ReligionMarriageWomenLife Death

Music played during Sermon Hand out leaflet as congregation enter

Priest: In the presence of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit,

we have come togetherto witness the marriage of Thomas William Addicock and Jane Anne Tindall,to pray for God's blessing on them,to share their joyand to celebrate their love.

Marriage is a gift of God in creationThe gift of marriage brings husband and wife togetherin the delight and tenderness of sexual unionand joyful commitment to the end of their lives.It is given as the foundation of family lifein which children are [born and] nurturedand in which each member of the family, in good times and in bad,may find strength, companionship and comfort,and grow to maturity in love.

Elizabethan Family values determined and enforced by religion. Family Life was extremely close-knit. Life in Elizabethan times was one revolved around men. The male of the family held all the power and the women and children

were expected to obey them. Disobedience was seen as a crime against their religion. Men worked to support the family usually in jobs such as baker, barber,

blacksmith, scribe, or doctor. Raising children, preferably boys, was the main responsibility and purpose of having a wife

Women would stay at home and do the housework and raise their children.

Women were basically servants to men. No work for women and no school for girls, so many were illiterate. Entertainment: church related feasts and festivals, theater plays, hunting.

Theater plays were the most popular form of entertainment as they could be attended by all the classes.

Major ePlements of family life were determined by whether a family was poor or wealthy. The main exception to this was religion, whether rich or poor, young or old, everyone in the family was expected to attend a Protestant Church Service every Sunday.

Family life was determined by the many laws of the land which dictated not only religion but also the types of clothes members of the family were allowed to wear!

Families were male-dominated in most of Western culture with a male head-of-household and property passing to male offspring.

Children needed a firm hand and discipline. This included corporal punishment (child abuse). However, children were viewed as beings who required nurture and protection to thrive and evolve. Children who needed "corrections" by their parents were to pray. Parents were encouraged to correct children with words before corporal punishment.

Parish registers show about 8%-16% of the population was over 60 at time of death.

The infant and early childhood death rate contributes more to low average life expectancy than death at old age. Barring plague, war, accident, crime, and childbed, if you live to be 12, you can live to be 70.

Death is, however, inevitable, and like marriage, it is a community affair.