Leisure in Elizabethan England (Edexcel GCSE History)

What did Elizabethans do in Their Free Time? - Summary

Sport for the Nobility in Elizabethan England

• The nobility enjoyed a number of different sporting activities

• Private tuition and grammar schools taught the majority of the skills needed to participate in upper-class sports

• Some sports were exclusive to noblemen

  • The table below shows if men and women could play popular sports in Elizabethan nobility:

Types of sports played by the Elizabethan nobility

Sport for the Working Class in Elizabethan England

• Some sports united both the working and upper classes

  • Wrestling and swimming were popular sports for all classes of men

    • Working-class men would wrestle in public matches

  • The working classes also enjoyed hunting

    • They would hunt rabbits rather than deer

• Elizabethan craftsmen, farmers and labourers played some different sports from the nobility

• The main sport that the working classes played was football

• The aim of Elizabethan football is the same as the modern-day version - to place the ball in the opponent's goal

• There are key differences between the rules of Elizabethan football and football today. There was no punishment for:

  • Picking up the football

  • Attacking another player. It was not uncommon for people to die during football matches

  • Having a larger number of players on your team than your opponents

• Due to this, Elizabethan nobles considered football too dangerous to play

• The pitch in Elizabethan football was much larger

  • People played the game between villages. This meant the pitch could be miles in length

Spectator sports

• All classes watched and gambled on the same sports in Elizabethan times

• The two key spectator sports were baiting and cock-fighting

Baiting

• The sport required a bear or a bull

• The owner would file the bear's teeth and then tie the animal to a post

• The organisers would release dogs to attack the bear or the bull

• Spectators would bet a large amount of money on if the dogs would kill the bear or the bull

  • Owners wanted the bear to win as they were expensive animals in Elizabethan times

  • Bulls were less expensive to purchase. Owners allowed bulls to fight to the death with the dogs

Cock-fighting

• The sport required two cockerels

  • These animals are aggressive when they are close to another male cockerel

• The owners placed metal spurs on the cockerel's head

• The organisers would place the two cockerels together to fight to the death using their spurs or their beaks

• Spectators would bet a large amount of money on which cockerel would win

• Baiting and cock-fighting were very popular in Elizabethan England

• Many towns had specialised arenas for bear-baiting and cock-fighting. People built bull rings for bull-baiting

• Queen Elizabeth enjoyed watching both sports

Elizabethan Literature

• Elizabethan exploration inspired writers 

  • Explorers published written accounts of their discoveries in the Americas

    • For example, Sir Walter Raleigh wrote The Discovery of Guiana (1596). It exaggerated what Raleigh had found there

  • Writers created biographies on famous explorers like Sir Francis Drake

• The preservation of the past was also important to Elizabethan writers

  • History was a popular genre in Elizabethan times

  • Humanism encouraged the translation of Ancient Greek and Roman texts into English

  • Medieval works like The Canterbury Tales by Chaucer were widely read among the literate

• The Elizabethan upper classes liked creative writing. Poetry was the most popular format 

  • Queen Elizabeth wrote many poems

Elizabethan Theatre

• Theatre became increasingly popular during Elizabeth's reign

  • England had no theatres in 1555

    • Many local authorities blocked the building of theatres because travelling actors impacted law and order

• Some wealthier Elizabethans decided to support actors and build theatres to perform their plays

  • Dudley, Earl of Leicester, gave financial and legal support to actors in London

    • He owned a theatre company called Leicester's Men in 1559

  • Elizabeth established The Queen's Men in 1583

    • Elizabeth did not attend the theatre herself. Theatre companies would perform plays for her in the royal court

• From 1567, London allowed the building of theatres

  • The first purpose-built theatre was the Red Lion in Whitechapel

  • Other prominent Elizabethan theatres include James Burbage's The Theatre (1576), The Rose (1587) and The Globe (1599)

• The concept map below explains the key aspects of Elizabethan theatre:

Features of Elizabethan theatre 

A concept map showing the plays and audience experience in Elizabethan theatres

• The theatre's popularity made it a powerful tool for Elizabeth

  • She could use the theatre to spread political messages and warn of the dangers of religious conflict

  • Elizabeth's government introduced censorship of the theatre in 1572

    • Theatre companies needed the royal licence to operate

    • A government official read and approved all play scripts in Elizabethan England

Elizabethan Music and Dancing

• All classes in Elizabethan England enjoyed music

  • The increase in the production of plays created new styles of music

  • Advances in technology allowed improvements in instruments

• The table below shows how the practice of music differed between the lower and upper classes:

Music in Elizabethan England

• All Elizabethans participated in dancing

  • The upper and lower classes would not dance together

    • The upper classes would dance in private balls in noble households. The lower classes would dance publicly at fairs

    • Men and women within the same social class would dance together