Tudor Children by Nicholas Orme

Blurb

The first history of childhood in Tudor England

What was it like to grow up in England under the Tudors? How were children cared for, what did they play with, and what dangers did they face?

In this beautifully illustrated and characteristically lively account, leading historian Nicholas Orme provides a rich survey of childhood in the period. Beginning with birth and infancy, he explores all aspects of children’s experiences, including the games they played, such as Blind Man’s Bluff and Mumble-the-Peg, and the songs they sang, such as “Three Blind Mice” and “Jack Boy, Ho Boy.” He shows how social status determined everything from the food children ate and the clothes they wore to the education they received and the work they undertook.

Although childhood and adolescence could be challenging and even hazardous, it was also, as Nicholas Orme shows, a treasured time of learning and development. By looking at the lives of Tudor children we can gain a richer understanding of the era as a whole.

Review

I am still going through my Tudor phase and I just can’t get enough of books about Tudor history. When I saw this book in the bookshop I knew I had to have it and read it. It did not disappoint. 

Children are so often ignored in the history books especially poor children and this is no different in the Tudor period. Sadly, there are a lack of records for the poorer ranks of children but what information there is Orme has found it as well as the surviving information about the children of rich people. It is so refreshing to find a researcher who is concerned with children from history because even today researchers quite often go for the more glamorous subjects. 

This book is such a good read and I could not put it down. The book is packed full of information but is not too academic or dry. I loved being able to see Orme’s character through his writing instead of just a list of events and dates. I also really enjoyed how the book is divided up into chapters that are important to the lives of children, such as play, school etc. 

The other element of the book that I loved was the illustrations. Orme obviously put a lot of thought into what illustrations to use for his book and they all fitted perfectly and helped demonstrate his point. I also liked how they were in the text rather than in the middle of book. This meant I didn’t have to keep flicking backwards and forwards to see the relevant illustrations. 

Overall, I loved this book and I enjoyed how Orme challenged the preconceptions that Tudor adults didn’t care very much for their children. I will definitely be reading more books by Orme in the future and I give this book 5 out of 5 Dragons. 

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Purchase Links

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About the author

A specialist in the Middle Ages and Tudor period, Nicholas Orme is an Emeritus Professor of History at Exeter University. He studied at Magdalen College, Oxford, and has worked as a visiting scholar at, among others, Merton College, Oxford, St John’s College, Oxford, and the University of Arizona.

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