Early modern life

How do you get your news today? TV? Radio? Printed newspapers? Online news sites? Social media? Today we seem to be inundated by the news 24/7 and it sometimes takes a conscious effort to step away from the barrage. News…

In this pumpkin pie recipe from the late 1600s, you peel and slice the pumpkin into thin wedges, dipping them in egg before frying them. Apples, raisins, currants, and sherry also get added to the pie.

Books on manners became so popular during the Elizabethan period that it was only a matter of time before someone satirized them.

“Manners maketh man” was the motto of sixteenth- and seventeenth-century England. Would your own table manners pass inspection?

A guest post by Dr. Sarah Higinbotham In a 1628 sermon preached before the Assize court at Oxford, Robert Harris reminds the “Sheriffes, Iustices, Iudges” that they have taken “an oath for the common good.” He reminds them that they…

As the arts and culture flourished in Shakespeare’s England, musical life blossomed as well.

In Shakespeare’s England, those wearing clothes adjudged to be above their station were subject to fines or imprisonment under sumptuary laws.

Renaissance fashion was unquestionably distinctive, especially among the upper class, who favored clothing with luxurious fabrics and dramatic silhouettes.

Education was increasingly important in the early modern period with the rise of social mobility, but children were also put to work around the household.

Salmon, oysters, asparagus, and grapes are all ingredients in this unusual pie recipe from Francine Segan’s cookbook “Shakespeare’s Kitchen.”

What did people think about childhood and parenting in early modern England? Did parents express fondness for their children? How did they discipline them?

In honor of Earth Day, here’s a prominent early modern treatise against air pollution in London from the Folger collection: “Fumifugium,” published in 1661.