Education in Tudor England

There were still opportunities for poorer children. Local women would run schools, often in their own homes, for girls and boys. They would teach local reading and simple maths. Girls might be taught sewing and boys how to write. These came to be known as ‘Dame Schools’.

Writing practice often focused on religious texts, like the Lord’s Prayer. Books were expensive and rare in classrooms, so pupils read from hornbooks instead. The alphabet or prayers were pinned to wooden boards and covered with a layer of transparent cow’s horn.

Were the men on the Mary Rose educated?

Our finds on the Mary Rose suggest that most of the men were uneducated, although it is likely that the officers had received at least some education. Nine books, two inkpots and two quill nibs hint that at least some of the men could read and write; but some objects were simply marked with the owner’s sign.

There were leather-bound book covers, from which the paper had disappeared long ago; we think it is likely these would have been prayer books.