After watching A Time Traveler's Guide to Elizabethan England, I have learnt a lot more about the harsh conditions in which poor countrymen lived. I myself viewed the era as a time of success, power, wealth - headed by a strong Queen, an era of banquets, entertainment and excess- yet I now see the underbelly. The rich are few of many, the vast open land of England dominated by the poorer masses, a class living difficult lives and working in grueling jobs with little wages.
A quarter of England was dominated by moors, marshlands, and heaths. Although we now view these areas as the beautiful 'green belt' of England, said spaces were seen as dangerous and horrific, with no roads or passages - you were defenseless in these vast spaces.
A typical home in which a poor countryman would reside would be a small thatched cottage, housing 7-8 people. The rooms of the cottage would be dark, candles being an expensive luxury at the time. The natural light source would also be blocked of by shutters, that covered the small windows of the home. The only light would come from an ever-smoldering fire, causing the air to constantly be thick and musty with smoke. The homes would have an opening in the roof to let out smoke, but the houses were still unpleasant to live in - hence why countrymen spent the majority of their time in the vast outdoors. A poor family would have little possessions, and sleep on a thin hay mattress.
Due to 7-8 people living in one house, the inhabitants would easily catch diseases, the life expectancy low due to poor medical knowledge and dwellers living in unclean conditions.
JOBS
The employment options for countrymen were extremely limited; they would travel from farm to farm as labourers, looking for work. Their hours would be extraordinarily long, doing menial work from damn to sunset. They were given no more than one groat, a coin made of silver, the equivalent to 4 pence. This wage would be just enough to afford basic food and ale (water was polluted), but there was nothing left for rent, clothing, children, or firewood.
The food that they ate was fresh fruit and vegetables from the ground, food seen inferior for nobles. Their meals would often be stews and soups, porridge a staple breakfast and their diet comprised of some lean meat. Despite the diet seeming meagre, the diet was healthier than that of the upper classes with a higher consumption of vitamins, fresher whole foods and less rich and sweet foods.
The life for the poor in Elizabethan England was hard, a world away from the lives of the few rich.
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