Elizabethan Leisure

• Spectator sports were popular among all classes. Even Elizabeth I watched them
• Spectator sports included Wrestling and Watching animals fight to death and money gambled on outcomes
• Baiting was where a bear was chained to a post and dogs were unleashed on it. Although the bears teeth were cut short, it would still be able to kill the dogs
• During Baiting, it was ensured that the bears were not killed, as they were expensive
• Football was popular among lower classes. It was extremely violent and there were no rules e.g. you were allowed to pick up the ball
• Football in Elizabethan England was usually between two village teams
• For music, the nobility usually played lutes and harpischords, while the lower classes played bagpipes and fiddles
• Secular plays led to the introduction to new instruments and styles of music such as the Ayre, where a lute was played by a single person
• Dancing brang men and women together which allowed them to find love. However, it did not bring classes together
• Medieval works of literature were popular, such as Chaucers Canterbury tales. The upper classes enjoyed translating historical texts, such as ones in Greek and Latin