Process:

Your mission is to gain as much information about what life was like during the Renaissance Age. Everything you need to complete your research quest can be accessed from the Resource provided below. 

1) You will gather information for each subtopic.  Gather a minimum of 8 facts per subtopic.

2) You will use the "Source/Note Cards" worksheet to keep track of your information. 

3) For each subtopic, there are focus questions to help guide your research.  Find out as much as you can about each subtopic below. 

Subtopics:

I. Entertainment and Sports:

    a) Describe two "spectator/blood" sports that had great appeal during the Renaissance period.

      b) Describe some games played by children?  What was "Rounders" and its purpose?

      c) Describe some common team sports.

      d) Describe some sports that rich people played.  Why were they mainly for the rich only?

      e) What was the main war game that common people played?  Why?

      f) What sports and entertainment did Queen Elizabeth I enjoy?

      g) Dueling: What actions were considered a challenge?

      h) Why did dueling often take place "out of the way"?

      i) Describe at least 4 musical instruments.

      j) How did dancing differ between social class?  Upper class?  Ordinary people?

    Recreation and Sports

    Elizabethan Times

    Elizabethan Sports by Gretchen Elaine Maxwell and Alan Ryan Carey

   The Life of a Child in Elizabethan England by C.S. Marszalek and B. Panagakis

   Entertainment

    Honor and Dueling by Maggi Ros

   Popular Amusements and Entertainment by Kavitha Kareti

II. Everyday Life, Hygiene, Living Conditions:

   a) How did people cross the Thames River?

     b) What were streets like?

     c) What was emptied out of windows? 

     d) Why was everyone "tipsy" all the time?

     e) What can you find out about "hygiene" during the Renaissance?

     f) Describe the life of the commoners; how they lived, dressed, homes

     g) Describe the four groups that the "commoners" belonged and their duties.

     h) Since money was scarce, how did the commoners buy things they needed?

     i) What break in routine did Sunday provide for the commoners?

     j) What did traveling entertainers/actors/peddlers add to society?

The City of London by Maggi Ros

   Hygiene by Sol Schulman

   Life of the Commoners by Derek

   Peasant Life in Elizabethan England by Richard Foss

III. Marriage and Family:

   a) Where did marriages take place during the Renaissance Age?

     b) Why were marriage contracts arranged?

     c) Who performed the marriage ceremony?

     d) What is a betrothal?  After a betrothal was a couple considered married?

     e) What was the goal of a Renaissance wedding?

     f) Describe the common wedding attire during this period.

     g) Describe what foods might be served at a wedding feast.

     h) What was the minimum age for boys and girls to marry with parental permission?

     i) When is one considered to have come of age?

     j) What is considered a foolish reason to marry?

     k) What kind of relationship existed between parents and their children?

     l) What kind of relationship existed between husbands and wives?

    Renaissance Wedding Feasts

    Marriage and Family by Maggi Ros

   Marriage Customs From Shakespeare's Time

    Weddings and Betrothals by Maggi Ros

IV. Crime, Punishment, Dueling:

   a) What actions were considered a challenge?

    b) Why did dueling often take place "out of the way"?

    c) What is a  "rapier" and its usage?

    d) Describe 5 crimes and their punishments.

    e) Describe the punishment for a crime committed against the state.

    f) Describe 6 methods of executions common during this time.  Which was considered a

        noble way to die?

    g) How did people react to public executions?

    h) Describe 7 punishment tools or machines and when or who were they used for?

 Honor and Dueling by Maggi Ros

   Bloody Painful: Crime and Punishment in Elizabethan England by Brice Peter

   Crime and Punishment by Ashley Beyer and Valerie Passerini

  Torture and Punishment in Elizabethan Times by Erin Lestikow, Katie O'Fallon, and Lori Patterson

   Punishment

  Characteristics of the Rapier by Chris Evans