Web hosting Custom Email SiteBuilder

English Tudor Period (1500-1559)

Historical Overview: The reigns of Henry VII, Henry VIII, Edward VI and Mary I were the period in English history referred to as "Tudor." Although Elizabeth I was Henry VIII's daughter and thereby a Tudor, her reign was an era unto itself and is therefore set apart. The ego and person of the 6'1" King Henry VIII dominated the Tudor period. Henry lived large - was large - and cast a very large shadow over the life of the country he ruled, as well as those with whom he had political dealings. To understand Henry VIII is to understand the Tudor period. It's likely that "Great Harry" might not have loomed as grandly as he did had his consumptive, miserly father Henry VII not amassed a huge treasury which his son depleted several times over. If Henry VII's reign focused on building a sizeable exchequer and uniting the warring Yorkist and Lancastrian factions of England beneath his crown, Henry VIII focused on establishing England as a power among nations, making the English court a center of learning and the arts, and securing his dynasty on the English throne. It is this latter goal that resulted in Henry's schism with the Pope and declaring himself the Supreme Head of the Church in England. Henry's insistence upon unquestioning loyalty from his nobles, counselors and subjects unfortunately did much to undo the atmosphere of inquiry and free-thinking that had flourished during his reign prior to 1530. Those who disagreed with him were punished with imprisonment, execution and confiscation of properties. Henry's enclosures wreaked havoc upon the squires and countryside, and his confiscation of Church lands and eviction of monks and nuns from the abbeys created social unrest even as his coffers filled.

If the road to hell truly is paved with good intentions, then Henry VIII is a case study. Despite a promising beginning, he left his country financially lessened, socially bereft, politically threatened and religiously divided. The young, sickly Edward VI sought to enforce Protestantism on his subjects, while his succeeding sibling earned the nickname "Bloody Mary" by trying to force England back into the arms of the Roman Catholic Church. Tudor England can be studied as a microcosm of the clashing forces of faith, expansion and nationality that dominated Europe during most of the 16^th Century.

Cultural Overview: Henry VIII loved the arts, and considered himself to be a Renaissance man par excellence. He wrote vast treatises on religion, politics and the arts. He encouraged painters and musicians and poets, often vying with the talents of the musicians and poets himself. He was quite a fine athlete and dancer and in the early years of his reign his court was a festival of energetic young people with varying degrees of talent. It was only after his break with Rome that he became suspicious of those about him, and his court never regained the vitality it enjoyed prior to his marriage to Anne Boleyn. Nonetheless, Henry VIII kept fine artists and musicians about him, and artistically England flourished during his reign. Unfortunately, little of the artistic activity in the court benefitted the common people of England. London was the center of all cultural and political life, and everyplace else was a backwater. The abbeys had provided outlanders with a means of education and artistic exposure, but Henry's seizure of the abbeys and eviction of their residents left most Englishmen with nothing in the way of learning and art. Thus he created a cultural vacuum within his own kingdom which became fertile ground for political and religious unrest and (eventually) revolution.

Fashion Overview: The fashions of Tudor England were distinctive and unique. Despite the fact that most of the fashions adopted by the English court came from France, they are still associated with Henry VIII. Women's fashions were by far the most remarkable. It is during this period that undergarments became as important as the outer clothing in creating the desired effect. Up until the early 1500s and in Italy throughout the Renaissance clothing conformed to the human body. The Spanish royalty and nobles began putting highborn ladies in triangular whalebone cages (called farthingales) from the waist down, and in tightly laced conical corsets from the waist up. The French preferred the flowing skirts of the Italian styles, but improvised the corset to push the breasts up almost to the low neckline of the bodice. The English managed to put the two together for a something that looked like two cones set tip to tip in the narrow middle. English ladies wore the standard chemise under their corsets and farthingales. The rigid underfittings not only gave the costume it's unique shape, but also supported great weights of heavy fabrics. The great gabled headpieces with their long veils added additional weight to the wellborn. The light crescent headpiece favored by French ladies and brought to Henry's court by Anne Boleyn was a comfortable improvement over the heavier wooden and fabric headdresses. Fabric was generally heavy, and fur was sewn into sleeves and collars during the winter months to protect the wearer from the English dank and chill.

Men's fashions in Tudor England were also more elaborate than Italian fashion (most likely due to the colder climate.) Men wore the flowing shirt under a long, skirted doublet and a heavy outer gown. Jerkins - low necked sleeveless over-doublets - were worn as well. Codspieces enjoyed popularity in the English court during Henry's reign. This little fashion originated in Italy and accentuated a gentleman's manliness while at the same time protecting it. Feathered and jeweled hats completed a man's court costume.

Both men's and women's fashions in the Tudor period severely limited the wearer's movement. Courtiers and royalty moved in a stately manner because they could not move any faster. Clothing like this could only be worn in a relatively safe environment by someone who did no physical work. Outside of the court, most people wore modified versions of these fashions made of less opulent fabric. The poorer people wore the same things they had worn for centuries - tunics and dresses, cloaks and overtunics.