In 1485, the marriage of Henry Tudor and Elizabeth of York united two warring houses, setting the foundation for the powerful Tudor dynasty. Together, they had seven children, heirs to a new era in England’s history. While some of these siblings would go on to leave a lasting legacy, shaping the course of history through politics, religion, and culture, little is often said about their early lives.
The Education of Princes and Princesses
Education was, for the most part, reserved for an elite few. In cities schools admitted those who could pay the fees, and were usually run out of monasteries or cathedrals, focussing on liturgical scholarship, or on teaching Latin to the school of boys who were to become the next generation of lawyers and government officials.
It is from these schools that the term ‘Grammar School’ comes, as the schools focussed on their grammatical knowledge of Latin and sometimes Greek, and they were mostly reserved for those who would pay for their children (their sons) to attend.
Sometimes, school rooms were opened up by ambitious members of the clergy who would admit boys on a charitable basis, or whose schools would only charge a nominal amount for the boys’ attendance. In these cases, education did become more widely available, but was still on the whole, the preserve of boys and men.
For women and girls, education was something done in the home. Skills that were required for running a home were what was deemed important, rather than scholarly studies, and even in noble families the girls would not be expected to be educated beyond a basic level. Reading and writing were usually encouraged in noble households, as well as some mathematical skills so as to be able to balance the household budget and manage staff.
However, beyond the basics, there were little or no expectations. More importance was given to courtly skills – playing instruments, dancing, sewing and crafts – things that were considered ladylike and genteel, and were seen as appropriate for young ladies.
The exception to this was in royal households, and especially for children of the Tudor Dynasty, where a broad curriculum was encouraged for both the girls and the boys, and was seen as necessary for them all to fulfil their potential as princes and princesses of the realm.
Henry VII and his wife, Elizabeth of York, had each been given a traditional education, and sought more for their own children. The fashionable humanist movement encouraged a broader curriculum of languages and classical literature, theology and sciences. Scholars such as Erasmus were at the spearhead of the new movement, and royal households across Europe sought to employs tutors for their children, including Henry and Elizabeth.
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Henry VII and Elizabeth with their children
(Wikimedia Commons)
They invited Bernard Andre, the scholar and poet, to be Prince Arthur’s tutor while he was living at Ludlow, and William Blount, Lord Mountjoy, and John Skelton to teach their younger children. These men all had connections with the humanist movement in Europe, and they designed a rounded curriculum for all of the royal children, even the girls.
Alongside the academic learning, royal children were also expected to learn to ride horses, hunt with a long bow, and play sports such as tennis. They were also taught to dance, play musical instruments, sing and write poetry. Princess Margaret impressed the Scottish nobility with her skills at hunting and riding when she travelled north in 1503, when she chased down and shot ‘a fine buck’ all by herself. Prince Henry made an impression at the wedding of his brother, Prince Arthur, to the Spanish princess Catherine of Aragon, when he;
‘…perceiving himself encombered with his clothes, suddenly cast off his gown and danced in his jacket’.
Even at such a young age, Prince Henry already had presence on a dancefloor.
Physical activity was not encouraged in large amounts though, due in part to the danger that it posed of injury to a member of the royal family, and also because there were worries that too much activity would actually be detrimental to a young person’s body. Sports were strictly limited especially for very young children, until their bodies were thought to be mature enough to handle the exertion.
This humanist influence on education continued to be popular, made even more so by families such as that of Sir Thomas More, and later on the Greys, whose children, particularly their daughters, were educated to an extremely high level. King Henry VIII employed tutors for all of his children, including Henry Fitzroy, his illegitimate son.
Later on in the sixteenth century, James VI of Scotland also received a thorough education from his tutor, George Buchanon, who continued the tradition of humanist inspired tutors for future kings. It was through Buchanon that James learned about theology and politics, and like his great great Uncle, Henry VIII, learned the skills needed to be a modern Prince, and a modern King, in the schoolroom.
While it took whole centuries for education to become something every member of society would receive, these early pioneers, both the tutors and the pupils, proved that education was something that everyone can have and can reap rewards from. The Tudor Princes and Princesses, were able to perform their duties, enter and endure high politics, and survive the cutthroat world of the sixteenth century court, all because of their wits and the tools they were given through their childhood education.
Aimee Fleming
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