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Other entertainment

While the theatre attracted people from all walks of life, the rich and the poor had their own forms of entertainment too. For the wealthy at court, there were banquets and feasts, masques and tournaments (competitions of sword fighting, wrestling or jousting) to enjoy almost every day of the week. The rest of society visited fairs - which were often very raucous - and celebrated religious festivals. Dancing was very popular - formal dances like the galliard at court, and jigs among the poor and middling sort.

Watching animals fight was also popular with rich and poor. Queen Elizabeth herself enjoyed bear and bull-baiting (where the bull or bear was pitted against a pack of dogs). Among the poor, dogfights and cock fighting were common pastimes, and people often gambled on the outcome.

Gambling at cards, dice games, backgammon or draughts was popular among men of all social groups - it was considered inappropriate for women to gamble (although that didn't stop Elizabeth, who loved gambling at cards!)

Among the nobility, the invention of the printing press and spread of education meant that intellectual pursuits were popular, such as:

• reading the classics
• studying music
• debating theology
• writing poetry

Hunting and hawking were also very popular among the well-to-do, as were physical pastimes such as bowls, fencing and archery.

For the rest of society, inns and taverns were an important part of every social ritual. People worked hard and their lives were difficult, so the inn was a place of escape and relaxation where they could:

• drink
• gamble
• sing
• play cards or skittles
• watch plays and animal baiting

The poor and middling sort enjoyed physical games as well, such as wrestling and stick fighting. An early form of football was also played in Elizabethan times. It was much rougher than the modern game, as the two teams would rush at each other to try to force the ball through the goalposts!