In the Elizabethan era (1558–1603), there was a wide range of leisure activities entertaining both the nobility and the common classes. Among these leisure activities were animal fighting, team sports, individual sports, games, dramatics, music and the arts.
The Elizabethan period was the golden age for art and literature, during her rein from 1558 to 1603. Before the main meal, such tidbits as eel, mutton balls and spicy lamb were served - not only as a starter, but also to set the mood for before-dinner conversation. Gameball is extreme (Alchin); Played for gambling and bragging rights (Alchin); Many men were intoxicated when playing (Alchin); Severe.
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Blood sports[edit]
A variety of pastimes which would now be considered blood sports were popular. Cock fighting was a common pastime, and the bets on this game could amount to thousands of pounds, an exorbitant amount of money in those days, and many respectable gentlemen lost all their money this way.[citation needed]Henry VIII had a royal cockpit built at one of his palaces.
Young boys on Shrove Tuesday would normally bring in their own fighting rooster and would spend the afternoon at school placing bets on which rooster would win[citation needed]. The most famous cock-pit in London was in Drury Lane, and most towns and villages had their own pit.
There were other common animal sports: bear-baiting, bullfighting, dog fighting,[1] and cock throwing.Bowls was also extremely popular in the Elizabethan era.[citation needed]
Hunting[edit]
Various types of hunting were popular with the nobility. The stag, boar, roe, buck, badgers, otters, hares, and foxes were also hunted. Greyhounds and Irish Wolfhounds were common for hunting.
For the upper class, hawking was a popular sport. Much time was spent on training a hawk or falcon, and keeping it in good condition, requiring many pieces of expensive, specialized equipment, making it too expensive for the lower classes. [2]
Queen Elizabeth I was very fond of both hunting and hawking [2]
Team sports[edit]
Elizabethan style football was comparable to the present-day sports of rugby union and rugby league. Two teams rushed against each other, trying to get the 'ball' in through the goalposts. 'Cudgels' was also a popular sport among young men.[3] A type of stick fighting, it was a sport effectively training for sword fighting, but using wooden wasters or simple cudgels.
Individual sports[edit]
Running, jumping, fencing, jousting, archery, and skittles were also practiced, with fishing as the most relaxing and harmless pastime.
Children enjoyed playing leap-frog, blind man's bluff and hide-and-seek, which are enjoyed by many children throughout Britain even today.
Games[edit]
Elizabethans enjoyed playing cards, with a game called triumph (modern day whist) being popular. Dice, backgammon and draughts were also played. Men mostly played these games as it was deemed inappropriate for a woman to gamble; however, Queen Elizabeth the first enjoyed playing cards and was an avid gambler.[citation needed]
Music and dance[edit]
Music was greatly enjoyed throughout this era, as seen through quite a few family evenings including musical performances. Children were taught to sing and dance at a very early age and became used to performing in public during such evenings. Keyboard instruments such as harpsichords, clavichords, dulcimers and virginals were played. Woodwind instruments like woodys, crumhorns, flutes and stringed instruments such as lutes and rebecs were also widely used.
Court dances included the pavane and galliard,[4] the almain and the volta, whilst among popular dances were the branle, The Barley-Break (a setting by William Byrd is in My Ladye Nevells Booke), Nobody’s Jig (of which a version was set by Richard Farnaby) and the Shake-a-Trot.
Theatre[edit]
The plays were an extremely popular pastime, with William Shakespeare's plays taking the lead in audience.[citation needed] Quite a few theatres were built in and around London at this time including 'The Globe', 'The Swan' and 'The Fortune'. Little scenery was used but props were used widely. The props were quite realistic, with innards of pigs being strewn across the stage when a man's body was shown to be cut open.[citation needed]
Footnotes[edit]
- ^'Elizabethan Sports'.
- ^ abAlchin, Linda. 'Elizabethan Hawking'. Elizabethan Era. Retrieved March 8, 2015.
- ^'wasters and wooden swords'.
- ^'Elizabethan Dance'. Elizabethan Era. Retrieved April 18, 2011.
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This blood sport became a lot more popular than bear-baiting because of the lack of bears in England. Bull baiting is just like bear baiting, but there are a few distinct differences. It became very existent in Crete and Lascaux during the Renaissance period, though it began in ancient times. People were paid to breed and train specific dogs for this sport. They were usually bull mastiffs or English bulldogs. These breeds seemed to have the intensity and aggression needed to take down the bull. The dogs went through similar training as bear baiting dogs, though the mastiffs were trained a lot harder. The dogs were trained to clamp their jaws on the bull's nose ring and not let go until killed. They were released two at a time, and it usually took three or four dogs to finally subdue the bull. Many dogs were pierced by the bull's horns. The wagers on the contests were usually lower. However, the low prices greatly increased attendance and increased participation. Bull baiting stayed around for an extremely long amount of time. Parliament played a big role in the end of these blood sports. More and more people began to see the barbaric things that happened at these sports and were discouraged by it. They finally took a stand and convinced Parliament to prohibit these sports in 1835. However, these practices continued to be secretly demonstrated. Ironically, these bloody sports