2. Quick Geography
⢠England, Scotland, and
Wales occupy one island
(Great Britain).
⢠Northern Ireland and the
Republic of Ireland occupy
the second island.
⢠GB covers 244,000 sq. km.
⢠965 km in length, 508 km
wide.
⢠Britain can be divided into
Lowland Britain and
Highland Britain
3. Lowland Britain
⢠Located in South East
Britain (Blue).
⢠Consists of low-lying
and fertile land suited
for agriculture.
⢠The climate is warmer
than in the north.
⢠More heavily populated
than the north.
4. Highland Britain
⢠North West (Scotland)
⢠Consists of hilly or
mountainous countryside.
⢠Thin soils, with pockets of
fertile lowland.
5. English Society in the 17th Century
⢠England became a colonizing nation because they
were wealthy and powerful, and by defeating the
Spanish Armada in 1588 they had the freedom to
travel the high seas.
⢠England built colonies in India, South Africa,North
America, and other parts of the world.
⢠Trade with the colonies enriched England even
more.
6.
7. English Society
⢠English population grew rapidly
⢠English entrepeneurs
(merchants, manufactures, and landholders)
found unprecedented opportunities to become
wealthy.
⢠To the upper class the future looked promising
and the country was ready to become a world
power.
12. Guilds
⢠Guilds: organizations to protect skilled
workers such as carpenters, blacksmiths, stone
masons, dress makers, etc.
â Agriculture & ordinary workers worked long hours
with little pay (10 pennies/day) and lived in
terrible conditions
13. Diet
⢠Food:
â Poor: mostly bread & beer, occasionally meat &
cheese
â Wealthy: mostly meat (strongly flavoured to hide
un-freshness)
â Fruits & vegetables unpopular
â Forks just coming into fashion
â New imported foods:
pineapples, maize, potatoes, coffee, tea, chocolate
â Coffee houses became popular
14. Crime and Punishment
⢠Crimes of treason and offenses against the state were
treated with the same severity that murder and rape
are today.
⢠Offenses such as manslaughter, robbery, rape, piracy,
and capital crimes entitled one to hanging, usually in
the town square.
⢠A woman found guilty of poisoning her husband was
burned alive.
⢠A cook who poisoned his customers was boiled to
death in a cauldron of water or lead.
⢠Public ridicule to criminals!
15. Family
⢠Boys can marry at 14, girls at 12. Usually didnât
happen until age at 21.
⢠Wives are the property of their husbands and
depend on their husband for life.
⢠A little boy is dressed in skirts, pretty much like his
sisters, until the age of six or seven, when he gets
his first pair of breeches or breech hose.
⢠Breeching is a rite of passage for a boy, and a big
deal for a boy. A father would now take on a bigger
role to raise his boy.
17. Health
⢠Average age was 35 in the early 1600âs.
⢠New medicine finally emerging. Some still
believe the body consisted of blood, black
bile, phlegm, yellow bile.
⢠Often left to superstition and myth.
18. Fun
⢠Tennis and shuttlecock. Board games like
chess, backgammon.
⢠Theatre was very popular.
⢠In the early 17th century the stage jutted out into
the audience. Boys played women's parts!
⢠âSports' like cock fighting and bull and bear baiting
were popular. (A bear or bull was chained to a post
and dogs were trained to attack it).
⢠The first English newspaper was printed in 1621.