Marriage, Food, and Family Life
By: Victoria Trevino, Tyler Crotty, Drew Smith & Carter M.
Elizabethan Era
Marriage
In the Elizabethan era betrothals were common. Betrothals were engagements. At a betrothal two people holds hands. He gives her a ring to be worn on the right hand and at the wedding it is changed to the left hand.
The wife can wear any color for her wedding dress and has very little say in who her husband might be if she is noble. The lower status people got to choose but unlike the noble who got married at a young age they got married at around 26. The father of the bride pays for the festivities.
The intention to marry Is announced in the church 3 times on three consecutive Sundays if not then it is illegal
The wedding procession is generally noisy, bridesmaids help the bride prepare. the people assemble. They then move from the house or houses into the church for the wedding.
A dowry is the amount of money, goods, and property the bride brings to the marriage.
To the Elizabethans rings were not very important. Only some of the noble wore rings which were called gimmel rings and they usually have writing inside. To them all rings did was tell others they were married.
Family
The family was different depending on what class you were. it didn't occur to many people that there was life outside it.would find a very modern-looking nuclear family—mother, father, and a few sisters and brothers. sitting on stools around the breakfast table drinking their morning beer/ale (that might be different!) and eating their bread and butter before getting on with the day's work.
Food
In the Elizabethan era chocolate wasn't used for sweets because chocolate was just used for medicine uses.
Most of the meals were made up of meats that were cooked over a spit. Breakfast was light unlike the elaborate dinners or what would have been lunch for us. Food was baked in iron boxes laid over the fire or in brick ovens next to the fire.
Verjuice A very sharp vinegar made from grapes; used for cooking or as a condiment.
Wines include malmsey, canary, rhenish, claret, sack, and sherry
Sack Sherry
Aqua vitae Any strong spirit such as brandy
Brandywine A distilled wine
Test Yourself
Sources
Life in Elizabethan England 47: More of What We Eat." 2006. 10 Dec. 2014 <http://elizabethan.org/compendium/47.html>
"Life in Elizabethan England 38: What We Eat." 2006. 10 Dec. 2014 <http://elizabethan.org/compendium/38.html>