Programme 1: Housing, Hygiene and Health

Background Information

There were lots of landless labourers searching for work during the reign of Elizabeth I. Many had lost their livelihood because landowners had enclosed common land and turned them out. Previously, poor people could get help from the monasteries, but these had been closed down during the reign of Henry VII – and with them went a vital safety net. The Elizabethans found themselves grappling with poverty. Poor people lived on the breadline and were vulnerable to diseases like ‘the sweats’. This flu-like illness was much feared and the remedies provided by apothecaries and herbalists were often unsuccessful.