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Life of Women in Tudor England

•  All of Henry VIII's wives were fascinating,
  unique individuals, not only because of who they
  were, but also because of what they lived
  through.  
•  Although they were Queens their power was
  restricted by the constraints put upon all women
  of the era.  
•  To understand them we must understand those
  constraints.

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•  Women were taught from birth they were inferior
  to men.   
•  Women were taught, and believed, they were
  instruments of the devil. Females were the
  authors of original sin who lured men away from
  God and salvation.   
• Women were the only imperfection in God's
  creation.   "Woman in her greatest perfection was
  made to serve and obey man", John Knox, First
  Blast of the Trumpet against Monstrous Regiment
  of Women, 1558

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•  Young girls were given hardly any personal
  freedom.   Religion was at the very center of
  life in Tudor England. And girls were raised to
  obey their parents without question.   
• Girls were taught their only function in life was
  to marry and bear children.   They learned they
  were commanded by God to render unquestioning
  obedience to their husband and to learn in
  silence from him in all subjection, the same way
  they behaved at home to their parents.

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•    Only 4 of Henry VIII's 6 wives received any
  formal education Katherine of Aragon, Anne
  Boleyn, Anne of Cleves, and Katherine Parr. Jane
  Seymour and Katherine Howard were barely
  literate. 
•   Most people in the first half of the 16th
  century didn't believe in education for women.
  They held the medieval belief that teaching girls
  to read and write would cause them to waste their
  time and skills on love letters.
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• There are exceptions to that, though. Sir Thomas
  More saw to it all his daughters were educated.
  Lady Jane Grey was quite a scholar ("for a
  woman"). Katherine of Aragon and Katherine Parr
  were both educated and considered virtuous
  despite their education.   But the idea of
  education for women really begins as a
  Renaissance concept.   

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• The education of girls was for the privileged and
  the rich. Its aim was to produce wives schooled
  in godly and moral precepts. It was not intended
  to promote independent thinking or problem
  solving.  
•  Most girls were taught the wifely arts, how to
  manage a household, needlework, herbs and wild
  plants that could be used in healing, meal
  preparation, and their duty to their future
  husband. But foremost was their strong religious
  training.   Girls who were educated were
  generally taught by tutors hired by their father
  or male guardian. These tutors were generally
  clerics whose chief aim was to give the girl a
  strong foundation in religious dogma.

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• Husbands of upper class girls were chosen for
  them by their fathers or other male relatives.
  Very few men and women of noble birth chose their
  own partners. 
• Marriages were arranged for political reasons, to
  cement alliances, for riches, land, or status,
  and to forge bonds between two families. The idea
  of marrying for love was considered bizarre and
  foolish. 
• Royal marriages were contracted largely for
  political, military, or trade advantages. It
  sometimes happened that the couple never saw each
  other until the day of their wedding. 
• Kings allied themselves with other powers through
  marriage. They did not marry a subject for love.
  Edward IV married Elizabeth Woodville, a
  commoner, for love and the scandal spread
  throughout Europe. When their grandson Henry VIII
  married 4 women not of royal blood it passed
  almost without comment. Possibly because of a
  growing sense of English chauvinism.

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•  What did cause comment was he married most of
  his wives for love, a departure from the norm. It
  could be said they were political marriages as
  well since there were factions within Henry
  VIII's court that sought advantage through their
  master's various unions. 
•   Negotiations for royal marriages often took
  many years to finalize. They usually began during
  the childhood of one or both of the potential
  couple.   
• Royal courtship consisted of formal letters
  declaring love, and symbolic gifts, usually
  jewelry.   Usually the royal couple couldn't meet
  because of distance. Kings had to rely on
  descriptions by ambassadors, and portraits
  painted by court painters. That sometimes
  backfired, as in the case of Anne of Cleves.
  Henry liked Holbein's portrait, but didn't like
  Anne at all.

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• There was no legal age for marriage. Marriage
  between children was not unknown. The usual age
  was around 14. No one questioned procreation at
  that age, since the life expectancy of women was
  about 30 years. 
• All but one of Henry's wives were considered
  middle aged when they married him. Katherine
  Howard was 15, the usual age a girl expected to
  be wed. What excited comment was Henry was 49. 
• Royal betrothals between two countries were
  called Pre contracts and the terms and conditions
  were set down in a formal treaty. Pre contracts
  for the rest of the nobility could be written or
  be a verbal intent to marry made before witnesses.

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• The dowry, or marriage portion, was usually the
  chief issue in any . It could be land, money,
  jewelry, household goods, or a combination of
  them all. 
• A girl's chances of marriage depended more on the
  wealth and social position of her family than on
  her beauty or accomplishments (though a comely
  appearance and a pleasing demeanor never hurt). 
• The Pre contract would contain a clause calling
  out the terms of the bride's Dower Rights the
  amount settled by her husband or father for her
  living expenses in case of widowhood. Even if she
  was widowed, she didn't gain and keep control of
  those funds unless she didn't return to her
  father's house or remarry.

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•  Sex before marriage was forbidden, though that
  didn't stop it from occurring even in the upper
  classes. As an example, Katherine Howard, Henry
  VIII's 5th wife, was sexually active before
  marriage. She also had a lover after she was
  married, which was treason and she was beheaded
  for it.   
• Men were expected and even encouraged to become
  sexually active before marriage. Women who did
  were outcasts and ruined their chances for a
  suitable marriage.   Weddings were performed
  according to the ancient Catholic rites in front
  of at least 2 witnesses. The ceremony was
  performed on the church porch. A nuptial mass was
  then held at the high altar.

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• The newly married couple would be ceremoniously
  put to bed by their guests. The marriage bed
  would usually be blessed by a priest. Then the
  couple would be left alone to consummate their
  marriage. 
• Once the marriage had been consummated the couple
  was actually viewed as one person. Sir Thomas
  More said the sexual union was to be regarded as
  similar to God's coupling with their souls.
• The Tudor concept of marriage fit into what they
  believed was the divine order. God ruled the
  universe, the King ruled the country, and a
  husband ruled his family. Like subjects to a
  King, wives were bound in obedience to their
  husbands and masters.
•  Men expected to rule their wives and thereby
  gain their love and reverence. They believed a
  man could make, shape and form the woman to his
  will. They thought a loving, virtuous, and
  obedient wife was a gift from God.

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• The chief function of Queens and of wives of
  lesser status as well, was to produce sons to
  ensure continuation of her husband's dynasty. 
• Pregnancy was usually an annual event. 
• Many women and babies died in the childbed.
  Pregnancy and birth were extremely hazardous.
• Infants were given unsuitable foods (even for
  adults, nutrition was unknown)
• No antibiotics
• No caesarian sections or forceps deliveries
• No immunizations
• Lack of basic sanitation and hygiene
•  Even after successful delivery, women were still
  at risk. Puerperal fever, infection caused by a
  tear, caused many deaths.

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• Everyday dress of married women was dictated by
  strict convention. Hair, which was worn loose
  before marriage, must be hidden under a hood and
  veil. 
• Queens might wear their hair long after marriage
  only on state occasions when they wore a crown. 
• Hair was only cut to enter a cloister. Both
  Katherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn had hair long
  enough to sit on. 
• Widows were required to wear a wimple and chin
  strap (called a barbe). This practice began to
  slowly die out during the reformation. 
• Sleeves reached the wrist even in summer. Dresses
  were always long, reaching the floor. 
• Women also wore a constricting corset of leather
  or even wood which flattened the breasts. Yet
  gowns could have a square neckline which exposed
  the upper breasts and that drew little comment.

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• A woman's body and her goods became her husband's
  property when she married and the law allowed him
  to do whatever he wanted with them.
•  Infidelity in a wife was not tolerated. Henry
  VIII made infidelity in a Queen treason because
  it threatened the succession.
• A wife who killed her husband was guilty of petty
  treason, not murder. The punishment was death by
  burning. 
• If a wife displeased her husband in any way, real
  or imagined, he would turn her out of the house
  with just a shift to cover her. And she had no
  right of redress. 
• Wife beating was common and was considered
  righteous punishment for an erring and
  disobedient wife.
•  Divorces were rare and only granted by
  Parliament in extreme cases.