Education of women and girls in the Tudor Era

Royal and aristocratic families employed private tutors who taught Latin, rhetoric, classical literature and scripture.

In households that valued academic achievement, education included a lot more than reading and needlework.

For example, Margaret Roper, the daughter of Sir Thomas More, studied Latin and Greek with scholars such as John Clement and William Gunnell and had become known for her translations and letters.

Meanwhile, even Lady Jane Grey received instruction in Hebrew and classical languages.

She had impressed people with her fluency and religious argument before her execution in 1554.

Elizabeth, the daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, received a thorough education that included Latin instruction, religious debate and foreign languages such as French, Italian, Spanish and Greek.

Her tutor was Roger Ascham, who praised her study habits and he commented that she read Latin more readily than he did English.

She also studied music and religious philosophy and this wide ranging education gave her skill in diplomacy and letter writing.

However, public expectations required her to present herself as modest and morally upright. 

In noble households, daughters often studied alongside their brothers and followed a course of study that reflected religious duty and practical skill.

Tutors taught scripture, ethical instruction, music and history. Girls also learned needlework and household management.

Some women applied this education to literary and religious activity. Mary Sidney, sister of the poet Philip Sidney, worked on translating the Psalms into English verse and she had completed over 100 translations and had become an important supporter of Protestant writers.

in comparison, Mildred Cecil, wife of William Cecil, built a personal library and read widely in classical and religious texts.

Also, Anne Bacon, mother of Francis Bacon, translated works such as Jewel’s Apology of the Church of England into English and she encouraged serious study within her household and she helped develop the early intellectual life of her children. 

Among wealthy merchant families, daughters learned basic skills such as literacy and numeracy together with instruction in household accounting, especially in towns such as London, Bristol and Norwich where religious publishing and middle class literacy thrived.

Parents hired tutors or used grammar schools that admitted girls for limited instruction.

Grammar schools primarily served boys, but a few made informal provisions for girls or allowed private tuition in parallel.

In Protestant households mothers or aunts taught girls to read English scripture and to recite catechism texts because reading the Bible had moral importance.

Account books, letter writing and records of household spending featured in instruction for girls who were expected to contribute to family business or manage estates after marriage.

Finally, Religious and practical learning were closely connected in this social class. 

In rural communities and among poorer families, few girls had access to formal education.

Most learned skills through daily labour or informal learning at home. Daughters of labourers or servants rarely attended school unless parish institutions offered basic instruction.

When literacy occurred in these settings it often arose from religious motives. The printing of the English Bible after the Reformation had encouraged families to teach girls to read so they could memorise scripture and attend to private devotion.

Hornbooks and primers, when available, helped girls learn their letters through religious passages.

Even so, writing was uncommon because few families could afford paper, ink or the time required for daily practice. 

Religious change across the sixteenth century had a surprising affect on women’s access to reading materials and religious instruction.

Protestant reformers promoted the idea that all believers should engage with scripture personally, which led to a rise in books written for women, including instructional guides for wives and mothers, prayer books and theological reflections.

Katherine Parr, the sixth wife of Henry VIII, published a book under her own name.

In Lamentation of a Sinner, printed in 1547, she encouraged women to read the Bible and to meditate on salvation.

She presented religious study as a duty for Christian women as well as men.

Printed religious texts such as The Godly Medytacyon of the Christian Soule were not always addressed exclusively to women.

These texts had provided examples of spiritual self examination that had appealed to a growing female readership. 

By the end of Elizabeth I’s reign in 1603, literacy rates among upper and middle class women had improved and a growing number of women had begun to read and to compose religious and literary texts.

In some urban centres parish records and wills suggest that as many as 10 percent of women could read, though this estimate varied by place and social class.

Printed books for women increased the number of readers and offered models for devotional reflection and moral conduct.

However the idea that women required formal education was limited to those who could afford tutors or grammar schools.

University education remained entirely closed to women. As such, education continued to reinforce women’s roles in marriage and the household rather than prepare them for public life.