Many of you will continue to research–and some of you will need additional research for your projects. I’m pasting here the most reliable, up-to-date links as of today. These links may expire–you never know. But as of today, these are approved sites and likely to be useful for our particular character & project assignments.
Useful Sites
* NEW * LINK: British Express has a quick-summary of eating, the traveling court and class/status in Elizabethan England. It’s easy to read, short, and answers some questions! Take a Peek.
Elizabethan Compendium by Maggie Secara
The mother of all sites, the first place to look for many topics. I advise AGAINST using this site for food and fashion, however. It simply lists vocabulary and types of food, which isn’t very helpful in creating understanding.
Tudor History Site by Lara E. Eakins
Click on “Topics in Tudor History” for a great food article. Also click on “Architecture, Towns and Cities” for information houses and living spaces, including images.
The Tudor Group Articles check for specific authors on specific articles, usually at the bottom of the article page. This is a lovely site with particularly helpful articles on:
- Money (Money, Finance Scams and Wheezes)
- Popular Medicine in the period
- Social Structure in the 16th Century–focus on class and status issues
- Marriage and Sex (The Married Person’s Guide to Sex)
- What young people did (What did you do when you were Young?)
- Witchcraft (The Practice of Witchcraft)
Elizabethan Era or William Shakespeare Information both sites written maintained by Linda Alchin
The first site has lots of topics–and is not organized very well. The second site also has some useful topics. In fact, some like the Plague or Elizabethan Wedding Customs are even more informative than they are on the first site. Feel free to browse between the two.
The Lost Colony Educational Pages (by a corporate author: The Lost Colony)
These are incredibly useful, easy-to-read pages with very accurate information on a few significant topics, each is linked below.
- The People of Elizabethan England discusses class, family life & marriage
- Elizabethan Government explains all the levels of government: the monarchy, the privy council, Parliment, the local government and the courts
- Elizabethan Food explains the basics of food, diet and nutrition for upper and lower classes
The Elizabethan Age by Jan Tomecek
Click on topics as needed, including
- Everyday Living
- The Plague
- Entertainment, Recreation & Sports
- Crime and Punishment
- Education (only for rural, semi-wealthy families)
- Customs & beliefs
Saint Ives Historical Society specific authors of specific articles
Very useful essays and articles on
- Superstitions
- Guilds and Professions
- Farming/rural subsistence life (“By the Numbers” and “Peasant Life in Elizabethan England”)
Elizabeth I Documentary Site by Heather Thomas
Another “motherload” site, including essays on
- Court Life (what a wealthy noble person does with his/her time)
- Elizabethan Women (all female characters should read this)
- Elizabethan Church
- Elizabethan Food
- The Queen’s Pastimes (including what other nobles would have spent time doing)
- Power and the Government (how it impacts the lives of the people)
Food Timeline by Lynne Olver
BE CAREFUL as you scroll here–this time line covers a lot more than just Elizabethan foods–but it does have a great section on “Shakespeare’s Food,” which fits in our time period exactly.
Elizabethan Costuming Page (by Drea Leed)
This site is loaded with every last piece of information you might want or need about getting dressed in Elizabethan England! Make sure to pay attention to notes about class, age and gender. I recommend avoiding the second section “Elizabethan Costume Research” as it won’t be very helpful. But there’s lots after that second section that is worthwhile–all about undergarments and jewelry and even links to pictures and modern reproductions of authentic Elizabethan costumes.
Tudor Local History by Tim Lambert
This site is fairly reliable, and though it’s set a little “later” than our time period, it’s still quite useful. Topics include:
- Myths About The Tudors
- Tudor Children
- Tudor Education
- Tudor Food
- Tudor Funerals
- Tudor Homes
- Tudor Medicine
- Tudor Theatre
- Tudor Women
- Tudor London
- Rich Tudors
- Poor Tudors
- Tudor Punishments
Elizabethan England by Students from Springfield, IL (check for specific authors of specific articles)
Click on “Everyday Life” for a variety of topics, including Crime & Punishment, Entertainment, Fashion, Food, Medicine. WARNING: Much of the information at this site is plagiarized, misspelled and potentially sketchy research, so check with me or other sources if you think something sounds wacky.
Fleur De Lis Designs and Make Your Own Coat of Arms
For helping noble characters to create and understand a coat of arms. These are commercial sites, be warned. Fleur de Lis does a good job of explaining the meanings for the various components, colors, lines, etc. (click on “symbolism”). Make Your Coat of Arms is very limiting in terms of creativity (you cannot use line variations, number variations, etc), but it’s an easy and reliable place to go if you want to keep it simple.
Poverty In Elizabethan England
This site describes the reasons, causes and results of poverty in Elizabethan England, as well as the “poor laws.” Addresses some of the major class issues as well.
Excerpts
Religious Practices and Religious Holidays in Elizabethan England, by Jo McMurty
The Story of One Servant, From Which All Servants Can Learn About Their Lives, edited by Denise Dersin from What Life Was Really Like in the Realm of Elizabeth (typos mine)
Sumptuary Laws (national dress codes) in Elizabethan England by Kathy Elgin (typos mine)
E-BOOK VERSION ONLY: Reformatted Index for Daily Life in Elizabethan England by Jeffery Forgeng
Sites with Lists of Links
Shakespeare Online (specific articles have specific authors, citations identified at the bottom of the article page)
This site has some useful articles that I’m linking below. Be warned that the general link above will be more confusing than helpful to many of you–stick with the specific articles. However, if you do head to the general site, I suggest browsing under “featured this week” on the right hand side of the screen, as that changes from week to week and it may have new (and useful) links up.
Renaissance: The Elizabethan World
These links are fairly reliable; they were compiled by Maggie Secara and fans/supporters of the Compendium.
Elizabethan England in the Time of Romeo & Juliet
Scroll down (a lot) and you’ll find tons and tons of links to a variety of topics. Some of these link to sites I’ve already referred to you and others are new links. It takes a lot of “wading through garbage” to find good stuff here, but it can be a great resource if you want to go further with music (see links), the guild system/apprenticeship and several other topics.
Faire Links
Be forewarned that some of these are doubtful quality. If you have doubts, please clarify with me.
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