Summer dying was easy for Tudors

[Melvadius]

In a supplement to an earlier report announced in a University of Oxford press release in 2011 entitled Tudor England's 'Darwin Awards' - project studies fatal accidents from Oxford University; the BBC is carrying this story on how dangerous it could be for someone in the Tudor period during the summer months.

 

Summer was by far the most dangerous time of year for the Tudors, suggests research from the University of Oxford.

 

Fatal accidents were much more likely to take place during the agricultural peak season, a study of 16th Century coroner reports has revealed.

 

Cart crashes, dangerous harvesting techniques, horse accidents and windmill mangling were among the perils facing the Tudor farm worker.

 

Historian Steven Gunn has been studying 9,000 reports of Tudor misfortune.

 

He has found that between 1558 and 1560, almost three-quarters of fatal accidents took place during the summer months.

 

Farming equipment was sharp and lethal.

 

And the extra activity around watermills, windmills and overloaded carts also claimed a harvest of unfortunate victims, crushed, squashed or flattened.

 

....continued

 

NB As the project has apparently received funding for four years one wonders what other little gemns of Tudor mortality will be teased out and announced in future years.