Arabella FitzJames

What people wore

Ordinary women's linen smocks

Ordinary women wore smocks as an undergarment, which were loose, all-enveloping linen dresses. These could be made of holland linen for best or coarser fabrics for daily work.

Daily life

Candles and open fires lit homes

Lighting and cooking relied heavily on fire: people used candles for light and open fires for cooking. Many houses were built close together and often of wood, increasing the risk of fire.

Work

Equal Pay for Identical Tasks

While men typically earned more, women and men could sometimes receive the same daily wage for performing identical agricultural tasks.

Music

Music and Dance at Festivals

Festivals and local celebrations frequently featured dancing and singing accompanied by instruments like pipes and fiddles.

At the table

Ordinary diets centered on pottage

For poorer people, pottage (a thick vegetable stew) was a main food, alongside bread and vegetables. This diet left many lacking vitamins and iron, and hard times meant hunger when prices rose.

Getting around

Carriages stuck in the mud

Carriages sometimes required a team of sturdy laborers on both sides to prop them up so they would not overturn in deep mud.

What it cost

Supplementary income for rural families

During the Elizabethan and early Stuart period, many rural families supplemented their income by growing fruit and vegetables in cottage gardens or keeping pigs and cows.