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duty of every citizen to contribute in overcoming the disorder, if they were called to do so by any lawfully constituted authority Chrimes 66.
The common inhabitant lived in poverty. They were used too little food and to saving extra bits of food. They had one set of rags that he wears until they
fall apart. They expected to take care of themselves and to do things for themselves. They slept quite comfortably on straw, tossed in a pile on the floor.
Tudor statesmen did not have to be told about the problems caused by agrarian change. Most of them were themselves landowners, and in
London itself, the seat of government, the population was swelling rapidly as the beggars came to town. The stability of the Tudor state was
threatened by these hunger marchers, and the government tried to stop them moving. An Act of 1495 ordered that vagabonds were to be sent back
to their native parishes, and in 1501 the Justices of the Peace were made responsible for seeing that this was carried out Lockyer 137-138.
The poor were divided into three groups by the government. The first were called the ‘Impotent’ Poor. These would include the old, the sick, the disabled and
children. The second group was called the Able Bodied Poor. This group would include the people who could work and wanted to work. Each member was meant
to build a workhouse. The third group was known as Rogues and Vagabonds. This was a group which is targeted by the government, because this group consisted of
people who could work but preferred to beg or steal Lockyer 137-8
2. The Nobles
a. The Clothing
The noblewomen in the 16
th
century generally wore kind of clothes that covered them completely. The corset or the top part of the gown was generally
tight fitting with square shoulders. The yoke was usually of a dark color, and there PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
19
was often some type of high collar. There were some ruffles in the women’s clothes. The collar that extends to the chin and usually would ruffle at the top.
The sleeves were usually full from the shoulder to the elbow and then more tight from the elbow to the wrist. At the wrist the sleeves would open wide into a large
ruffle. The gown usually contained a v-shaped point at the waistline and then expanded into a sort of funnel shape reaching the ground.
The shoes which the women wore at the beginning period were not important because the gown usually reached down to the floor; the shoes often
were almost not seen. They were used to wear some accessories. As for jewelry, many women in the 16
th
century wore large pendants or medallion of gold around their necks. The richer or the higher of the rank also could be seen from the
accessories, as in the used of the earrings. Earrings were not very common except among the very rich, who would wear pearls for their earrings. Many women in
this period also would choose the small jeweled caps or hat that decorated with jewels, pearls, or lace Fashions: Women and Men.
While the noblemen in the 16
th
century, according to Christmon’s. Fashions: Women and Men, wore embroidered shirts called jerkins, which had
square shoulders and buttons down the front. The sleeves were often decorated and not as tight as the sleeves in the women’s clothes. The sleeves would fit all the
way to the wrists. The pants were a little bit shaggy and about three to four inches higher above the knee. They were also used the stockings in their feet.
The shoes of the men were generally made from fine leather. The shoes were contained a small leather heel and were often decorated with slashes. The
headgear was either a small flat hat made of velvet or silk or a tall crown hat that PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
20
was covered by fine fabric or feathers. Some of the more distinguished or high rank men wore small capes with big-edged collars. The men also wore some kind
of short perfumed gloves Fashions: Women and Men.
b. The Housing
