The formality of Charles I's court is extreme. Everyone, from the gentlemen of the bedchamber to the lowliest servant, knows their place, and a day in the life of the monarch is rigidly organised. Alone of European monarchs, Charles is served on bended knee. No one is allowed to sit in his presence.

It will greatly help you survive the hurly-burly of 17th-century life if you remember that the age's social norms are very different from our own.

Social hierarchy

Society is rigidly hierarchical – in other words, it is shaped like a pyramid with the most important people at the top. At the apex is the monarch and royal family, below them the lords, aristocrats and bishops, below them the gentry and clergy – and below them the common people.

For example, in 1685, there are an estimated 5 million people in England. Of these, 7,000 are lords and bishops; 8,000 knights; 50,000 clergymen; 70,000 lawyers; 250,000 shopkeepers; 750,000 farmers; about 2,500,000 labourers, servants and poor – and 30,000 vagrants.

In 1688, nearly 80% of the population still lives in small villages and hamlets – only London can boast half a million souls. About 20% of the nation needs parish handouts at some time or another.

About half the population derives its living, in whole or in part, from the sea, by fishing and trading.

Gentle folk

Bear in mind the crucial distinction between 'gentle folk' and the 'common herd' or 'tumultuous multitude'. The gentlemen and women are the upper classes and professionals, who do not work with their hands for a living, and the rest are ordinary people, who labour in order to eat.

In between the two extremes of rich and poor are the so-called 'middle kind of people', who have saved enough to be comfortable but who could at any moment, because of illness or bad luck, be plunged into poverty. They are craft workers, such as cobblers, tailors and coopers (barrel makers). They have apprentices and take religion very seriously; usually, they are literate.

Social distinctions can be seen in the clothes people wear. The wives of labourers, for example, wear petticoats and bodices as separate garments but not gowns like gentlewomen. For men, leather boots are increasingly popular and, at the end of the century, most gentlemen have shaved heads and wear wigs – this helps combat lice.

Many rich people own slaves from Africa and Asia.

During meal times in some households, the masters and servants are divided by a massive salt cellar, with the inferiors sitting 'below the salt'.

Show respect

Remember that the whole of society is based on deference. If you come into the presence of a lord, you must doff your cap. Children, even when grown up, remove their hats in front of their parents. Always bow to your equals, and acknowledge your inferiors. Women must always curtsey and defer to men.

If someone lower on the social scale refuses to take off their hat in your presence, it may be because they are Quakers or belong to another radical religious sect and believe that only God should be so honoured.

Don't swear

Avoid any exclamations that use the Lord's name, such as 'God's wounds!' or 'God blind thee!' – these are seen as blasphemies and involve heavy penalties. Make sure you don't use the Lord's name in vain, laugh at religion or advocate extreme religious views.

In 1656, for example, James Nayler – a Quaker – is clamped in the stocks after being convicted of blasphemy, and has his tongue bored through with a hot iron.

Avoid bad company

Criminals and travellers – or 'vagabonds' – are dealt with savagely. The penalties for crimes are extremely severe – including death by slow hanging, whipping and mutilation – and officials are not squeamish about administering them or using torture to extract confessions. Prison conditions are so bad that being incarcerated is almost a death sentence.

Have a cup of coffee

The first coffee house appears in Oxford in 1650, and they proliferate in London as the century comes to an end. By the time of Queen Anne, they are commonplace even in provincial cities. There you can buy not only coffee and chocolate to drink and tobacco to smoke – all relatively new luxuries – but also newspapers and periodicals. And while you drink, smoke and read, you might also attend a meeting of like-minded people. For instance, White's Chocolate House in London is initially famous for gaming and then transforms itself into a private political club, and Lloyd's Coffee House is a centre for shipping intelligence and, later, insurance brokers.

Find out more

Top