Brave New World 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 it 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.

Tonight, I'm sending you to live amongst a section of society

which is definitely on the up.

These people are craftsmen, architects and merchants,

scientists, explorers and writers.

What they all share is a desire to better their lives.

And through their success, they change the world.

It's time to make your way in the world of the ambitious middle classes,

men and women who will radically alter our nation.

On your journey, you'll rub shoulders with some notable people,

get the chance to travel the world

and see history unfolding around you.

With a bit of help, you can rise up the ranks and achieve greatness.

You'll need to tread carefully

as this is also a time of danger and uncertainty.

But if you play your cards right, you might find yourself on a path

to fame, fortune and glory.

FAINT CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Your journey begins in the provinces,

at the very heart of Elizabeth's England,

a place where the middle classes are on the rise -

Stratford-upon-Avon.

In fact, I'm going to start you off

in the cut and thrust world of small-town merchants.

A place where money is king.

After decades of stagnation, towns are suddenly driving social change.

As you walk through busy Stratford in the 1570s,

you'll notice there's a buzz in the air and money to be made.

As an ambitious trader, it's on the high street

that you'll set up stall six days a week.

You'll be surrounded by glovers, tailors,

butchers and many a wealthy wool merchant.

FAINT CHATTER

Towns are engines of social change.

The independent, self-reliant townsman

with a trade and the ambition to improve his lot

is one of the true agents of modernisation.

By the end of Elizabeth's reign, many such men are much better off.

It's from the ranks of the middling sort, in towns like Stratford,

that many of the great names of the age will emerge.

These upwardly-mobile men and women

will leave a lasting impact on society.

And while you're here in Stratford,

it will be useful to get to know your neighbours.

Here on Henley Street is the house of one John Shakespeare,

the father of William, of whom you might have heard.

The Shakespeares are just such an upwardly-mobile family.

John himself is a glover,

a prosperous man, working with leather.

The leather, mind you, of deer, dogs and horses,

not just cows and calves.

As you walk past,

you'll no doubt smell the tanyard at the back of the house.

John Shakespeare uses urine and faeces to process his leather.

All things being considered, it might be wise

to invite the Shakespeares over to YOUR house for dinner.

Unpleasant smells are just another reminder

of why so many people want to rise up the social ranks.

And there's one other unpleasantness you and your neighbours won't miss.

Now, for the first time,

the fires in your home won't constantly sting your eyes.

In towns like Stratford, a revolution is taking place.

It transforms the lives of ordinary people

and changes the face of every street in the land.

It's not a scientific discovery.

It's not a political development.

It is, in fact, the humble chimney.

Chimneys mean that buildings can expand upwards

and you can now heat every room in your home.

The arrival of the chimney is just the beginning of what becomes

a wholesale change in living standards.

Driving this innovation is the availability of cheap bricks.

Mass manufacture means they are now affordable

for the many, not just the few.

Chimneys were previously found in castles and grand houses,

but never in the homes of ordinary people.

Thanks to the humble chimney,

you can now live in a state-of-art two-storey townhouse,

not an unfashionable single-storey medieval home.

Essential if you want show you're on the way up.

And bear in mind that Elizabethan England

is on average two degrees colder than you're used to,

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

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

especially if you want to have a bedchamber of your own,

rather than sleep in the hall with everyone else.

Across the land, medieval houses are being redeveloped.

Not outwards, but skywards.

So you see, adding value to your home

isn't just a 21st-century obsession.

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

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

From now on, moderately wealthy gentlemen

can afford to flood their houses with natural light.

But it's still expensive.

You may have glass at the front of your house to show off

and still make do with shutters at the back.

In Stratford, old buildings are being converted

or demolished everywhere you look.

It seems as if almost everyone is moving into the town,

and, in fact, many are.

Small businessmen are flooding in.

Many from trades you'll recognise, and many you won't.

For candles, go to a wax chandler.

Need a legal document written up? Find a scrivener.

Or if you fancy a pair of fine leather shoes,

seek out a cordwainer.

As these ambitious traders flock in,

John Shakespeare will see his town change beyond recognition.

Stratford's population grows from 1,500 to over 2,000

during Elizabeth's reign.

It's not just Stratford that's growing rapidly.

Over the 45 years of the Queen's reign,

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

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

England won't see such a high level of growth again

until the end of the 18th century.

Like the young William Shakespeare,

you'll find Stratford can't match your grand ambitions

in this rapidly changing society.

And once you've outgrown a town like Stratford,

there's only one place to head for.

It's the epicentre of change in Elizabeth's England

and it's the next rung on your ladder to fame and glory.

The city of London.

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

Royal messengers, sheep drovers,

physicians hurrying to bedsides

and foreign travellers in new-fangled carriages

all streaming in and out of the city.

If you travel in from the north along Watling Street,

the old Roman road,

you'll eventually come to this spot, the junction with Oxford Street.

This is Tyburn. The place of the notorious London gallows.

It acts as a stark reminder

that this is a place where only a minor indiscretion

can cost you your life.

Swiss visitor Thomas Platter

vividly describes the hangings at Tyburn in his diary.

Those condemned to the rope are placed on a cart

and the hangman drives with them to the gallows, called Tyburn.

There, he fastens them up one after another.

The criminals' friends come

and draw them down by their feet, that they may die all the sooner.

As you pass Tyburn, you may well see the lifeless bodies of thieves

and murderers hanging from the gallows.

It's quite a haunting welcome to England's capital city.

If the sight of dead, naked criminals at Tyburn

hasn't put you off London for good,

it's time to get to know England's capital city

and make yourself at home.

If you want to see all that London has to offer,

you're going to need to find somewhere to stay.

Elizabethan inns are one of the real pleasures of travelling.

And London has some of the finest places to rest your head.

When you arrive, a boy will unsaddle your horse,

your luggage will be taken and you'll be shown to the innkeeper.

The innkeeper will give you a candle to light your way to your bedchamber,

where you'll find a wooden-framed bed.

The bed itself is slung with ropes, on which a straw mat is placed

with a couple of featherbeds on top of that.

These are mattresses which should give you a good night's sleep,

as long as there are no bedbugs.

Foreign travellers often comment on the clean state of London's inns.

And you can expect freshly-laundered sheets.

The innkeeper is also legally responsible for keeping you safe.

And so he'll do what he can to stop thieves

and violence on his premises.

However, I suggest you keep your wits about you

as the servants at the inn may well have told some unsavoury characters

about your onward travel plans

and tipped them off about your expensive-looking belongings,

all for the price of a drink.

If, when you wake up in the morning,

you've not been robbed of all you possess,

it's time to explore the unique sights of London.

There are numerous must-see attractions

on any wealthy tourist's itinerary.

Firstly, the Tower of London.

Here you can hire a tour guide.

You'll see Henry VIII's armour,

the Royal Mint, a menagerie of exotic animals

and the dungeons where Catholics are tortured.

But tourism doesn't come cheap.

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

it will cost you the equivalent of 12 weeks' wages

for the average labourer.

You'll notice that London is a favourite destination

for wealthy foreign tourists.

One such visitor is the Venetian Allesandro Magno,

who visits London in 1562 and spends time among the urban middle class.

He keeps a journal of his experiences

and comments on the things he finds strange about England and the people he meets.

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

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

It's more than just a simple bridge.

It's a magnificent ancient structure of 20 arches,

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

It towers above the river.

The bridge is covered in buildings,

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

It also has impressive gates and fortifications

designed to protect the city.

London Bridge is an imposing symbol, not only of the city's wealth,

but also of Royal authority.

The remains of more than 30 heads of executed traitors

are to be seen there at the end of the reign.

The great wealth of the city attracts all those hoping to make their fortunes,

but it doesn't have to be all hard work.

The Mermaid Tavern on Cheapside is a favourite haunt of William Shakespeare,

who is a friend of the landlord.

He and his fellow playwrights, and their drinking partners, are at the heart of this new London.

If you like beer, you've come to the right place.

For a ha'penny, you can have a pint of good English beer,

served in a wooden mazer, or a shiny pewter tankard.

The best quality is March beer, or double beer,

made with twice the quantity of malt and thus twice as strong.

But not everybody loves English beer.

The Venetian Allesandro Magno describes it as "healthy but sickening to taste"

and "cloudy like horse's urine".

As well as providing some suspicious tasting beer,

London's alehouses provide every indulgence you can imagine -

food, music, flirtation, and much more besides.

Many alehouses double up as places of prostitution,

with the landlord's wife, or even his daughter, taking the position of house harlot.

These are the harsh realities of Elizabethan life.

The man has to work brewing ale and serving the customers,

so the women of the household have to work too.

Now you've explored the city,

it's time to get down to the business of setting up and making some money.

In 1599, the Swiss tourist Thomas Platter remarks that,

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

An observation about crowding in echoed by almost every foreign visitor to the City.

London's not just the most populous place,

it's also the centre of government and the centre of law,

the centre of international trade and, of course, of culture.

It's also a place of wonder and horror,

of great wealth and abject poverty.

Over the 45 years of Elizabeth's reign,

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

as multitudes flock to the capital to seek their fortune.

But London's pre-eminence isn't just to be measured in numbers of people.

Even at the start of the period, Londoners pay ten times as much tax

as residents of England's second largest city, Norwich.

As you walk the streets of your new city,

you'll see hawkers selling herbs, linens and fine drinking glasses.

You'll smell tempting hot sausages and pies for sale.

And you'll hear the hammering of metalworkers,

the shouts of criers giving news

and the anguished pleas for food and pity from Newgate and Ludgate prisons.

The real soul of London is in the streets -

the tiny alleys, dark with overhanging houses.

Ordinary people's homes are the places for innovation,

of manufacturing and commerce,

attracting people from all over the country seeking their fortune.

But this growth and dynamism is not without its problems.

Queen Elizabeth doesn't like London encroaching on her land and palaces,

and so she decrees that no new building can take place

outside the city walls.

This early idea of a green-belt

has a significant impact on the landscape of the city.

In London, space is at a premium.

This plan shows you how closely packed together

all the houses are and gives you a sense of how cramped life is.

It also shows you all the latrines.

Actually this bit of London isn't too badly served for such facilities

due to the proximity of the River Fleet.

Even so, you might have to cross your legs

as it shows just 10 loos for the 30 properties on the map,

let alone all the hundreds of other houses nearby.

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

cramped, unhygienic and little more than a struggle.

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

The lack of space means houses are rising fast,

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

As you make money in the city, you might choose to buy one of these new townhouses,

as opposed to lodging in the cramped conditions.

The rapid growth of London also means that sanitation suffers.

Without flushing toilets or effective drains,

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

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

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

Although the sanitation might leave a little to be desired,

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

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

Once you've made it in London,

you can flaunt your new wealth through your choice of transport.

When visiting London, the River Thames will be your constant companion.

It's the lifeblood of the city

and for many wealthier Londoners, it is by far the best way to get about.

This is one of the reasons why there are so many boats on the river,

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

to thousands of wherries, as waterborne taxis are known.

These river taxis operate in all weathers.

It will cost you a penny to cross from the city

to the many entertainments of Southwark

on the south bank of the river.

The wherries are quick, and the best way to avoid the dirty crowded streets,

as well as to show you're a self-respecting person of substance.

The River Thames also provides the city with its port

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

new ideas and opportunities to make money.

London's striving metropolitan elite are only too pleased to spend their new-found wealth.

And it's London's bustling port that satisfies the demand

for novelties as well as basic commodities.

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

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

If it's the finer things in life you're after,

then London is definitely the place to be.

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

makes it a conduit for the most terrifying thing you'll encounter in Elizabethan England -

the plague.

When planning your visit, you really must avoid 1563.

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

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

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

You can never predict where it might strike,

outbreaks occur all over the country at different times.

But bear in mind that it is carried by rat fleas

and they don't travel very fast.

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

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

Plague can also be spread through infected garments,

so don't borrow or wear someone else's clothing.

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

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

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

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

Medicine won't help you.

There are supposed cures for plague,

but none of them will do you the slightest bit of good.

A physician won't even come near you.

I'm afraid in such circumstances, the outlook is bleak.

There is nothing you can do.

If you are unlucky enough to catch plague,

the ordinances enacted in 1578 mean you're subject to strict control measures.

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

You'll be boarded up for a minimum of six weeks -

you, your family and servants, sick and healthy all in it together.

There are some harrowing stories about plague victims.

One that I find particularly moving is that of Thomas Smallbone.

He and his wife, his mother-in-law and his children all catch plague in the autumn.

One by one, the adults die

and then one by one, all the children die.

At the end, after eight months incarcerated in the house,

only the servants survive.

No matter how rich, ambitious or knowledgeable you are,

nothing can save you from this pestilence.

As well as horrific events like plague,

Elizabethan England also sees several positive changes that

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

Without a doubt, the most far-reaching of all of these

is the publication of increasing numbers of books in English.

Over the course of the 16th century,

the proportion of books published in English increases rapidly.

This in turn encourages many ordinary people to read.

For prosperous townsmen, this is a major revelation.

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

Books are soon published on a wide range of subjects,

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

But it's the Bible, in English, which is the real bestseller of the age.

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

and consider its meanings for themselves.

It becomes the ultimate self-help book.

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

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

Literacy can be your ticket to greatness in Elizabethan England.

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

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

Even more strikingly, the proportion of women who can read and write

increases from 1% to 10%.

That's a ten-fold increase.

It marks a revolution. From now on, men aren't the only readers.

Women can read too, and they can publish.

One woman who fully embraces this new intellectual opportunity is Aemilia Lanyer.

In what is very much a man's world,

she challenges the status quo.

You'll definitely want to get to know Aemilia.

She's witty, educated and has a lot to say for herself.

In one of her most famous poems,

she shifts the blame for man's fall from grace in the Garden of Eden from Eve to Adam.

Aemilia Lanyer is one of the standard-bearers

of this revolution in women's literature.

Her work demonstrates that women too are capable of original ideas

and inspires others to set out on the long road to intellectual equality.

Ironically, although you are qualified to join this literate society,

the chances are you'll have very great difficulty reading anyone's handwriting.

This isn't because people can't write properly,

it's because there are many different types of script in use.

Most people learn to read using a typeface called 'black letter'.

To your eyes, black letter will look almost Gothic,

with numerous unfamiliar characters.

You'll probably find printed italic script much easier to understand.

It's called italic because of its Italian origin.

All modern typefaces are based upon it.

Many books are published using both italic and black letter.

But just to confuse matters further,

there's another script called Secretary Hand,

a style of writing which is never printed.

The upshot of all this is, if you're lucky enough to come across

the original manuscript of a Shakespeare play,

in all likelihood, you won't be able to read a word.

You'll find the printed versions much easier.

Numbers can also be a little bit tricky

as both Arabic and Roman numerals are in common use.

Increasingly, you'll see Arabic numerals used

because 1588 - one five eight eight -

is much easier to write than MDLXXXVIII.

Some educated men like William Cecil,

the Queen's chief advisor, simply can't think in Arabic numerals.

He converts dates and figures into Roman numerals

and then back again when formulating government policy.

You'll find numbers and counting much easier

than even the most highly educated men in the land.

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

but for the ambitious and brightest,

there's another, more formal, route to education - school.

Traditionally, a formal education is only open to the wealthy few.

But increasingly, new grammar schools -

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

are springing up across the country.

Just like the one here in Stratford-upon-Avon.

As every responsible father knows, not to teach your son to read

and write is to disempower him in this fast-changing world.

By sending his son here to Stratford Grammar School, John Shakespeare

ensures that his son William isn't just restricted to a provincial trade, he's set up for life.

If you decide to drop in and visit a grammar school,

you had better prepare for a long day.

Lessons start at six or seven in the morning

and will normally carry on for at least ten hours,

although you might not stop until eight in the evening.

Teaching is generally in Latin and by rote,

with a school master dictating classical works from the front.

Discipline is brutal - so much so, that you'll be profoundly shocked.

Here at Stratford in the 1560s, the master John Brownsword

teaches all the Roman greats, including Ovid, Cicero

and Virgil, as well as some Greek.

Ben Jonson later writes that Shakespeare has "small Latin and less Greek",

trying to belittle his level of learning.

But just think about that. It's truly remarkable that

a provincially educated son of a glove maker has any Greek at all.

All across England, boys like William Shakespeare are being

prepared for an increasingly literate society.

From now on, literacy is the key to social mobility.

With an education, you can take advantage

of all the new opportunities that Elizabethan England provides.

Because above all else, this is a time of exploration,

discovery and scientific revolution.

But you need to understand how this brave new world operates.

And the first thing to bear in mind is just how intertwined religion is

with what YOU would consider established scientific fact.

One word you won't hear very often is science. Instead,

you'll come across the notion of Natural Philosophy, a catch-all term

that covers everything from mathematics to geography.

It also includes some very unscientific things

such as the interpretation of dreams, astrology and the occult.

One man who exemplifies this blurring of science and religion

is Dr John Dee, a famous astrologer and advisor of Queen Elizabeth.

With a favourable introduction,

he can open your eyes to the world of Elizabethan science.

If you meet Dee in 1582, you can watch as he and his friend

Edward Kelley try and study angels through a series of seances.

During their experience, an angel called Madimi instructs them

to share everything - including their wives.

Shocked, they ask Madimi if she means carnal knowledge,

and the angel confirms this is the case.

They duly comply and make love to each other's wives.

These men aren't charlatans or deviants,

they simply operate in a world where there are no scientific boundaries.

As God created everything,

every scientific discovery is a religious act.

In this world, religion and science are the same thing.

It's probably a good idea to make your excuses

if John Dee invites you and your husband to a seance.

According to the great polymath and philosopher Francis Bacon,

there are three things that set the Elizabethan Age

apart from the medieval one -

gunpowder, printing and the compass.

For centuries, it was believed that

the wisdom of ancient writers like Aristotle, Ptolemy and Pythagoras

provided an unquestionable basis for all human knowledge.

Any new thinkers who could see further could do so simply

because they were "dwarves standing on the shoulders of giants".

But when in 1492, Columbus discovered the Americas,

he proved the great minds of the ancient world

did not know everything. That discovery cannot be overestimated.

In Elizabeth's reign, the leading scientists and geographers,

men like Francis Bacon,

are themselves giants, standing on the shoulders of giants.

In Elizabeth's England, advances in scientific knowledge go hand in hand

with exploration - building on what Columbus started 50 years before.

But what drives this appetite for discovery? In short - money.

The world really is your oyster, and one of the key figures

in opening that oyster is the adventurer John Hawkins.

In the 1550s, he embarks on a revolutionary moneymaking venture.

He begins selling slaves from Africa

to the Spanish colonies in the Caribbean.

His voyage is such a success that Queen Elizabeth herself

invests in his next expedition.

I expect you will feel more than just a little uncomfortable

being part of what seems to us a completely immoral business.

But this immorality is not an issue for ambitious Englishmen

eager to exploit this new world.

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

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

From humble beginnings in Devon, he rises to become

one of the richest and most celebrated men in the kingdom.

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

Three years later, having sailed round the world, he returns

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

Drake is a man whom you'll definitely want to meet.

He is a privateer, a state-sanctioned pirate.

On his voyage around the world, he extends English knowledge

of the Pacific Ocean and beyond.

He also plunders as much as he can.

No-one knows exactly how much he brings back from the ships and ports he attacks.

But the Spanish, from whom he steals most of it,

estimate his loot as worth £600,000 -

roughly twice the English government's annual revenue.

This lowly provincial buys himself

a place at the top of Elizabethan society with stolen Spanish gold.

You can visit Drake's famous flagship,

the Golden Hinde, at Greenwich.

It's common to break a piece off as a souvenir,

so visit by 1618, as after this date only the keel will be left.

Men like Drake use the compass and other new technologies

to navigate their way around the world,

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

Superior firepower means that they can attack indigenous peoples with impunity

and plunder the ships and outposts of their Spanish rivals.

Drake's Golden Hinde is armed with 18 cannon.

14 of these are capable of sending an iron cannonball,

weighing some four pounds,

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

The majority of English vessels are smaller, lower, more stable

and more manoeuvrable than the big Spanish galleons.

So, although fewer guns will defend you, an English ship

is probably your best bet when it comes to travelling the world.

Drake and his English contemporaries soon begin to challenge

the Spanish for mastery of the world's oceans.

If you are serious about voyaging into the great unknown with

Francis Drake or John Hawkins, there are a few things to bear in mind.

Life aboard an ocean-going ship is unbelievably hard.

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

the food is atrocious

and it's likely you'll get scurvy on a long voyage.

That means you'll probably lose some teeth, your gums will start to rot,

and your breath will stink.

There are no washing facilities

so the smell of your body will soon overpower

even that of your reeking breath. You can't shave either,

so your beard will start to grow and insects will grow in your beard.

In fact, your whole body will be covered in lice and fleas.

And unfortunately, if you do seek out adventure, you probably won't

live very long - 82% of mariners are under 30,

because mortality rates are so high.

After his rampaging voyage around the globe

and success against the Spanish, Drake returns to England a hero.

You, too, can bask in his reflected glory, as all Englishmen do.

Drake shares his fortune with the Crown

and, begrudgingly, Queen Elizabeth knights him.

This lowly provincial becomes one of the most famous men of the age.

Through sheer determination and reckless courage,

Drake manages to steal

and fight his way into the upper echelons of Elizabethan society.

His knighthood is recognition by the Queen

and the establishment that men like him are the key to England's future.

But alongside the great advances in science, knowledge and trade,

exploration also awakens a darker side of human nature.

You may be shocked by the racism

and the prejudice of your fellow Englishmen.

Before the slaving expeditions of the 1560s, there are only

a handful of black men and women in England.

By 1596 however, their numbers have risen to such an extent

that the Queen orders the deportation of as many as possible,

on the grounds that there are too many unemployed people in the country.

Those that remain experience a rising tide of racism - as attitudes

that were once based on curiosity and ignorance turn hostile.

In Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus,

a black character is described as delighting in rape and murder.

And in Reginald Scott's Discovery Of Witchcraft,

it's even claimed that the devil himself has black skin.

The majority of black men and women are to be found serving in the

houses of the powerful and in ports, especially London and Plymouth.

Perhaps the most shocking aspect of Elizabethan racism

is the treatment of black women in these towns

as evidenced in the baptismal registers.

Such records suggest that rich men

are lending out their black female servants to friends and neighbours

for sexual novelty and experimentation.

You might be appalled by the actions of those around you,

but your moral outrage will baffle Elizabethans.

Having travelled the globe, English explorers and adventurers

bring back a mass of new discoveries that help transform

the understanding of the natural world.

Explorers from all over Europe,

including Englishmen such as Francis Drake and Walter Raleigh,

bring back plants and animals from the New World

with which you'll be very familiar -

the potato, the tomato, tobacco and the turkey.

These discoveries cause great excitement

for they support the idea that

when God created world, he created cures for all of mankind's diseases.

The result is an expansion in physic gardens, which are stocked

with every botanical specimen that might prove useful.

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

the leading herbalist of the age.

Gerard compiles the most comprehensive catalogue of plants

yet undertaken, and the science of botany takes a huge leap forward.

John Gerard is keen to explore the medicinal

and nutritional properties of every plant he can find.

Of the newly discovered tomato he writes, "They yield very little

"nourishment to the body, and are only cultivated for their colour."

Prosperous Elizabethans put tomatoes and potatoes on the banquet table,

not to eat but for exotic decoration.

In short, the tomato is a status symbol.

Another exotic novelty you'll know well is tobacco.

If you're a smoker, you'll need to visit after 1573

when it first becomes available.

However, a quarter ounce will cost you ten pence in a tavern -

a huge sum of money, reflecting its exotic nature.

Smoking polarises opinion in Elizabethan England -

some people will assure you that it has medicinal properties,

but others aren't convinced.

The Swiss traveller Thomas Platter notes that the English love to smoke.

As well as being viewed as a dangerous vice

and a health risk, smoking has its social detractors, too.

Many will tell you that tobacco makes your breath

smell like the "piss of a fox".

For you, tobacco, potatoes

and tomatoes are everyday items that will barely get a second glance.

But to those around you, these are exotic novelties

that prove there's a whole world out there

waiting to be discovered and exploited.

If you visit England at the start of the Queen's reign

and then again at the end, you'll find a profoundly different place.

Scientific and geographic knowledge have been transformed

beyond recognition, and everyday life has undergone a revolution.

As well as driving innovation

and expanding knowledge of the natural world, Elizabethan

merchant-adventurers also set England against powerful rivals.

English attempts to muscle in on the burgeoning empires of Catholic Spain

and Portugal in the New World are bound to lead to conflict.

This is even more the case after 1577, when Dr John Dee,

he of the wife-swapping angel seances,

suggests the establishment of a British Empire.

Empire-building in the New World, and the actions of men

like Francis Drake set England on a collision course with Spain.

And as every English schoolboy and schoolgirl knows,

this is what leads to the launch of the Spanish Armada,

arguably the defining event in Elizabeth's reign.

In 1588, 122 Spanish ships set sail with the intention

of landing an army to overthrow Elizabeth.

On entering the Channel,

they are intercepted by a larger English fleet,

commanded by Drake and Lord Howard.

The English forces chase the Armada up the Channel to Calais,

where they send flaming fire ships into the massed Spanish fleet.

The Spanish panic and take flight.

The British weather does the rest and many of the Armada's ships are

wrecked trying to sail home around the Scottish and Irish coasts.

In the aftermath of this famous victory,

the Tudor propaganda machine seeks to exploit

this seemingly divine affirmation of Elizabeth's England.

This iconic portrait of the Queen is full of triumphant symbolism.

Behind Elizabeth are two panels depicting key events.

On the left, the English fleet attacks the arriving Armada,

a scene bathed in glowing light.

On the right, the Spanish fleet is wrecked on rocks,

enveloped by darkness.

The English have no doubt as to where God's favour lies.

And looking to the future, the Queen's hand lies on a globe,

her fingers suggestively pointing to the New World.

The profound changes of the Elizabethan era

radically alter the lives of the new metropolitan classes.

Urbanisation, education and advances in science and knowledge

all feed into this notion of a changing world.

But there's one place you HAVE to go to round off your visit.

On the south bank of the Thames at Southwark,

you'll see something extraordinary unfolding before your eyes.

To many it's the pinnacle of Elizabeth's England - the theatre.

'To be, or not to be - that is the question.'

'Friends, Romans, countrymen...'

'..To suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous...'

-'Fair is foul and foul...'

-'Lend me your ears...'

'..To take arms against a sea of troubles...'

'..Through the fog and filthy air...'

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

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

as the foremost Elizabethan of them all -

William Shakespeare.

Like so many great men of the age, he prospers through sheer hard work.

For example, in that one year alone, 1599,

he writes no fewer than four plays -

Henry V, Julius Caesar, As You Like It, and Hamlet.

Here at the Globe, Shakespeare provides thought-provoking

entertainment that reflects his own society on stage.

A third of all Londoners watches a play every month.

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

When you arrive, you'll be one of a 2,000-strong audience

waiting with anticipation for the entertainment to begin.

Be on guard against pickpockets in the bustling audience -

you wouldn't want to lose some of your hard-earned cash.

Watching Shakespeare's masterpieces is a unique

and unforgettable experience.

You'll hear his plays performed by actors he knows - the very people

for whom he has written the parts.

'Is this a dagger which I see before me?'

'When shall we three meet again?'

'We few, we happy few, we band of brothers,

'for he today that sheds his blood with me shall be my brother...'

Ben Jonson is in no doubt about his friend's talent and legacy.

Shakespeare is not just an entertainer, of course.

In his plays, he holds up a mirror to reality,

reflecting a rapidly changing society.

In so doing, he becomes a spokesman for the emerging middle class,

a group that transforms the nation.

You could say he rides the crest of a cultural wave,

one which is still breaking on the shores of the world.

You've journeyed through the many different realities

that make up Elizabeth's England -

from the abject lives of the poor,

to the sumptuous homes of the rich

and the exciting world of the emergent middle-classes.

But witnessing the past is one thing,

understanding it is quite another.

Your familiarity with it will come and go like a tide.

You may recognise the greetings, shouts and insults in the street,

and understand people's feelings, tears and laughter.

But when you hear the baying crowd at the hanging of a young woman,

or see the hatred in people's faces at the arrest of a Catholic priest,

or witness the pitiful bears in their cramped cages at Southwark,

then it will seem as if the tide of familiarity has receded.

For the men and women of Elizabeth's reign, this isn't a golden age,

it is simply the world they inhabit, with all its challenges.

They don't know that the Spanish invasion will fail,

and that there is no cure for the plague.

And the majority of people outside London haven't even heard the name William Shakespeare.

The uncertainty of life,

and the even greater uncertainty of the future, mean their lives

are full of wonder and terror, pleasure and pain, tears and

laughter - everything that we all experience, whatever age we live in.

But what really sets Elizabethan England apart is the idea of change.

People can see the ruined monasteries for themselves,

they can see the ruined castles for themselves,

they know that an Englishman has circumnavigated the globe.

They can see that change is possible, and once they realise that

change is possible, they know that change for the better is possible.

This is perhaps the most important idea that mankind has ever had,

and it is the lasting legacy of the Elizabethan Age.

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