The Tudors

Learning Objective: To learn about Tudor exploration.

The Tudor NavyWhen Henry VIII came to power, England had only a small navy. During his reign Henry spent a great deal of money building up a large fleet to defend the kingdom.

Life at sea was risky and dangerous, but sailors could claim new land and bring back things like cotton, spices, silk and precious metals.

Tudor ShipsThe ships used in Tudor times were called galleons. These were very large ocean ships. They had a special deck for cannons. They were broad, slow and not very easy to move

around.

Life On BoardLife on board a Tudor ship was very hard. The ships were dirty and often infested with mice.

The sailors had to sleep on deck and only had one set of clothes to wear.

Once on board, the sailors had to follow orders otherwise they were beaten!

Life On BoardThe main food on board was meat, salted to stop it going rotten, and hard dry biscuits. This was horrible to eat.

Due to the lack of fresh food, many sailors got a disease called scurvy.

In 20 years, around 10,000 sailors died of scurvy (More sailors were

killed by the food than in sea battle!!!)

The Tudor period was a great age of exploration. Elizabeth I encouraged her sailors to search for new lands and treasures.

Most explorers wanted to get rich. They were looking for gold or valuable cargoes to bring back home to sell.

Others went to tell people in distant lands about the Christian religion.

These people were called missionaries.

Tudor Explorers

There are many famous Explorers from the Tudor period.

We will be focusing on just two...

Tudor Explorers

Sir Walter Raleigh

Sir Francis Drake

and

In groups of 3, choose either Sir Frances Drake or Sir Walter RaleighFind out as much as you can about them.Include information such as where they

travelled, what they found, when they began exploring etc.

Record your findings and present your informationto the class.

Your Task