Pre Industrial Britain Flashcards
Availability of money characteristics
Upper class usually rich
Lower class usually poor
How availability of money shapes sport
Upper class could include expensive purpose built facilities eg real tennis
Lower class used little specialist equipment played in work clothes and took place on streets or common land eg mob football
Upper class could also wager regularly to show status and wealth, lower class occasionally wagered hoping for rags to riches
Availability of transport characteristics
Upper classes limited to horse and carriage on poor roads
Lower class could only travel on foot
How availability of transport shapes sport
Sports and pastimes localised leading to regional variation in rules
Upper classes could travel to nearby landed gentry for real tennis
Lower close mob football on local village only
Social class characteristics
Two class society upper and lower
Upper class landowners, employed lower class on estate
Lower class worker long hours on the land but some days of holiday
An agrarian society based on producing and maintaining crops and farmland
How social class shapes sport
Classes participated separately
Pedestrianism and cricket participated by both with very different roles
Gender characteristics
Society male dominated
Women considered weaker sex so sports and pastimes limited physical exertion and competitiveness
Women had fewer rights
How gender shaped sport
Genders participated separately in sport
Eg upper class women played archery and smock racing lower class women
Law and order characteristics
Society uncivilised and very harsh compared to modern standards especially for the lower class
No formal police force
No laws to limit violence or animal cruelty
Uncontrolled and often excessive gambling/wagering
How law and order shaped sport
Sport reflected harshness as they were often violent and cruel
E.g. bare-knuckle prize fighting, mob football (lower class) cock fighting, fox hunting (upper class)
Education characteristics
Upper class educated and literate
Lower class opposite
Upper class sports higher complexity as could understand
How education shaped sport
Upper class sport and pastimes, e.g. real tennis, had more complex rules that were written down.
Lower class sports and pastimes, e.g. mob football, simple rules, not written down, passed on by word of mouth.
Availability of time characteristics
Upper classes a lot of free time.
Lower classes very little free time as worked long hours on the land, also very seasonal (longer working hours in summer)
How availability of time shaped sport
Upper class sport and pastimes, e.g. real tennis, foxhunting longer and participation frequently.
Lower class sports and pastimes, e.g. mob football, occasional, often on festival days e.g. Shrove Tuesday.
