What was life like during the renaissance?

Question: What was life like during the renaissance!?

Or during the time of Romeo and Juliet!. Men and women different!?!?!?Www@QuestionHome@Com

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The majority of people during the 'Renaissance' period would have been making a living by farming, people generally ran their own small farms, which they rented from the lord of the manor, grew produce for their own use, and sold the surplus, grazing their animals on the common land!.

Men and women generally had different roles!. The man took care of the farming, the woman would be responsible for the dairy and the poultry, making her own butter and cheese, brewing ale (commonly drunk instead of water) spinning wool and flax into thread, preserving food for the winter!. She would also be expected to make home remedies for any ailments the family might suffer!. A housewife's job was quite demanding in those days!.

If a woman was married to a tradesman or craftsman of some kind then she was generally involve din her husband's business, whatever it might be, and some women were in business on their own account!.

Single women woul doften work as servants until they married, or they might work as spinsters (spinning was always a woman's job), or be apprenticed to various other trades!.

Upper class people often got married quite young, sometimes in their early teens (as in 'Romeo and Juliet' for instance)!. Among the common people, it was more usual to marry in the mid-twenties, when a couple could afford to set up their own household!. Upper-class marriages were often arranged, although love matches were not unknown "nobody had any objections to love as long as the price was right" as Alison Plowden puts it in 'Tudor Women'!. The church was opposed to forced marriages, but they undoubtedly sometimes took place, if you read the Paston Letters for example you can see how Mrs Paston beat her daughter for refusing to marry the man her parents had picked for her!. The common people more usually chose their own marriage partners!.

Both boys and girls of the upper classes were often educated at home by tutors!. In medieval times, it was quite common for young people to be sent away to be raised in other noble households!. They would learn reading and writing, singing and music, riding and hawking, and to play chess and backgammon!. Boys would be educated in the use of weapons, and girls would learn to sew, and to manage a household!.

In towns, there were schools which provided an elementary education to both boys and girls, and there were grammar schools which were generally only for boys!. The education at a grammar school consisted mostly of Latin grammar (hence the name), in the 16th century Greek also became a popular subject, and some time was given to mathematics and music!. Mostly though it consisted of learning Latin and Greek, and was probably very dull, the school day was long, holidays were short, and discipline was severe, boys were beaten for not knowing their lessons!. Some boys might go on to university, which were mostly exclusively male establishments, though it seems that in Italy it was possible for girls to attend some universities!. The boys who went to grammar schools would mostly have been the sons of tradsemen, merchants, and farmers!.

The larger a household, the more responsibility a woman would have when she married, as she would be expected to look after the well-being of her servants as well as her family, and to supervise their work and perform many tasks herself!. she would also be expected to manage the family estate when her husband was away at war or at court, as he quite frequently would be!.

Whatever her class, it was expected that a wife would be obedient to her husband and respect him!. A man was expected to be a good head of the household and care for the welfare of his wife, children, and servants!.

Most married women would expect to have large families, and to be pregnant quite frequently!. The midwife was an important person in medieval and early modern society!. Childbirth was an exclusively female occasion, the mother's friends would gather at her house to support her through her ordeal, men were never present while she gave birth!. The mortality rate for both mothers and infants was high!.

Children were strictly brought up and were expected to be respectful and obedient to their parents!. The children of poorer families would be expected to make themselves useful as soon as they were old enough!. This did not mean that they were not loved, or shown affection, but children were expected to do as they were told!.

At the time of 'Romeo and Juliet' in Italy, some boys would have become monks, and some girls nuns!. In England, the REformation in the 1530s destroyed the monasteries and this option was no longer available!. It was possible to get a good education in monasteries, and some monks and nuns were notable scholars!.

Music and dancing were popular with all classes during the late medieval/early modern or 'Renaissance' period, and in Italy the Commedia del arte performed plays with both men and women as actors, though in English theatres women's parts were always taken by boys (acting was not considered to be at all a respectable profession)!.

Games like bowls, skittles, tennis, and archery were popular, as was wrestling!. People also enjoyed blood sports like bear-baiting and cock-fighting!.

Saints Days were generally holidays, though a lot of them were done away with after the Reformation in England, and people had far fewer days off!. Pilgrimages were popular with everyone, they gave opportunities to visit different shrines and see different places, as well as being good for the soul!. Rome of course was a major pilgrimage centre!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

The french were and war with the holy roman empire (germans) so if you were german life was pretty bad!.But if you were french you were conquering the great empire of the world under Napoleons rule, every german province he conquered he completely change the rules such as : you now get a divorce , there was door and window tax, the was now private brewery's and all the monastery's and church were either used as stables or sold or turned into factory's!. For the first time free press ( well kind of as long as Napoleon liked it!.
It was not dirty because Napoleon installed sewage and drains in citys and the age your talking is the dark age not renaissance!.But they did have lice!. LIfe for men and women were pretty much ok except for all of the wars!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

It was an age of scientific and artistic discovery, however it was also a time of war as the old Holy Roman Empire broke up!. During this time, everybody fought wars with everybody else!. Spain fought for control of Holland!. France fought against Italy!. Various German states fought for and against everybody else!. Austria fought against the Ottomans and the Swiss fought (and beat) anyone who tried to invade them!. The Swedes successfully fought everybody in Northern Europe!. The Poles fought everyone in the east and had a HUGE empire!. The English fought the French, Spanish Irish and Scots and eventually themselves in the English Civil war at the end of the period!.

It was also a dirty, smelly age as during this time, Europe was recovering from the ravages of the "Black Death"!. As the plague was associated with water, people rarely washed or bathed!. Raw sewerage ran through the streets of towns and cities and everybody had lice!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Much like it was in the early middle ages, because in a sense the Renaissance only applied to the rebirth of Scientific ingenuity and discovery!. there was also a Renaissance during the 1600s called the English Renaissance, in which the beginnings of the Industrial revolution started in England!.* Www@QuestionHome@Com

haha that was so long ago my dear!. well i was only 7 when shakespear died but as I recall, there were no toilets so people took dumps all over the ground!. ppl were much shorter, the average white man was 5'6"!. finally, it's much better now because italy was overrun by beatniksWww@QuestionHome@Com

It was pretty bad for most people!. Only the upper classes had any standard of living!. Women were very restricted in what they could doWww@QuestionHome@Com

Here is a different answer!. after the plague and humans thinned out life became more comfortable!. Www@QuestionHome@Com

I don't think anyone here lived during the renaissance!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Build a time machine and find out!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

FunWww@QuestionHome@Com