped.

'Rights that you probably take for granted, like marriage and children,

'have to be weighed up against the threat of starvation.

'For many people, hardship simply forces you back on the road.'

Wherever you go, you'll notice sheep.

Millions of them.

There are three times as many sheep as there are people.

And something else will strike you.

The modern sheep that you're used to weigh around 200lbs.

Swiss visitor Thomas Platter tells us that in 1599,

they weighed just 40lbs, a fifth of the size.

'As you walk along the lanes,

'you won't bump into that many country folk.

'In Elizabethan England,

'there are only about 60 people per square mile.

'Today there are over a thousand.

'There is just so much space.

'In 1589, the government is able to decree

'that all new rural houses must have four acres of land with them.'

'For that, believe it or not, is thought to be

'the right amount for the needs of an Elizabethan family.'

'But the landowners are less than keen to surrender control of so much

'of their land, so that piece of legislation is largely ignored.'

Apart from the houses, what are you going to see in an ordinary village?

Well, beehives and haycocks, sawpits and dung heaps.

And dung here is interesting,

because to you and me, it smells like dirt.

It's excrement, after all.

But to an Elizabethan, it smells sweet,

because you need it to grow wheat.

'Get used to the smell, because it's everywhere.

'In fact, you'll find yourself contributing to it.

'Sooner or later you'll need to spend an Elizabethan penny.

'If you are out in the countryside, the solution is obvious.

'But when you arrive in the village, it's a different matter.

'Toilets as you know them haven't been invented yet.

'People in your situation, with little or no wealth,

'might just pee in a bucket in the corner of a room.

'Or they might have an outhouse or a privy,

'which is basically a hole in the ground with a seat above it.

'You may well have heard that Elizabethans

'toss their excrement out of the window.

'But don't worry, it doesn't happen. In fact, it's against the law.'

'If you head to Ingatestone in Essex in 1564

'you'll probably smell it before you see it.'

'The construction of new village privies

'is causing something of a stink.'

A number of local people build privies over the stream

running through the village.

The idea is sound. Elizabethan physicians recommend

building your loo over running water, to take away the excrement.

'Some towns have communal facilities, built over rivers,

'with numerous stalls.

'Public loos for private benefit.

'In smaller towns, you'll come across individual privies,

'built hanging over a riverbank.'

'But the problem for the people of Ingatestone

'is that their waste is dropping from the privies

'into a small stream and sitting there in the shallow water.'

'And the Lord of the Manor at Ingatestone

'just happens to be Sir William Petre.'

He's a proud man and a pioneer of household hygiene.

He doesn't want people smelling excrement

or coming across dead animals as they pass through his village.

He forbids such things, and heavily fines offenders.

'Sir William Petre is not the only gentleman

'with firm ideas about sanitation.

'30 years later, the Queen's godson, Sir John Harrington,

'builds the first flushing toilet at his house near Bath.'

'Queen Elizabeth is so impressed that she has one of

'her godson's toilets installed at Richmond Palace.'

Unfortunately, other gentlemen are not convinced.

Wealthy and poor alike have another 300 years to wait

for a flushing loo.

'Normally, when travelling across a strange country, you'd use a map.

'Unfortunately, on this trip, that's not an option.'

There are no published maps of England until Christopher Saxton

produces an atlas of the whole kingdom in 1579.

That's a good 20 years into Elizabeth's reign.

But even then, his great work isn't going to help you very much.

Every county map is as detailed and as large as this one.

They're expensive, and you can't just slip them

into your back pocket.

Instead, it won't surprise you to hear the common way

of finding your way around is simply to ask directions.

'But when you hear the answer, the accent will sound strange.

'Elizabethan speech patterns are very different

'from those you're used to.'

'This is a genuine Elizabethan account of a conversation

'between a traveller and a ploughman working in a field.'

I pray thee, set me my right way out of the village.

Hold at the right hand until you come to the

corner of the wood, then turne at the left.

Have we no thieves in the forest?

No, sir. The provost-marshal hung the other day

halfe a dozen at the gibbet,

which you see before you at the top of that hill.

Truly I feare lest we be robbed.

We shall spurre a little harder for it waxeth night.

Everywhere you'll see grim reminders that finding your way isn't just

about getting to your destination, it's about getting there alive.

In England, if you keep travelling,

sooner or later, you'll come to the sea.

In the Middle Ages, people avoided living close to the sea

if they could, for fear of foreign dangers,

as well as a belief that it was unhealthy.

But attacks from pirates are no longer the threat that they were.

The Queen's navy patrols the channel.

Villages on the south coast, in particular, are growing.

A whole new attitude to the sea is developing.

Increasingly, it's seen as a place of opportunity,

so fishermen live closer to their livelihoods,

and so do all the people who help them - the net makers,

the boat builders and, of course, all their families.

'Elizabethans eat over a hundred different types of fish.

'Along with familiar ones like cod and plaice,

'the wealthy eat porpoise and conger eel.

'The poor make do with other eels and oysters,

'which they eat in pies.

'When a whale is beached, that's soon on the menu, too.'

The sailors don't just cast their nets in the English Channel.

Elizabethan fishermen go as far afield as Iceland...

..and Newfoundland.

And the fish isn't just for domestic consumption.

The Cornish, for example, start making money

selling pilchards to the Spanish.

Anyone would think the Elizabethans are obsessed with fish.

The major factor influencing this is that its illegal to eat meat

on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays,

and throughout Advent and Lent. This means people eat a lot of fish.

'Towards the end of Queen Elizabeth's reign,

'the English consumed approximately 2,500 tonnes of fish every week.'

'That's five times as much per person as we eat today.'

'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.'

London has over 200,000 people crammed within its walls by 1603.

It's the third largest city in Europe, after Naples and Paris.

But the next largest town, Norwich, has just 15,000 people.

York and Bristol each have about 12,000, and Newcastle

is the only other English town with a population of 10,000.

'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.

Unless you are a completely self-sufficient farmer,

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 will 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 breeches are known as slops.'

'People spend many hours at the market,

'and so various fast foods are available.'

'Cooked meats, pasties and pies are all on offer,

'and perhaps even sweetmeats.'

'They're pricey, so you might stretch only to some herbs

'or an onion to make a potage or a soup.'

'You'll notice women with baskets wandering around.

'They're selling oysters, seafood, herbs.'

'Things that have a short shelf-life.

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

'Most people find it too difficult to do battle with a tinderbox

'and a piece of flint, so they buy their fire instead.'

'Walking away from the market,

'you'll find that your options are limited.

'Townsmen tend to live self-contained lives

'in their homes.'

'If you want to join them socially, you'll need to do so

'at an ale house, and that will require money.'

'If you've no money,

'then you'll get short shrift as an unwelcome beggar.'

'The best you can hope for is a small charitable donation

'from the community, to speed you on your way home.'

At the heart of every community is this - the church.

Perhaps the hardest thing to get to grips with

when visiting Elizabethan England

is the extent to which religion is central to everyone's life.

It is compulsory for everyone over the age of 14 to attend church

every Sunday, but you must also go

on no fewer than 19 saints' feast days through the year.

'England has a chequered religious history in the 16th century.

'It starts when Elizabeth's father, Henry VIII,

'renounces the Roman Catholic Church in 1534.'

'He doesn't convince everyone however.

'There are still many fervent Catholics in England

'when Elizabeth comes to the throne.

'But equally, there are many who support reform.

'The most extreme of these are the Puritans,

'who promote strict guidelines for a purer life.'

'Elizabeth chooses to make England a Protestant kingdom,

'but not to follow all the demands of the Puritans.'

'In 1559, she is declared the Supreme Governor

'of the Church of England.'

'It's a change that causes Catholics despair and fear.

'The Puritans aren't too pleased about it, either.'

In 1563, a bill is introduced into Parliament

to make England a Puritan nation.

The Puritans want to ban a number of sports and pastimes.

They want to get rid of ecclesiastical vestments

and church music, and even to outlaw wedding rings.

That bill is defeated by just one vote.

And there are other factors causing confusion, too.

A new comet, seen in the sky in 1572,

undermines the entire scientific understanding

of how the universe works, including where heaven might be located.

Caught in the crossfire of all these confusions and discoveries,

many people are uncertain that England is still a Godly nation.

'If you're thinking you'll just opt out of the rivalry

'between Catholics and Protestants,

'and that you'll just say you're an atheist, think again.

'Everyone in Elizabethan England hates atheists.'

Being an atheist in the 16th century is really not possible

for the simple reason that people can't see how creation

can exist without there being a creator.

In other words, not believing in God is like not believing in trees.

To the Elizabethans, everything can be explained through God.

'That sense of God being all-powerful

'only makes things worse for the Catholics.

'What do you do?

'Do you deny the Protestant religion and risk arrest?

'Or do you follow the official line and risk your eternal soul?'

From 1581, anyone trying to persuade somebody to join the Catholic church

can be held guilty of high treason, and executed.

Anyone regularly missing church services can be fined £20 a month.

And £20 is what it takes a labourer four years to earn.

'Be very careful.

'There are no policemen, but there are informants, everywhere.'

'Many people will be happy to report you to the authorities

'for any wrongdoing, or even just as a precaution.'

'The dangers of the town are much greater that you realise.

'After dark, it's terrifying.

'In a world where so many have so little, it's hardly surprising.'

Where there is poverty, there is also 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 are more aggressive and hot-headed.

And they are also armed.

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

'Keep your eyes open and your wits about you.

'Starving young ruffians form gangs that roam the highways.'

'Add to the fact they drink nothing but beer

'and you have a dangerous combination.'

'In 1566, a new publication, A Warning For Common Cursitors,

'is one of the most popular books of the day.

'It's a rich lexicon of thieves

'and their nefarious habits,

'for not all rogues are the same.'

'Be careful of the "courtesy man".

'He's well-dressed, he'll offer to show you around town,

'buy you drinks, and he'll lead you

'straight into the arms of his gang.'

'In the gloom you may notice a young man walking with a staff.

'It might be the "angler".

'He'll use a hook on the end to grab anything he can see of value

'from an open window.

'The local Godfather is known as the "upright man".

'He organises the other criminals in town.

'His female companion is called a "doxy".

'She lures in lustful young men

'to places where they can be stripped and then easily robbed.'

'Desperate times call for desperate measures.

'And there is no doubt that the poor are desperate.

'But if poverty tempts you to throw in your lot

'with the Elizabethan underworld, 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-looking shirt off a washing line,

'or a couple of 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.

The strange thing is that you can only die this way if you choose to.

I know what you're thinking.

Who on earth in their right mind would opt for such a terrible death?

Well, one of the reasons is this.

Peine fort et dure is the statutory punishment

if you refuse to plead guilty or not guilty.

If you plead not guilty and are convicted,

then the state can take all your property and possessions.

However, if you refuse to plead, you cannot be tried

and so your inheritance passes intact to your heirs.

'If you arrive in York in 1586 you'll see that

'there are also religious reasons to refuse to plead.

'Margaret Clitheroe is charged with harbouring Catholic priests,

'and if found guilty, her young children will be interrogated

'to find out where the priests are hiding.

'So she refuses to plead, and is crushed to death.

'She is 29 years old.'

'Elizabethan people do not see going to prison

'as a punishment in itself.

'Prisons are just places to hold people until they stand trial

'and can be executed or released.'

'You, however, may well think prisons are punishments.

'You'll have no bedding and no toilet,

'and you're likely to share a crammed cell.'

'Some crimes end up in mutilation.

'A writer, for example, may have his hand cut off

'for producing a treasonable book.

'Alternatively, you may be flogged at a post,

'or branded with a red hot iron.'

But there are some mercies.

Women are no longer boiled alive for poisoning

as they were in the reign of Henry VIII.

That's thought to be unnecessarily cruel.

They are burned alive instead.

'The level of cruelty involved in capital punishment

'won't come as a great surprise to you.

'What might force your eyes open wide

'are the things Elizabethans do for fun.

'Take baiting, for example.

'It's a struggle for survival, in which bulls or bears fight

'against packs of savage dogs, for the amusement of the crowd.'

You might find yourself asking,

why is cruelty to animals so popular?

Perhaps it has something to do with the ancient connection

between blood and food.

Or maybe it's the sacrifice of a noble animal.

However, I suspect that there's another reason,

one that will undoubtedly strike you

when listening to hundreds of people yelling encouragement to an animal

on which they've placed a bet.

It's the thrill of a life and death struggle,

combined with the allure of money and chance.

'Standing on the packed terraces overlooking the baiting ring,

'this is like no sporting event you've ever been to.'

Seen through modern eyes, bear baiting is frankly, horrific.

The smell is indescribable.

The bears froth at the mouth as they grow increasingly exhausted,

covered in their own blood,

and the blood of the dogs they've killed trying to defend themselves.

'One of the best descriptions of the scene comes from the pen of

'Thomas Platter, who goes to see the bear baiting at Southwark in 1599.'

'A large bear on a long rope was bound to a stake.

'Then a number of great English mastiffs were brought in,

'and shown first to the bear,

'which they afterwards baited, one after another.'

'Although they were much struck and mauled by the bear,

'they did not give in and had to be pulled off by sheer force.'

'And even if you've managed to stomach all that,

'you will surely find the last event of the day truly distressing.'

A monkey is placed in the saddle of an old horse

and a pack of young dogs are set upon them.

The Venetian Allesandro Magno writes, "It is a fine sight to see

"the horse run, kicking and biting,

"and the monkey grip the saddle tightly and scream,

"being bitten many times."

'As you make your way around the country,

'you'll discover that cruelty goes much further

'than cruelty to animals.

'Cruelty to children is quite normal.

'At home, it's a father's duty to whip his sons

'so they learn to respect authority.

'In school, teachers see it as part of their duty to beat pupils

'with a birch or whack their hands with a wooden rod.'

'And if you come across one of the few child-rearing manuals that exists,

'you'll see that it clearly recommends regular flogging.'

'In his diary, London cloth merchant Henry Machyn writes graphically

'about the abuse of a young boy.'

'Searching for work may likewise lead you into a world of cruelty,

'especially if you take a job as a servant in a wealthy household.'

'Servants cannot refuse their masters anything,

'and there are numerous stories of abuse.'

'Be extremely careful if you accept a job in the home of John Lawrence.

'That's precisely what young Jane Wright did.'

"She was enticed by him and his wife that night,

"as at other times to come to bed naked with the two of them,

"at which times he has carnal knowledge of her,

"her said dame lying in bed with him, and warranting her

"that she should have no harm,

"and that the other maids used to do the like before."

'After being forced to have sex, Jane becomes pregnant

'and is reported to the archdeacon.

'Like many young women, she is found guilty of the crime of adultery.

'She is sentenced to stand in the local church porch in a white sheet

'and confess her fault,

'praying God and the congregation to forgive her.'

'Sadly, it gets worse.

'By law, your master has the right to punish you, and the all-male

'juries of the land are determined to protect that right.

'If you were accidentally beaten to death, they would often find

'someone else guilty of your murder, even someone who doesn't exist.'

'This world of grand houses, great paintings,

'exploration and scientific discovery,

'celebrated as the gateway to our modern world,

'and recognisable as the country we all take pride in today,

'is, in many ways, a horrifying place.'

'It's not that everything is different,

'rather that some differences are so extreme

'they challenge our assumptions about human dignity.'

'If you've ever found yourself thinking that times change

'and values don't...

'..think again.'

This brings us on to the equality of the sexes.

If you suggest this idea to any God-fearing Elizabethan man,

he'll simply shake his head with disbelief.

According to religious commentators of the day, God created men

and women unequal for a purpose, so that men can command women.

They point to men's greater strength and size as evidence.

Although you'll feel significantly taller than the people around you,

you'll notice the difference in height between the sexes

is the same as today.

But that's pretty much the only thing that's stayed the same.

Elizabethans see this as proof of men's superiority.

Physician Simon Forman lists 70 diseases that occur only in women.

It's confirmation that God wants to punish them

for Eve's crime of offering Adam the forbidden fruit.

'As a woman, you face a life of subservience and physical hardship.

'Marriage doesn't save you from this fate.

'In fact, it makes it worse.'

'Much of your time is spent in darkness.

'If the baby screams in the night, you'll have to get up in the cold.

'By day, you'll have to keep the fire going, and cook meals

'with what few ingredients are available.

'You'll clean the house, and not only mend the clothes,

'but make them, as well.

'And, of course, you must please your husband.'

If you are a married woman,

all the authority in your household rests with your husband.

All your property is legally owned by him.

You can't say or do anything contrary to his interests.

You can't allow somebody to enter your house without his permission.

You can't even make a will.

Your husband may beat or punish you as much as he wants,

as long as he doesn't actually kill you.

Few Elizabethan men will feel any shame about striking their wives,

and if the reason is disobedience or adultery,

other women might actually approve.

In 1600, our physician friend, Simon Forman,

records that he suspects his wife of adultery.

When he confronts her, she shouts back with howling and weeping.

He notes in his diary that

he had to hit her, "two or three times until she would be quiet."

Maybe you'll be fortunate enough to have a long and happy marriage,

a husband who doesn't beat you, and children.

Sadly for you, having little ones is a death trap.

Today, just one woman in every 12,000 pregnancies

dies in childbirth.

In the 16th century, one in 50 pregnancies kills the mother.

So why marry?

Because for you the alternative is poverty and starvation.

Ironically, in a land ruled by an unmarried woman,

society expects you to find a man to take care of you.

You may be thinking that society has hardships enough -

death in childbirth, violence,

poor sanitation, the death penalty.

But 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 on your wedding day.

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 to 1597,

thousands die.

The famine devastates the country.

Many people lose everything.

You may well find yourself homeless and penniless.

In which case, don't expect to be given any shelter.

The mismatch of medieval legislation and 16th century overpopulation

result in the extraordinary situation

that it's actually illegal to look after a homeless person

who's not from the same parish as you.

You can be fined a pound

for taking in a perfectly innocent homeless couple.

As a consequence, lots of people end up walking for miles

up and down the country, searching for work or food,

constantly being moved on.

There are even cases

of people migrating to Kent on foot

from as far away as Lancashire and Yorkshire.

Homeless and wandering from town to town,

you're now classed as a vagrant.

An act of 1572 states that

all vagrants should be grievously whipped

and have an inch-wide hole burnt through the right ear

unless someone takes them in as a servant.

Normally, by law, you'll be whipped out of town as soon as you arrive.

A second offence means that you can be hanged for vagrancy.

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

the kingdom is poised to make a genuinely profound reform.

Across the country,

there is 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 given to parish overseers

to provide for the destitute.

The burning of holes in ears is stopped.

Vagrants are no longer threatened with hanging.

It has to count

as one of the turning points in English social history.

From now on, helping the poor

isn't just a matter of individual acts of charity.

It's a civic 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.

There are many others in addition to those you're already familiar with.

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

is the plague.

This isn't the big killer it was in the 14th century.

Then it wiped out a third of Europe in one fell swoop.

In Elizabethan times, it flares up in towns every ten years or so

and just kills an eighth of the population.

That's a quarter of a million people

wiped out by one disease in this reign alone.

Add to that the bloody flux - dysentery -

the burning ague - typhus -

typhoid fever and smallpox,

and you can see why travelling to the past is bad for your health.

With regard to plague, you have the major advantage

of knowing that a flea bite causes the disease,

so you know changing bedclothes is good advice.

Swelling in your armpits, neck, leg or groin?

Thirsty all the time and pulse racing?

A physician may well correctly diagnose plague,

but then he will advise you to fumigate your room.

Simon Forman's recipe against the plague is simple.

Don't eat onions.

I wouldn't trust that one either, if I were you.

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.

Illnesses change, like all natural things.

Smallpox, for example,

isn't yet the terrifying disease it becomes in the next century.

Elizabeth herself catches it in 1562 and survives.

Influenza, too, is very different

from the strains with which you are no doubt familiar.

It's often said that the Spanish flu outbreak of 1919

kills more people than die in the First World War.

Well, that may well be true, but proportionately

the influenza outbreak of 1557-1559 kills twice as many people

as die in the First World War and the Spanish flu put together.

In those years, one in 12 of the whole population dies from flu.

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

will require the attention of a physician.

And then you might get a surprise.

Because the medicines he prescribes

won't just depend upon the nature of your illness.

They'll also depend upon how wealthy you are.

Expensive medicines with the best ingredients are given to the rich.

The poor receive a cheap alternative.

Other medical books recommend worms, mercury,

the powdered skull of a man killed in war

or even...

..the unwashed wool that grows between the hind legs of a black sheep.

One thing you'll soon grasp

is that there's no hard and fast dividing line

between superstition and knowledge.

Don't be surprised if you're told not to lend fire to your neighbour

because otherwise your horse will die.

This ability to believe that anything is possible

affects society's superstitions.

Some people believe that dreams can be interpreted

to reveal their destinies.

Others go to astrologers to seek the future written in the stars.

Should they marry a certain man?

Should they make a property investment?

Has the ship carrying their son sunk?

Seeing how credulous Elizabethan people are

may well make you reflect

that we are nowhere near so open-minded in the modern world.

Science has taught us to rule out the reality of magic

or the possibility that lucky charms work.

In this way, you can see that witchcraft

is just one of a series of Elizabethan beliefs

with which you will find yourself out of step.

But the really important thing to understand

is that it is recognised in law.

If you deny that witchcraft exists,

people will look at you as if you're mad.

It is possible to be a witch and a good Christian.

You'll find that even the clergy employ witches.

For most of Elizabeth's reign,

it's only against the law to try to kill someone with witchcraft.

If you use a witch to find something that you've lost, for instance,

there's no law against that.

This journey as a poor person through Elizabethan England

has shown you many strange things.

But witchcraft is probably the strangest of them all.

If your neighbour claims you said threatening things to her

and then one of her relatives dies,

you'll be arrested and tried.

And then, think about this.

How on earth are you going to defend yourself?

If you're found guilty, you won't be burnt at the stake.

Unlike Catholic countries, England does not burn people for witchcraft.

You'll be hanged instead.

With disease wracking the kingdom, religious doubt in the air,

and confusion over whether English people

are heading to heaven or to hell,

and suffering and poverty throughout the kingdom,

there is only one point of certainty, one reassurance -

the figure of Queen Elizabeth herself.

As you've seen, for the poor, life is a continual struggle.

For those higher up, it may be better,

but it is still fraught with danger.

Next time, I'll take you to the world of the rich and powerful,

show you how you can dress to impress...

..and try to keep you safe

from the highwaymen.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd