The Time Traveler's Guide to Elizabethan England
In a lavish and groundbreaking way of exploring history, Dr. Ian Mortimer looks back at the time of Queen Elizabeth I and explores the lives of the rich and poor. How did the peasantry survive? How did the privileged become and then stay rich? And what changes were occurring for all? Take a journey through the Golden Age of English history with this unique Tudor history documentary.
Watch The Time Traveler's Guide to Elizabethan England and more acclaimed documentaries on BBC Select today. Restrictions apply*.
The Time Traveler's Guide to Elizabethan England on BBC Select
Ep 1: The Common People
How did the old, sick and desperately poor survive in Queen Elizabeth I’s Britain?
Although most people have images of courtiers with fine clothes in lavish palaces, the reality was that most people during Queen Elizabeth’s I’s reign were poor. In this fascinating history documentary, Dr. Ian Mortimer looks at those struggling during the Golden Age of English history. What is it like to live in a dark, dank, smoke-filled hovel where peasants could earn only four pence a day?
Ep 2: The Rich
With the Elizabethan elite, ruff size mattered, and the wrong word could get you killed.
Get ready to enter a cut-throat world. Literally. Spies circle the great and good, one false word from your servants might cost you everything and the size of your ruff could make all the difference. In this innovative history documentary, Dr. Ian Mortimer introduces you to the world of the Elizabethan rich and privileged. There is much to learn about how the wealthy dress, greet and behave.
Ep 3: Brave New World
How education, urbanization and science helped a burgeoning Elizabethan middle class.
One group emerged during the reign of Elizabeth I: the middle classes. In this compelling history documentary, Dr. Ian Mortimer travels through a new and upwardly mobile section of Elizabethan society. He reveals how urbanization improved lives, heads to Shakespeare’s school to learn how education transformed society and explores how this age of discovery helped spur a scientific revolution.
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