3.1 Pre-industrial

Question 1

What are the characteristics of life in pre-industrial Britain?

Answer 1

• communications and transport were limited
• illiteracy: lower classes uneducated with little ability to read or write
• cruel or violent lower classes
• upper class lived in comfort and luxury
• limited free time for as work based on land
• free time dictated by agricultural calendar and lower class worked very long hours
• class divisions clearly existed (2-tier)
• people lived in rural areas

Question 2

What are the characteristics of popular recreation in pre-industrial times?

Answer 2

• occasional and restricted to annual breaks in the agriculture calendar
• local and specific to each community
• used natural resources available e.g. open land for mob games
• rules were basic and applied to specific communities
• aggressive and male-dominated
• wagers placed by upper classes
• some activities were functional e.g. footmen

Question 3

Define mob football

Answer 3

an unruly form of football played by the lower classes

Question 4

Define real tennis

Answer 4

upper-class activity of the time, with strict rules and moral code

Question 5

Why was mob football banned?

Answer 5

• violent + unruly in nature
• led to injury + death in extreme cases
• led to damage of property
• involved gambling/wagering
• linked to alcohol consumption

Question 6

State the characteristic of mob football

Answer 6

• localised form of activity
• rural in nature
• played by lower classes
• uses natural resources e.g. pig’s bladder
• played occasionally due to long working hours
• male dominated
• highly violent, unruly
• little rules and regulations (illteracy)

Question 7

Define the feudal system

Answer 7

a way of structuring society around a relationship derived from the holding of land in exchange for service or labour

Question 8

Define popular recreation

Answer 8

the sport and pastimes of people in pre-industrial Britain