HISTORICAL Reenactor, Nigel Amies, visited King’s Ely Junior on March 9th to lead a fun and fact-filled ‘Tudor Morning’ with our Year 8s!
We welcomed Nigel into school in January to run a ‘Celtic and Roman Britain’ workshop with pupils in Year 6, and yesterday’s event to complement the Year 8’s current History topic, the Tudors and Stuarts, was just as well received.
Nigel and the pupils explored a brief resume of the Tudor dynasty, the dates that the various monarchs reigned, and the significant events of their rule. They then discussed how the various classes of Tudor society dressed, from the nobility in their silks, to the humbler folk who dressed in linen shirts with woollen overclothes.
Two pupils had the opportunity to dress in the typical clothes of more affluent Tudors, and the group also learned about the different tableware of the various classes and how they attempted to keep clean in an era before piped hot water.
After morning break, Nigel and the group looked at the military revolution of the sixteenth century. During the reigns of Henry VII and VIII, the longbow was still the dominant weapon in England, but by the time of the Spanish Armada, soldiers were armed with pikes and muskets. They also looked at a replica halberd and partisan, two formidable looking polearms.
The highlight for all was when Nigel demonstrated how a Tudor musket was loaded and fired out on The Paddock – apologies if your members were distracted for a moment Ely City Golf Club!