In Tudor times a public execution was one of the events not to be missed, a lot of people would even queue through the night to make sure they got a good place! It was like a carnival with many different traders coming to sell their goods.

The Tudors had no idea how to cure disease or be hygienic, therefore nine out of ten people died before they were 40.

Handkerchiefs were first used in Tudor times but were mostly waved around for show. To blow your nose in your handkerchief was seen as very disgusting.

In Tudor times a lot of food was cooked over an open fire. Meat would be cooked on a spit which rotates to make sure it's properly cooked. The spit itself would sometimes be turned by a dog running on a circular treadmill.

Girls could marry at age 12, boys at age 14! They still had to live with their parents until they were 16 though

In the Tudor times there were no drains or sewers to safely manage peoples waste. All sewage was thrown into the street and it ran into open rivers and that was where people got their drinking water from, so there disease was very common in Tudor times. The Tudors had no idea how to cure disease or be hygienic, therefore nine out of ten people died before they were 40 because of disease.

Baths weren't considered healthy so Tudors just covered up the awful smell with strong perfume.

People loved the theatre in Tudor Times. They could come and stand and watch the new plays by people like Shakespeare, but there were no toilets so people just went where they stood! Before that people had been used to mystery plays, travelling players etc but going to a specially designed building and seeing a drama with no religion in it was a novelty. Rich nobles were allowed to sit on the edge of the stage so they didn't have to mix with the rest of the audience and got a good view.

King Henry VIII had over 78,000 people executed while he was king. That is the same as 5 people killed every day for 38 years!

A popular 'cure' for illness was blood letting. People believed that some diseases were caused by too much blood in the body. So they would cut a slit and let some of the blood out. Sounds like you'd feel worse after that.

This treatment could kill the patient as it introduced germs to an already weakened body.

Breakfast was simply a light snack, while the main meal of the day was dinner, which began at 11 0'clock and lasted for three hours.

Starch was discovered to be a new way to make fabric stiff. Consequently the fashions became bigger with huge ruffs around necks that could stick out further than the person's shoulders!

King Henry VIII loved to play football and had a pair of football boots made for him costing 4 shillings (about £100).

Carpets were a new idea which had come in from Turkey. It was considered to be the height of luxury to walk on a carpet instead of stone floors. But most carpets were too precious and were hung on the walls or draped over tables.

Sir Walter Raleigh's wife kept his head in a red leather bag for 29 years (he had been executed in 1618 by James I).

The first shopping centre (mall) was built above the first stock exchange. It had room for 120 shops, all under one roof.

Queen Elizabeth loved shopping and bought all her hats there.

In Elizabethan times, many women wore a form of make-up, which was lead-based - it had the unfortunate habit of eating into their skin!