Eating sugar was a sign of being rich at Tudors time! Let’s discover five terrific Tudors facts for kids.
The Tudor period is defined by a royal family that ruled from 1485 until 1603. They had six monarchs during this time. They were:
Henry VII – He reigned from 1485 until 1509
Henry VIII – He reigned from 1509 until 1547
Edward VI – He reigned from 1547 until 1553
Jane Grey – She reigned for just 9 days in 1553, she has the shortest reign of any British monarch.
Mary I – She reigned from 1553 until 1558
Elizabeth I – She reigned from 1558 until 1603 and she had no children so the Tudor period ended with her.
Kings and Queens are known to throw large feasts but the Tudors also had feasts for groups of workers. Workers who practice a craft or trade would organise and train in groups called guilds. Every year these guilds would gather for a feast. Historians have been able to learn about what was served at these feasts because they wrote down the bill. These bills charge the guild for lots of chickens, ducks, pigs, jams, and vegetables which were served at the feast.
When he wasn’t performing his kingly duties King Henry VIII was usually performing and writing his own songs. He was talented in playing the lute and really enjoyed music. The British Museum still has a copy of a songbook which is called the Henry VIII songbook. It contains 33 songs and pieces of music written and played by the king. What a fun hobby.
William Shakespeare is one of the most famous playwrights in the world. He lived in England between 1564 and 1616. He wrote 38 plays including Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, and Anthony and Cleopatra. His plays are still performed all over the world today. He also created a theatre in London for the performance of his plays called The Globe. It was built in 1598 and it is still open in London today and people still visit the theatre to watch Shakespeare’s plays.
Britain was very rich during the Tudor period and they had very strong trade connections around the globe. This meant they had access to very nice foods such as sugar. Sugar was very expensive and the Tudors liked it.
Queen Elizabeth the first ate so much sugary food that her teeth turned black. Having black teeth then became a fashionable thing with nobles in Tudor Britain. They wanted their teeth to be black so it looked like they could afford to eat lots of sugar just like the Queen. So, they would blacken their own teeth for fashion. What an unusual trend.
We hope you enjoyed learning more things about the Tudors as much as we loved teaching you about them. Now that you know how majestic these people are, you can move on to learn about ancient people and history like: Anglo-Saxons, Vikings, Celts, William Shakespeare and Victorians.
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