London
Life in the 1500s
Religion
Language & Phrases
Holidays
100

The city of London was founded in the year 43 AD by this group of people, known for their style of government that influenced how the city was led.

The Romans

100

Due to their high prices and short shelf life, red meat such as beef or pork could not be consumed by poorer people. So instead, they would consume this other popular meat.

Chicken

100

This branch of Christianity was the only "acceptable" religion in the Elizabethan era.

Protestantism

100

This English writer helped shape the English language into what it is today.

William Shakespeare

100

This was one of the more light hearted holidays of the year, where children and adults alike would spend the day to devise elaborate plans to determine the ultimate fool.

April Fool's Day

200

Even if they were only accessible for rich families, spelling and grammar classes were offered in English and this other prominent language.

Latin

200

While the boys could attend school, the girls did not have that privilege. So to stay busy during the day, they would clean the home and engage in this popular hobby.

Knitting

200

Seeing this four-legged animal cross your path meant you were destined to get bad luck or even spontaneous death, from god.

A black cat

200

The sentence "To be or not to be." is arguably one of Shakespeare's most famous lines, from this play.

The Hamlet

200

This was one of the biggest holidays of the year, celebrating the birth a major religious figure.

Christmas

300

This river, known for dividing the affluent north of the city from the poorer areas in the south, played a major factor in determining the size of the city.

The Thames

300

For the families living in poverty, they couldn't afford the luxurious silks and dyes that were worn by the nobles. So instead, the clothes they wore were made from these cheap and common materials.

Wool & Cotton

300

This was the punishment you could face for being caught practicing a "improper" religion or for breaking the rules of the religion.

Execution

300

While he, she, they, them and you are the most common pronouns today, in the 1500s, these two pronouns dominated the stage, name one of them.

Thou and Thee

300

This was one of the few non-religious holidays, celebrated on the first day of the fifth month of the year.

May Day

400

This was the population of London in the 1500s, making it one of the largest cities in Europe at the time. 

Around 100 000 inhabitants

400

Because education was only accessible for the rich, this prominent establishment would teach the children of peasants for a small cost, or sometimes even for free.

The Church

400

This was the name given to the trials of women accused of performing "satanic acts" in order to harm others.

Witch Hunts

400

While modern day English leans heavily on adjectives in sentence building, Elizabethan English leans more on this part of a sentence.

Verbs and Adverbs

400

During May Day, young villagers would throw a party in the woods and return the next day with this large item.

A tree trunk

500

Although the majority of London's population was English, there was a number of merchants who immigrated to the city from these three countries, name one of them.

The Netherlands, Belgium and Germany

500

In order to bolster the local economy, Queen Elizabeth forced the population to consume this food on each Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.

Fish

500

This relative of the Queen split the church into two branches, Protestantism and Catholicism.

King Henry the VIII

500

This word, meaning: to receive money, property, or a title from someone else, at their death, actually originates in the Elizabethan era.

Inherit

500

This holiday, traditionally held at the beginning of fall, commemorated the first harvest of the year.

Lamma’s Day

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