MYTHS ABOUT THE TUDORS
by Tim Lambert
In Tudor Times 9 out of 10 people died before the age of 40
Nonsense! We do not know exactly what average life expectancy at birth was in the past but historians think it was about 35 years. (So 50% of the people born reached that age). However that does not mean that people dropped dead when they reached 35! Average life expectancy at birth was around 35 but a great many of the people born died in childhood. We don't know exactly what percentage died but if we say about 25% of people died before they were 5 years old we are probably not wide of the mark. Perhaps as many as 40% died before they reached adulthood. However if you could survive childhood and your teenage years you had a good chance of living to your 50s or your early 60s and even in those days there were some people who lived to 70 or 80. In Tudor Times people were very dirty and rarely washed themselves Actually there is considerable evidence that most people washed themselves fairly often. It seems to be a myth that people were filthy and smelt like old sewers. The myth may have arisen because people rarely took baths. Before the 19th century it was difficult to heat a large amount of water in one go Suppose you heated a cauldron of water and poured it into a tub. By the time you had heated a second lot of water the first lot would already be cold. It was much easier to have a strip wash and there is much evidence that people strip washed quite often. In hot weather people bathed in rivers. There is also evidence that people washed their clothes quite often. In Tudor Times People were much smaller than we are Not true! People were slightly smaller. Skeletons from the Mary Rose show the sailors were, on average, between 5 foot 7 inches and 5 foot 8 inches tall. Burial grounds from the Middle Ages and other periods also show that people were, on average, a little bit shorter than modern day people but they were not much smaller. The phrase 'upper crust' is from the Middle Ages or Tudor period. In large houses when loaves were baked the bottoms burned. So servants cut off the upper part of the loaf and gave it to the wealthy diners. So rich people became known as the 'upper crust' This is almost certainly a myth. In reality the phrase 'upper crust', meaning the wealthy, first appeared in the USA in the 19th century. There is no evidence that the phrase was used to mean 'the rich' in England in the Middle Ages or 16th century. The same applies to the phrase 'bring home the bacon'. It is sometimes said that this phrase dates from the Middle Ages or Tudor times. In fact it was first recorded in the early 20th century. There is no evidence that it dates from the Middle Ages or the Tudor period. It has been suggested that the phrase comes from 19th century country fairs. Competitions were held in which you had to seize a greased pig. Anyone who could kept the pig. They literally brought home the bacon. That may or may not be true. It is possible that the phrase was used for a few decades before it was written down. However it is very unlikely that it was used for centuries before anyone did so. The same is true of the expression 'dirt poor'. It is sometimes said that it dates from Tudor times when poor people had floors of hardened earth, so they were 'dirt poor'. It is true that poor people had earth floors but the phrase 'dirt poor' was first recorded in the USA in the 20th century. There is no evidence that it was ever used before then. I am afraid that some explanations of where old sayings come from are myths.
For more information about the origin of old sayings click here.
Henry VIII had syphilis
This is unlikely to be true. In the 16th century the standard treatment for syphilis was mercury. Lists of money spent on medicines for Henry VIII exist but mercury is not listed. Therefore it is unlikely he had syphilis.
To read a brief biography of Henry VIII click here.
Anne Boleyn had six fingers
There is no evidence at all that Anne Boleyn had six fingers and indeed it is very unlikely that she did. At the end of the 16th century a writer claimed that Anne had a small extra fingernail growing at the side of one of her fingers. If the story is true that may be the basis of the rumour. This writer claimed that Anne always hid her extra nail. She would need to. In the 16th century many people saw any physical abnormality as evidence that a person was wicked (or their parents were). It could also be seen as evidence that they were a witch.
In 1585 a book by a Catholic writer named Nicholas Sander claimed that Anne did have six fingers. However he strongly disapproved of Anne and may have exaggerated the story to discredit her. (Anne began a relationship with Henry VIII in 1527 when he was still married to Catherine of Aragon. He divorced Catherine in 1533 and married Anne, which outraged devout Catholics). At the time readers would see having six fingers as evidence that Anne was immoral or a witch.
However nobody who lived at the same time as Anne or shortly afterwards said anything about six fingers. Descriptions of Anne from people who actually saw her are not necessarily flattering. In 1532 an Italian said she was 'not the handsomest woman in the world'. In 1533 a Frenchman said that Anne had warts. However nobody ever mentioned a sixth finger even after Anne fell from favour and was executed in 1536.
It was not till almost 50 years later that the story that Anne Boleyn had six fingers appeared.
Moreover it is very unlikely that any Tudor king would marry a woman with such an obvious physical deformity.
To read about life in the 16th century click here.
Sirloin got its name because an English king once knighted a piece of meat and called it 'Sir loin'
There is no truth in this silly story at all. Sirloin is a corruption of the French sur (above or on top of) loin.
The Mary Rose sank on her maiden voyage
Wrong! The Mary Rose was built in Portsmouth in 1509-1511. She did not sink till 1545, by which time she was quite an old warship. In Tudor times if you had an operation the barber-surgeon hit you on the head with a wooden mallet to knock you unconscious Nonsense! You could kill or seriously injure somebody if you hit him or her with a wooden mallet. Such a wooden mallet was found in the barber-surgeon's cabin of the Mary Rose. It is believed it was used with a knife to sever tendons when amputating limbs. (You hit the knife with the mallet like hitting a chisel with a hammer). Unfortunately, before the mid-19th century pain was accepted as an inevitable part of surgery.
Walter Raleigh introduced smoking into England
No he did not! The Spanish learnt to smoke tobacco from indigenous people. It is believed that English sailors adopted the habit about 1564 (Walter Raleigh was born in 1552). At any rate smoking tobacco in clay pipes was already quite common in England by the time Walter Raleigh was an adult. Whoever was the first Englishman to smoke tobacco it certainly wasn't Walter Raleigh. It is also a myth that Walter Raleigh introduced potatoes into England.
When the Tudors ate meat at feasts they threw the bones onto the floor for dogs to eat
Not they did not! Henry VIII is often shown doing that but in reality by the 16th century such behaviour was unacceptable. In the 16th century dogs were not allowed at feasts and when you ate meat you placed the bones in a special dish. Throwing bones (or anything else) onto the floor was very bad manners.