In Tudor England, the government heavily controlled sport. The ordinary citizen rarely had a chance to take part in sport as the government considered it more important that they were fit enough to work. Most of their waking hours involved work of some sort so time for sport was unusual. In the early years of the reign of Henry VIII a law was passed in 1512 that banned the ordinary person from a whole range of games such as real tennis, as favored by Henry VIII, cards, dice, bowls and skittles. It was only at Christmas that rules were slightly relaxed in celebration of a religious holiday.
Football had been a popular sport for a number of years. It was very different in Tudor England when compared to the game today. There was no limit to the number of people on each side and the goalposts were set about one mile apart. The rules also allowed those playing to pick up and throw the ball as well as kick it into the opponent's net. These games were rough and many young men were hurt while playing it. These casualties were always those who might be needed for the army - young, fit men. In 1540, also in the reign of Henry VIII, football was banned.
A writer in Tudor times described football as:
Football is more a fight than a game.... sometimes their necks are broken, sometimes their backs, sometimes their legs.....football encourages envy and hatred....sometimes fighting, murder and a great loss of blood.
The attempt to control the lives of the working class in 1542 shuffleboard was banned - a game, which we now call, shove half-penny.
The general view was that the working class should spend their time at home or at work and that any form of games might get out of hand and the authorities might lose control of the population they controlled purely over a game. Dice, cards etc were banned as they might have encouraged gambling, which, in turn, might have got out of hand and caused trouble within a community.
However, there were no rules or regulations stopping the rich from taking part in what they saw as sport.
Jousting was a popular pastime enjoyed by the likes of Henry VIII. Only the upper class were allowed to take part in jousting tournaments though Henry VIII had to retire from the sport as he was seriously injured in a jousting tournament in 1536. Noblemen also played real tennis - one of the oldest of all racquet sports. The law also only allowed the rich to hunt deer. Henry VIII was considered a skilled hunter and frequently spent as many as five hours a day in the saddle out hunting for deer. The poor were allowed to hunt hares and rabbit.
Tudor Entertainments
In Tudor times, there was at least one small group of musicians in Reading who earned money by playing for those willing to pay. Traveling actors also came to Reading, bringing their plays.
One of the most popular past times was Bull and Bear baiting, which was organized by the Tanners Guild. This is now thought of as a cruel sport, where dogs are set on a bull or a bear until the bull or bear is killed. Before it died, many of the dogs would also have been killed.
