Edmund Tudor, Duke of Somerset

What people wore

Limited wardrobes for the commoners

Many ordinary people owned only one set of clothes for daytime wear and lacked dedicated sleepwear, opting to sleep in their smocks and nightcaps.

Daily life

Schooling for children

Children often started school at age seven, with some wealthy children beginning as early as four using prayer books called primers. Middle-class children sometimes attended school for ten to twelve hours a day to train for trade or administrative careers.

Work

Farming was the most common job

Farming was the primary occupation, with nine out of ten people living in rural villages or small towns.

Music

Nightly Patrols by Civic Musicians

Civic musicians called waits often patrolled town streets at night on winter nights, providing entertainment and calling out the time or weather.

At the table

Workers drank over 4 liters of beer

Manual workers were expected to consume a massive daily allowance of 4 quarts, or over 4 liters, of beer.

Getting around

Carts were for cargo, not people

Carts and wagons were used to transport cargo, not people, and passengers who rode in them sat on the floor among straw or baggage. These vehicles were extremely slow and were widely considered an uncomfortable or shameful way for a person to travel.

What it cost

Earnings of Workers and Servants

Unskilled laborers earned between £5 and £10 per year, while skilled workmen typically earned about 6d per day. Farm workers often earned no more than half a shilling (6d) per day, and many servants were paid as little as six shillings annually plus board.