Tudor Fun & Games
       The Tudor kings and queens encouraged archery . It was the law that every fit man over 24 should be able to shoot a target 220 yards away. They had to practise on Sunday after church . There were cross bows and long bows. The best bows were yew and the three strings were made of hemp .  Arrows were made of birch oak ash and hornbeam . They were tipped with grey goose feathers.

    People played other games like ours. Bowls was a favourite and some towns had bowling alleys. They used to play games like hockey  the sticks were curved and  the ball was wooden. Young men played it in the street.
    The favourite game was football . Any number could play and there was no referee. Villages challenged each other and nearly every match ended with cracked heads and other injuries.
    The tudors also liked to go to bull and bear baiting rings. A bull or bear was chained to a stake. Then dogs were let in to tease them and fights began. Cock fighting was also popular.
    All countrymen enjoyed hunting, wealthy Tudors hunted deer on horseback while ordinary men hunted rabbits and other smaller things on foot. They also fished and enjoyed falconry.
    Noblemen liked to fence and tennis was enjoyed by the rich. 


Theatre
    People liked to watch plays. During Elizabeth's reign the first real theatres were built in England. At first actors travelled from town to town and performed in the streets or outside inns. Then they began to build theatres.
    The Globe Theatre was built on the River Thames. It was circular and had seats around the walls which cost two pence or three pence if you had a cushion. These seats were sheltered from the weather. The rest of the people were crowded into the yard or floor. The floor or pit cost one penny. People in the pit moved about, leaned over on the stage and even talked while the play was going on. The stage was a platform that jutted out into the pit.
    They did not have many props or much scenery and an actor had to walk on to stage and tell people were the story was set so that they could imagine it. Women did not act so men and boys had to play the female parts.
 
William Shakespeare lived during Elizabeth's reign. He is still the world's most famous writer.He wrote lots of plays which have been translated into many languages and are still performed today all over the world. His most famous plays  include Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet and Macbeth.
 

 

  

Back to Tudor page
Back to History Time Trail