What do you think?
Rate this book
A Relation, or Rather a True Account, of the Island of England: With Sundry Particulars of the Customs of These People, and of the Royal Revenues Under King Henry the Seventh, About the Year 1500 (Cla
Explore England around the year 1500 through a detailed, real‑world report drawn from Venetian travel writings translated for modern readers.
The book presents the customs, economy, and royal revenues of Henry VII’s England, offering a vivid glimpse of daily life and governance in a pivotal era.
This edition compiles the early Relations of England written by Italian observers, with notes and context that help readers understand the sources and the historical setting. It highlights how foreign accounts shaped English history studies and preserves long‑standing details about law, trade, and society.
Learn about the economy and taxes that shaped the early 1500s, including the royal revenue picture and how trade influenced life. See how daily life, customs, and material culture are described by contemporary foreign observers. Understand the historical methods used to translate and annotate these ancient reports. Discover how such relations influenced English historical writing and public memory. Ideal for readers of early modern history, diplomatic history, and readers seeking a window into how foreign observers perceived England at the start of the 16th century.
The book presents the customs, economy, and royal revenues of Henry VII’s England, offering a vivid glimpse of daily life and governance in a pivotal era.
This edition compiles the early Relations of England written by Italian observers, with notes and context that help readers understand the sources and the historical setting. It highlights how foreign accounts shaped English history studies and preserves long‑standing details about law, trade, and society.
Learn about the economy and taxes that shaped the early 1500s, including the royal revenue picture and how trade influenced life. See how daily life, customs, and material culture are described by contemporary foreign observers. Understand the historical methods used to translate and annotate these ancient reports. Discover how such relations influenced English historical writing and public memory. Ideal for readers of early modern history, diplomatic history, and readers seeking a window into how foreign observers perceived England at the start of the 16th century.
153 pages, Hardcover
First published May 9, 2013
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
January 11, 2019
This is a short report by a Venetian ambassador (or more probably his secretary) which provides a brief snap shot of life in England in the last years of the fifteenth century. I first came across it in the first chapter of The Yorkist Age: Daily Life During the Wars of the Roses by Paul Murray Kendall, as the author quotes extensively from it. A few quotes:
"...the common people make two beverages from the wheat, barley and oats, one of which is called beer, and the other ale; and these liquors are much liked by them, nor are they disliked by foreigners, after they have drunk them four or six times; they are most agreeable to the palate, when a person is by some chance rather heated."
"The English are, for the most part, both men and women of all ages, handsome and well-proportioned; though not quite so much so, in my opinion, as it had been asserted to me, before your magnificence went to that kingdom; and I have understood from persons acquainted with these countries, that the Scotch are much handsomer; and that the English are great lovers of themselves and of everything belonging to them; they think that there are no other men than themselves, and no other world but England; and whenever they see a handsome foreigner, they say that "he looks like an Englishman," and that "it is a great pity that he should not be an Englishman;" and when they partake of any delicacy with a foreigner, they ask him, "whether such a thing is made in their country?"
"They have a very high reputation in arms; and from the great fear the French entertain of them, one must believe it to be justly acquired. But I have it on the best information, that when the war is raging most furiously, they will seek for good eating, and all their other comforts, without thinking of what harm may befall them" (The somewhat indignant editor states that " there is no instance upon record in the history of England, of the national love of comfort having ever interfered with, or impeded, their military duties". I will leave it to military history experts to decide!)
"They have an antipathy to foreigners, and imagine that they never come into their island, but to make themselves masters of it, and to usurp their goods".
"And although their dispositions are somewhat licentious, I never have noticed any one, either at court or amongst the lower orders, to be in love; whence one must necessarily conclude, either that the English are the most discreet lovers in the world, or that they are incapable of love. I say this of the men, for I understand it is quite the contrary with the women, who are very violent in their passions. Howbeit the English keep a very jealous guard over their wives though any thing may be compensated in the end, by the power of money."
"The English, however, could muster a very large army, were they as devoted to their crown as the Scotch are; but from what I understand few of them are very loyal. They generally hate their present, and extol their dead sovereigns". (Note: They had just come out of the Wars of the Roses)
"there is no country in the world where there are so many thieves and robbers as in England; insomuch, that few venture to go alone in the country, excepting in the middle of the day, and fewer still in the towns at night, and least of all in London."
I can't help feeling that the writer would rather have been sent to Scotland!
"...the common people make two beverages from the wheat, barley and oats, one of which is called beer, and the other ale; and these liquors are much liked by them, nor are they disliked by foreigners, after they have drunk them four or six times; they are most agreeable to the palate, when a person is by some chance rather heated."
"The English are, for the most part, both men and women of all ages, handsome and well-proportioned; though not quite so much so, in my opinion, as it had been asserted to me, before your magnificence went to that kingdom; and I have understood from persons acquainted with these countries, that the Scotch are much handsomer; and that the English are great lovers of themselves and of everything belonging to them; they think that there are no other men than themselves, and no other world but England; and whenever they see a handsome foreigner, they say that "he looks like an Englishman," and that "it is a great pity that he should not be an Englishman;" and when they partake of any delicacy with a foreigner, they ask him, "whether such a thing is made in their country?"
"They have a very high reputation in arms; and from the great fear the French entertain of them, one must believe it to be justly acquired. But I have it on the best information, that when the war is raging most furiously, they will seek for good eating, and all their other comforts, without thinking of what harm may befall them" (The somewhat indignant editor states that " there is no instance upon record in the history of England, of the national love of comfort having ever interfered with, or impeded, their military duties". I will leave it to military history experts to decide!)
"They have an antipathy to foreigners, and imagine that they never come into their island, but to make themselves masters of it, and to usurp their goods".
"And although their dispositions are somewhat licentious, I never have noticed any one, either at court or amongst the lower orders, to be in love; whence one must necessarily conclude, either that the English are the most discreet lovers in the world, or that they are incapable of love. I say this of the men, for I understand it is quite the contrary with the women, who are very violent in their passions. Howbeit the English keep a very jealous guard over their wives though any thing may be compensated in the end, by the power of money."
"The English, however, could muster a very large army, were they as devoted to their crown as the Scotch are; but from what I understand few of them are very loyal. They generally hate their present, and extol their dead sovereigns". (Note: They had just come out of the Wars of the Roses)
"there is no country in the world where there are so many thieves and robbers as in England; insomuch, that few venture to go alone in the country, excepting in the middle of the day, and fewer still in the towns at night, and least of all in London."
I can't help feeling that the writer would rather have been sent to Scotland!
June 6, 2022
It feels like he misunderstands a few things, but on the whole it is very entertaining and I would like to read more like this.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews