leisure

• leisure activities for nobility were:

  • hunting - men and women, on horseback with hounds
  • fishing - men and women
  • tennis - men only, played indoors
  • bowls - men only
  • fencing - men only with blunt swords
• leisure activities of working people were:

  • football
  • no limit on number of players
  • could pick up ball and run with it
  • could be violent - men could be killed
  • wrestling
  • enjoyed by men of all classes
  • noble men wrestled in private
  • swimming
  • enjoyed by men of all classes
• spectator sports:

  • baiting
  • watching animals fight ot the death
  • dogs put against chained bulls and bears
  • all classes enjoyed wtaching
  • gambled on
  • cock fighting
  • cockerels attacked each other
  • special arenas built for cock fighting
  • gambled on
• pastimes were:

  • literature
  • threature
  • music and dancing
• literature:

  • new literature written during Elizabeth's reign
  • mystery plays replaced with secular plays
  • mystery plays depicited Bible stories
  • Elizabeth concerned they would encourage religious violence
  • comedies were popular and sponsored by nobility
  • sponsors were: the queen, Early of Leicester
  • performers known as Queen's or Leicester's Men
  • all social classes attended
  • lower class stood in pit
  • upper class had seats directly above stage
  • plays built purposefully for theatre
  • first theatre was Red Lion
• theatre:

  • mystery plays replaced with secular plays
  • mystery plays depicited Bible stories
  • Elizabeth concerned they would encourage religious violence
  • comedies were popular and sponsored by nobility
  • sponsors were: the queen, Early of Leicester
  • performers known as Queen's or Leicester's Men
  • all social classes attended
  • lower class stood in pit
  • upper class had seats directly above stage
  • plays built purposefully for theatre
  • first theatre was Red Lion
• music and dancing:

  • many Elizabethans played instruments - lutes, harpsichords
  • musicians paid to play at public events or functions
  • music could be lsitened to at fairs, amrkets etc.
  • music written to accompany plays performed in theatres
  • dancing was popular
  • brought men and women together
  • upper and lower class did not dance together