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Tudor Teenagers

 Guest post for The Historical Fiction Blog

Rosemary Griggs - A Woman of Noble Wit

Tudor Teenagers

Parents of today will recognise that moment when their cherubic, enthusiastic, biddable children seem to transform into moody monsters who sleep all day, never tidy their rooms and are generally out of sorts with the whole world.  I mean, of course, when they become teenagers.   It’s a difficult time for youngsters when hormones are racing around, they are changing both physically and mentally, and there are many new challenges to meet. The …

Partlets - or the art of making a little go a long way

         Sixteenth century women were a thrifty lot, and who could blame them.  Fabric and clothing were incredibly expensive.  According to The Tudor Tailor,

        “a day’s wage for a labourer would buy a yard of the cheapest cloth (canvas at 4d a yard) while his wages for six months would barely buy a yard of the dearest cloth …… and a fine cloak, at £20 would require more than three years labour.”

Neither Linen, used mainly for shifts …

Dartington Hall

Dartington Hall, with its mellow grey stone walls, glorious gardens full of birdsong and ancient trees, is a favourite Devon gem I return to again and again. Set in rolling south Devon parkland near Totnes, it is now a stunning centre of heritage, culture, entertainment, hospitality and innovative sustainability. 

The medieval hall, together with the Grade II listed garden that wrap around its grey stone walls, evoke a strong sense of times past and an air of peace and tranquility. What we see today has been shaped by many hands, a legacy of …

Farthingale Sleeves

I’ve always wondered how those huge sleeves worn by Queen Elizabeth 1 in all those fabulous paintings were created. Those sleeves were part of an elaborate ensemble designed to display the Queen’s magnificence, as seen here in the Armada portrait.

 In the later years of Elizabeth’s reign similar voluminous sleeves were an important part of court fashion. Ladies like Sir Walter Raleigh’s wife, Bess Throckmorton — pictured here in 1595 — wore these rather uncomfortable looking sleeves, which must surely …